I would prefer the contract to say the dog CAN go back to them not that it HAS to. I get what you guys are saying, really, but sometimes there are other things that are better for the dog than going back into a rescue/foster system, like going to a family member who knows and loves the dog, especially if the dog is older and just went through a traumatic loss of an owner.

I would hope that a rescue would agree, but it seems that rescues sometimes want to control EVERYTHING and so therefore refuse to let the dog go with someone who already loves it because THEY did not pick out the home. I've seen rescues nitpick a situation to death to make sure they find something that means they won't let the dog go with the person the original adopter chose. I know one family who had to take a rescue to court in order to keep the elderly dog who they wanted after the original owner (their relative) died in a car accident. This dog was the only thing they had left of their daughter who had never married and had no children and they knew how much the daughter loved her dog. The rescue wanted to take that away from them. Pretty crappy, IMO.

Edited to add: And I think we berate breeders who refuse to take dogs back, not ones who require it. I always hear people say "A good breeder will take a dog back no matter what the reason" not that they demand it if the person doesn't want the dog.

This question for me is the same as asking the question whether a pup bought would be returned to the breeder should things go wrong. For me the best interests would be to the dog regardless of the contract signed. When we adopted Woody and Pickles from the DogsTrust they promised in their contract that the dogs would be checked on 6 months after rehoming. This never happened for either dog, so it works both ways IMO.

I can understand what youre saying & some organisations may be that way. Ive come across a couple, who i dont have much time for.

We had Rosie for 10 years & never once thought of her as anything other than our dog . Think of the contract agreement as a backup should your life ever change so significantly enough where you need to rehome your dog.

The way the rescues work i am involved with, if the dog needs homed (irrespective of whether its a re-homing or new to our books homing), the present owners are asked if they will keep the dog until an adopter is matched up to their dog. This way there is little as possible trauma for the dog. The existing owner gets to meet the new owner.

Like everything else some breeders are better than others. Chap we got Harvey & Katie off said that if at any time we had problems or found at anytime we couldnt keep the dog to take them back to him. He has been very helpful &
supportive since he knew how ill Katie has been.

Persoanly k9paw, if this has to happen and you have a home already set up for scoop, then I would go with your heart,

It will be a traumatic time as it is, and given the choice of sending him back to kennels where he will have to spend time in a kennels being assessed again, for how ever long it takes for them to find him a home......OR placing him in a good home you know with people you know , then I know which I would do.

I am all for rescues and breeders holding these policies, its a good back up and to be used if necessary.

But I do have a problem with rescues "retaining" ownership for life of a dog, you have paid your money, they cant have it both ways, they sell you a dog, but you dont own it

Do they pay the bills, do they come and home check every year to see if the dog is still happy in the home they placed it in??

My guess would be , if you place scoop, they will never know,so why worry over something that will not happen,