Not all homes are suitable for a rescue, I know I would have to be very careful about any rescue from anywhere into my home. Now I plan to get a GSD puppy, from Germany, not a rescue, but a responsible breeder-why not a GSD rescue ? because at the moment I don't want a rescue QED.

I've rescued several dogs in the past & our last GSD was a rescue. however my choice is to help the rescue centres(& iun that way I help far more dogs than taking just one into my home)& to have a puppy from a breeder.

It is all down to personal choice, one of my best friends will only ever have GSD rescues, she spent too long working with puppies in the past to want to have a puppy from the outset personally.

As too rescues from abroad, we have thousands of dogs dying here in the UK each week for us to be importing rescues from abroad. This is of course JMHO

There are too many dogs bred for monetary reward only everywhere in the world not just the UK & add these to the negligent litters(no such thing as an"accidental"litter IMHO)& the problem grows.

One thing I have noticed with several Spanish dogs is that you need to be really careful initially to not let the dog off, have heard several cases now of Galgos etc brought over and having slipped their collar at the swapover point or shot out the front door in their new home and been straying for months - because they have the survival instinct but not much desire to approach humans for fuss at that stage. I thought it was bad enough keeping Casper on-lead for 3 weeks before he settled in (well, not bad, but it was tough letting Kiki off and seeing Casper confined to a longline), but I imagine I'd be constantly on-edge and would turn my house into a prison with the amount of babygates and double door systems I'd feel I had to employ with that kind of dog!

I'm a bit mixed on feelings, I think about what all the money spent on pet passports, flights, quarantine etc. could do for UK rescues, but then again, there are worse "commodities" that people spend their money on. I would rather see someone spend several thousand rescuing a dog that fell in love with on their holiday than on a flatscreen TV I suppose!

Yes of course it is everyones personal choice, I have no problem for people to choose not to rescue from overseas - just not to preach and say other people shouldnt

can I ask tho why is it different to buy a dog from overseas as a pose to rescuing one? We still have loads of dogs who dont have homes in the UK and you are still adding an extra dog to the UK population (not saying you shouldnt, just asking why you see it as different)

Does anyone actually have the numbers for the dogs being put to sleep in the UK? I would be interested to know but I have never been able to find them

I found a chart of figures once of dogs pts by various organisations. I have never found it again!

I know RSPCA were bad as were Battersea----but then RSPCA would include cruelty cases etc more than any other would.

That doesn't include any pts by vets. That is probably a fair few over a year.

rune

Because the dog I will bring over will be to improve the breed here in the UK, this is totally different to simply bringing in a pet dog to be my pet(of course the dog I bring in will be my pet as well). He wil be better bred than any rescue & of a known health & character background.

Simply to rescue a GSD here in the UK would not be the same(particularly as I have never owned a English/pet bloodline GSD)

Yes, could be problematic especially if the dogs are used to living on their wits

However same could be said for here in UK - one of the rescues im involved with advise (and emphasise) that the dog isnt to be let off lead for at least 3/4 weeks. Sadly, they dont always heed you - decide they know best...... A dog your rescue has spent time, effort & usually money on - someone who sailed through their home check, is careless enough to think they know best, *hours after getting the dog

I know we are going to have to agree to disagree on this one

imo it is just saying that he life of your next dog is more important than the life of other dogs, so much so (I assume as you are saying it is to 'improve uk dogs' you are going to breed from it) that not only are you bringing a dog in to a overpopulated country but you will also be producing more dogs from it

But in the case of rescue dogs then a uk dog is far more important?

Now I agree that a uk charity spending money bringing one dog over when it can save 10 dogs for the price is possibly not the best use of money

BUT
an individual who has the money and space for another dog should rescue the dog THEY feel needs them the most - if they didnt take a dog from overseas they wouldnt take in 10 uk dogs

For someone who has been on holiday and seen many neglected dogs, done all they can to help the ones there - but ONE just slips into their heart more than all the others so they have to bring that one dog home - its all very well to say they should get a uk rescue - but in reality they will always be thinking of that one special dog

I got Mia not because I was looking for another dog but because when I saw her face I couldnt get it out of my head, yes I see many rescue faces, yes I know many are on death row - but she was the one I couldnt stop thinking about, I couldnt have then gone to dogs trust and got a dog from the UK, knowing full well Mia would be dead - but the dog from dogs trust was in no danger, was well cared for and well fed

One year on holiday in Spain, we found a dog it was eating a snake, it was so hungry. Together with other holiday makers out there we took it to the vets, who said it was a Golden Retriever ( we had a Goldie ourselves but we din,t recognize it) . the vet said it was fin but needed food.

This Golden retriever was very well trained and it knew all the commands in English !

One of the Spanish ladies who lived there took in it, and she still has the dog 3 years later and loves her to bits, no one ever came looking for the dog though.

Unlike the pet breeders/puppy farmers/BYB I will not be allowing my new dog(or any of my dogs)to be used on any bitch & I will have strict contracts for the destinations of his puppies.

Don't try emotional blackmail on me re one dogs life being more important than another, I've made that decision more than once in my life & feel that you are suggesting that I shouldn't breed whilst there is one other dog in a rescue-thus allowing the bad breeders to fill the market for profit. There will always be dogs in rescue & perhaps one could be just what I want-the odds are very long that this would ever happen tho'.

Perhaps all responsible breeders should stop breeding to allow all the badly bred puppies to be homed-leaving the bad breeders planty of opportunity to continue breeding.

I wasnt trying any blackmail, just turning around the argument from saying people shouldnt rescue form overseas while there are dogs in rescue in the UK

I never said all breeding should be stopped I just dont like the attitude some breeders have that their dogs are so special that they have nothing to do with the rescues in the country
I believe breeding should be very tightly controlled - but once a dog is bred I dont think one dogs life is any more important than any other dogs life, they all deserve loving homes