Long gone are the days when you could go to a rescue centre, choose a dog and take them home. Nowadays, the adoption process is so complicated that plenty of people end up giving up and buying a dog instead. Despite the record number of dogs available! If you are looking for a rescue dog, you are about to learn everything you need to succeed.
Looking for a rescue dog in the UK?
1. The reality of rescuing a dog, are you ready?
2. Private adoption or dog rescue?
3. Breed vs Personality
4. Puppy, adult or senior?
5. What about behavioural problems?
6. Patience is the game
7. It’s time to fill in those applications
8. If you don’t hear back
9. 1st call!
10. Meeting your dog
11. Taking your dog home
From wondering how wonderful it will be to share your life with a dog to being actively looking for a furever friend, we have you covered! The process of looking for a rescue dog is tough. And with so many places to look at, it is easy to feel overwhelmed.
1. The reality of rescuing a dog, are you ready?
I’m not going to put you off, because that’s what rescues do best. They test you, screen you, push you to your limits and make you feel like you are not worth it, but I don’t blame them. People are still getting dogs at whim and then dumping them at rescue centres. So you can understand why they try their best to challenge you.
Yet, the reality is that having a dog is like committing to having a toddler for about 10-15 years. Why a toddler? Because like dogs, they need you all the time; they are up to no good when you don’t pay attention; they don’t understand if you are tired or not in the mood to play; they leave a mess around and don’t care about tiding up. They even sleep a lot, but never when you need them to do it. Not to mention that everything ends up in their mouth.
But, at least a toddler, grows up after a few years. Your dog will never leave that stage, EVER.
In other words, you are about to put your life upside-down. For what? For having some cuddles and a lovely face to look at every morning? Our brain tricks us, and even if you have had a dog before, it will remind you only of the good stuff. Like the one you can find on Instagram.
But the truth is that living in this country, your experience will be more like: going for walks, in the rain, when everybody else is at home. Not needing an alarm in the morning, because your dog will do that. So no more getting up late after a night out. If you are house-proud, forget it! Muddy paws and hair will get everywhere, mostly on those lovely clear carpets. Do you enjoy having a last minute escape because you found cheap flights? Not anymore! Who is going to look after Bella at such short notice?
But that’s just a normal dog! If you are unlucky and your rescue comes with behavioural issues, say bye-bye to your life as you know it. As an example I can share the experience with my dog, Haku, that lovely face that you can see above. He was so anxious that we couldn’t leave him anywhere. That meant, not only holidays around the country where you couldn’t do anything, as he couldn’t handle it. The worst part was not being able to travel together to our home country, Spain, for seven years! We got married during that time and our families didn’t even know each other!
Obviously, having a dog is a great experience, and saving one by rescuing them is even better. But, you need to be prepared for the whole experience. Not just what you can see on Instagram or when someone passes you by with a cute dog.
Finally, different dogs are going to have different needs. In order for you to choose wisely, focus on your day to day activities and how a dog will suit them. Not what you “wish” will change once you have your dog, like doing more exercise or socialising. Above all, think about what you actually do and you are willing to sacrifice for having that dog.
Not every dog will enjoy going for a morning run. Exactly the same very few will be happy waiting at home for you after 8 hours. It is down to you to figure out what is important and match a dog to that exact criteria.
2. Private adoption or dog rescue?
On one hand, there are hundreds of rescue centres in the UK. But unfortunately, there is no general browser that will cover all of them. Hence you will be visiting every single website from Dogs Trust to the RSPCA, Blue Cross, Battersea, Jerry Green,… And as you need to do it regularly, you will end up wasting plenty of time.
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On the other hand, nowadays plenty of people adopt their dogs through individuals using the internet to rehome their dogs. Websites like pets4homes, petlist or Gumtree are full of dogs’ ads. Although this is a way to rescue a dog, I have my reservations about going this way.
Part of my job at Dogs Trust was assessing dogs to decide if they were suitable to be taken in. Unfortunately, I’ve seen lots of dogs that were passed from pillar to post through these “private adoptions”. This breaks those poor dogs and tells me that it is neither an easier way to find the right match nor a better one.
Moreover, I not only encourage you to adopt through a reputable rescue, but also give you my main reasons:
First: The dog comes thoroughly checked: fully vaccinated, neutered and vet checked in the last 48 hours. Up to date with flea and worm treatment. With a pet insurance that will include the first 15 days of the adoption. On top of that, the rescue will provide you with all the information they have about the dog.
Second: The biggest organisations, even some small ones now too, are going to offer behavioural support for free! This can be life, even more at the beginning when things tend to go south. Dogs Trust has a behavioural support line for free, not only for their adopters, but for anyone! So keep it in mind if going private.
Third: Although nobody gets a dog to return them, the truth is 1 out of 10 end up that way. But unfortunately, if you go private, they have no obligation to take it back. So on top of having to return a dog, imagine having no place to do it! Just because of this point alone, I will go with a rescue every time.
Finally, if you decide to go with a rescue, how can you tell if it is a reputable one? There are so different ones: national, breed specific, volunteer-only managed, bringing dogs from abroad, saving them from killing pounds. Each one of them has its upsides and downsides. But I reckon I could write a whole post about them if I wanted to cover everything in detail.
As a general rule, a reputable rescue will take the dog back if it doesn’t work out. They will offer you help and advice. But they will never push you to take the dog with you. On the contrary, you will have to jump through lots of hoops. Just to make sure you are the best match for their dog. Above all, they will have a limited amount of dogs. And they will not just rehome cute puppies with very sad stories.
