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Where to get your dog from

No matter what the breed or mix, no matter what you are given as to the reason why this dog is in need of a new home, do not let your heart rule your head. Yes, in a few cases, dogs need rehoming for legitimate reasons. More often than not the real reason probably is not the one quoted at the time the dog is given up. Let us examine some of the excuses resorted to for giving up the dog. One of the oldest being that a family member is allergic or, we just do not have time for him/her now. He/she does not get along with our other pets or family members, the children were supposed to look after it and so the list goes on.

What the prospective adopter is rarely told is that this dog has received no proper socialisation or has never been trained to fit in with an average household. In extremes the dog has been neglected from day one by being deprived of the human contact necessary to make him an acceptable member of society. Unwanted behaviours such as not being houseclean, chewing, digging, barking and the inability to be left alone are often omitted from descriptions of the adoptee. How do you protect yourself from the heartache of attempting to provide a home for a dog whose behaviour you may never change?

Most responsible rescue societies are as concerned about their charges as you are about the dog you hope to adopt. They are the ones who have a ‘grace clause' in their paperwork, allowing you and the dog time to see if this is going to work. Two to four weeks is considered a very short period of time for this. They will probably ask you more questions on your home and lifestyle than you can think of to ask about the dog. Their mission should be place this dog in the most compatible home possible - for the benefit of you both. Any private individual needing to relocate a dog will allow you the same if they are truly concerned. Please do not be swayed by the information that if the dog is not placed by whatever date it has to be euthanised. Such emotional blackmail is abhorrent.

Why do I place so much emphasis on being aware of the dog you may wish to adopt? Why would you not simply decide to take the plunge and retrain the older dog offered you? It was once thought that for the first few weeks of a puppy's life, all it needed was warmth and contact with its mother and litter mates. Now it has been proven that whatever socialisation and interaction a dog is given, from the day it is born, has a major impact on how that same animal will react for life. We also now know that whatever is learnt between eight and thirteen weeks of age, will be part of that dogs make up, for life!

Frequently we see clients who, having taken in an older puppy or mature dog, think that a few simple training sessions and a lot of love is all that is needed to convert their chosen companion to one with which they wish to live. Alas, this isn't so simple and once it is realised that those changes are not happening the poor dog is once again in need of a new home.

The longer any behaviour is allowed to continue, the more it is reinforced within the dog. Some learned behaviours may never be changed. Aggressive tendencies are a case in point, in truth real aggression is not curable. One ‘television trainer' often refers to the two types of aggression, in fact there are some eighteen types of known aggression in dogs.

The above may make adopting an older dog sound all "gloom and doom", however, there are as many great dogs in need as there are human made misfits. In some cases there are very legitimate causes behind the older dog needing a new family. Even some who may have been given little human interaction blossom when that attention is forthcoming. I still recommend that grace period though.

Each time we have added an older dog to our household, whether or not we have known the background, we go through a routine similar to that with a new puppy. Bathroom trips are frequent. To establish where the bathroom spot is and through which doors. We dog proof by not leaving out anything which might be construed as a chew toy and we never leave the new family member alone, loose in the house, until we are pretty sure the house rules are accepted. We also start a training schedule from day one to ensure there is no doubt who is in charge.

Dogs who are rehomed sometimes take weeks settling in and may be traumatised by the move to a new family. These dogs do not always show their true temperament or characteristics for some time. It should not need emphasising that if you have children extra precautions must always be in effect. Some people appear to be of the mind that the dog, who is after all ‘only a dog', has to put up with whatever their children decide to do with him/her. If an incident occurs then it is always considered the fault of the animal. Lack of respect towards animals is often a forerunner of lack of respect towards humans, or worse.

Eileen