Getting a dog from the pound? Also, renting with two dogs?

I'm soon going to be in the position to hopefully start looking for another dog After finally having got a good recall from Molly and having mostly sorted out her fear-aggression issues I think I am finally ready to find another dog!

I'm keen to get another rescue but I was thinking this time about perhaps going to my local pound and saving a dog that is on its last day. Has anyone done this? What things should I keep in mind when I do this? Is it possible to even do this or do I need special permission or something?

Also, I was just wondering if anyone has any experience of how hard it is to rent with two dogs rather than one? Admittedly Molly is small and I'm pretty certain that the other dog would be about her size too (Although I love big dogs..) so I'm hoping that would work in my favour but is it much harder to rent with two dogs than one?

It depends on the pound, some will have done some sort of assessment on the behaviour of the dog and may give you an idea on how s/he has been in kennels. Others will ask you to pay the rehoming fee no questions asked.

I would find out whether there has been any health check done by a vet, especially as you already have a dog. Again, some will routinely administer vaccinations on arrival but the week these dogs are in kennels may not necessarily be long enough to indicate any underlying health issues.

Behaviour wise - ideally your dog and the new dog will be able to meet before you take him/her home. However if it is one of the pounds that do just ask you to pay and take the dog, this may not be something they generally do.

Some pounds are becoming a lot more pro-active with their rehoming and will try to do the above as much as they can on fairly limited means. You generally won't get the back up you get with a rescue and any health treatments/checks are likely to be paid for yourself. Sorry if this sounds negative but they are something you would need to consider.

As for renting I would guess that it depends on your landlord/renting agency. Friends who have rented with dogs have often said they will pay more of a deposit and get the carpets etc professionally cleaned when leaving and this seems to go down well.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

there was a young brown min pin in my local rescue .lasted a day before it was rehomed ..
I am allowed 2 pets in our rented home..

It's the MinPin charm, I tell you!
Good to know about the rental thing, I'm hoping I'll be able to manage the same deal

Wow, thank you for the post! It's helpful to have the negative aspects laid out as it means I can get a full picture. The health issues and the behaviour issues are what worry me the most as obviously I don't want to put my current dog at risk.

I was thinking about offering a bigger deposit and offer to have the place professionally cleaned as that's what we did when we rented before and had our cat. Thank you!

I see no advantage in going to a pound and a whole lot of possible problems. Pounds, even if they wanted (and many don't), are not in a position to assess the health and temperament of the dogs to anything like the degree that a reputable rescue will do.

If it is the pathos of saving a 'last days' dog that appeals then simply source from a rescue that takes in poundies. I can assure you that any kennel space you free up for them will be immediately filled with dog that would otherwise have died.

As long as it gets along with my dog, the temperament side of things doesn't bother me too much as my current rescue dog came with a host of fear aggression issues. I'm very lucky in that I live alone, have a lot of spare time and don't plan on having children so as long as the dog is dog friendly, I am in a position to take on one that perhaps has issues and help sort things out.

That said, I do see your point, especially about health (Which is what worries me as I can't put my own dog at risk and have already dealt with trying to fix unsolved health problems with her to the tune of £700) so I may take your advice and perhaps see if I can adopt a dog from a rescue that takes on pound dogs

I agree with what the others have said
Mia is a poundy but from a rescue that pulled her, kenneled her, got her neutered and shipped her out to me

even then her temprament was totaly unknown - I love her totaly but she has been a whole lot of work

If you are taking on a totaly unknown pound dog I would prob work on some kind of quaranteen thing between your dogs for a little time to make sure there are no surprises

It is a lovely idea, it will be difficult but not impossible if thats what you really want
Or look for the rescues that save from pounds

http://dundalkdogrescue.webs.com/dogsinourcare.htm

Here is the place who saved Mia for me, that page is the dogs in their care or they photograph the dogs in the pound and can pull one if there is a potential home or foster for them (dundalk dog rescue if the link is blocked)

Aah thank you for the link! There are so many adorable dogs on there, I'd take them all if I could I suppose perhaps going through a rescue like that would be the safer way to go about things

The idea of a quarantine is a good one though and one I could probably manage quite effectively! If once I get my new flat I keep the new dog there and then see if Molly could stay at my mum's place for a few days

I did have another thought as well! The guy who does the temperament assessments for the dogs at one of our local shelters actually looks after Molly when I go away so I could perhaps take him with me to the pound to get his advice?

"The dog is friendly with other dogs" said the surrenderer.

The adopter took his own dog to the pound, just to be sure, and a peaceful introduction was observed. All was well and wonderful until the new dog almost killed the resident dog within 24 hours - turned out that the surrenderers had only had the dog themselves for less than a week and the previous owner (once traced) vouchsafed that the dog would kill anything less than collie sized.

The pound, who had a signed waiver from the adopter, simply shrugged "Bring it back and we'll put it down."

Tears all round despite the adopters efforts and best intentions.

It can work. It often works but why take the chance? To what advantage?