I’d say that big rescues are less accommodating, but they provide the best service at the cheapest cost. While small ones, they will be able to provide a “personal” approach, but with far less options regarding their dogs. Breed specific ones are the pickiest ! And also the most expensive rescues. But it is normal as they provide pure breeds at a fraction of their “buying tag”.
3. Breed vs personality
In my experience,choosing a rescue dog by their breed is a mistake, period. Instead, I’d suggest studying in depth what are the important things that you want in your future dog. Like being friendly, active, a coach-potato, willing to learn, eager to play and interact with you, independent,…
My problem with choosing by breed is that people take for granted certain behaviours. Like labs are friendly or cockapoos are great with kids. Just because you have had that breed before or you know someone that has it. While the reality in rescue is:
Breed rant ended, let’s see a different way of looking for a rescue dog. Once you really know what you are looking for, search for the PERSONALITY that matches your criteria. Every dog is different and although the breed can come with certain traits, you cannot take for granted things like: good with kids, dog friendly, easy going, …
Sorry to break it to you, but if you are looking for a particular behaviour in a dog, they need to be trained. No dog is dog friendly, good with kids or good mannered by nature, they need to learn it. If you are looking for an “easy dog“, look for an adult that matches your criteria.
For instance, I love big dogs, but my favourite ones while working in rescues were always small dogs. It all comes down to their personality. Oh wait, do we have favourites in rescue? Of course! And that’s another good way to find the best dogs, ask the staff what their favourites are and you’ll be surprised.
Ditch any previous ideas about what to expect by breed, and be open about other types of dogs. Focus on personality and you will find the true gems.
4. Puppy, adult or senior?
This is another problem, it seems that if you don’t “rescue” a puppy, that dog is not going to bond with you. And that’s why the majority of people looking for a rescue dog just want very young ones. But my experience is that:
5. What about behavioural problems?
Are all dogs in rescue broken? Nope, not in the slightest! You can find great dogs waiting to be adopted without any issue at all. There are also some dogs that had a bad match and now need a specific home. And there are others that will need someone very specific because their problems are quite serious, but they will thrive in the right environment.
Reading and understanding a rehoming profile is the most important part in order to find the right match. If you don’t know what they are asking for, there is no way you will be able to get the dog. But if you can deal with certain behaviours, like pulling on lead, light reactivity or some sorts of separation anxiety, you can stand out from the crowd and rescue an amazing dog that will need just a bit of extra work.
For the few of you that would like to rescue a “project dog“, one that has some challenging behaviours, first of all, hats off, because it won’t be easy and it will take plenty of time to get to a point that you will enjoy having that dog. Secondly, don’t take for granted that rescues are going to pull out their red carpet for you. Only if you match their strict criteria and you are willing to jump through all their hoops, then you’ll see how far they are willing to go to make that match work.
For example, when I was working at Dogs Trust, the rehoming process for some of my dogs took months. By rehoming process I mean the time from the very first meet & greet to collecting the dog at the rehoming centre. In Travis’ case (my lovely boy in a pic below), it took two months! He wasn’t even the longest one, Ronan needed four months to go home!
We are talking about lots of meet and greets at the rehoming centre, followed by home visits with the dog, plus drop offs and collections. Everything is done gradually, to build up a connection with dogs that sometimes have spent years at the rehoming centre. Imagine the amount of hours invested to make it work! Not only on my part and the team, but also from the potential adopters.
In those cases, the rescue centre is going to be very careful to choose wisely. There is nothing worse than having someone pulling out of an adoption after lots of time invested. Well, indeed there is, when they take that dog home, but it doesn’t work out.
So next time you are thinking that dog rescues are picky, I hope this will give you a different perspective.
6. Patience is the game
Certainly, finding the right match will take time. Not only because there are hundreds of dogs available to choose from. But also because the majority of the time you will face nothing more than silence and rejection. Sadly, rescue centres are not famous for their customer service. The majority of them will tell you that “if you don’t hear from us, we are sorry to inform you you have not been successful this time”. In my opinion, this is a pity and a waste of a golden opportunity.
But I have seen it from the other side. Rescues relying on volunteers, unable to cope with the amout of interest that certain dogs attract while they can’t redirect those people to other dogs in their care.
As a result, lots of dogs wait to be adopted for far longer than needed. Indeed, what you should be doing is applying as soon as you see one that matches your criteria. Do not wait to hear back from the rescue, because there is a 95% probability that they won’t contact you. Keep applying until you hear from them! And even then, don’t stop until you have met your dog and you are happy with your choice.
In certain cases, like if you have young children, other pets or work full time away from home, it adds an extra hurdle. Unfortunately, any of them will put you at the bottom of the applicants’ pile. Which means that you can end up looking for a rescue dog for months ! And finding the process so frustrating that plenty of people give up. This is one of the reasons I created The Right Dog. Please, do not despair! Create your alert now and don’t waste any time searching for dogs that are hard to find. Leave that to us!
7. It’s time to fill in those applications
If you want to get a rescue dog, you need to ace your application. Take your time, understand the rehoming profile and most importantly, think about how you can provide everything that dog needs.
Plenty of people see a picture and apply out of love, let’s say. Those are the ones that are rejected straight away. Surprisingly, about 80% of people applying for a dog don’t meet the basic criteria. It doesn’t matter how good your home is, if you can’t provide what they are asking for, you are out. Don’t fight the criteria, it is there for a reason.
But that leaves you with around 20% that can provide a good home for that dog. How can you stand out from them? By explaining, in detail, how much you understand what that dog needs and how you can help them. Don’t be shy here! Get to the nitty gritty of every dog you have had and how you have learnt from and with them.
Out of this 20% of good homes, they will initially contact only up to 3 homes. At this point, they are looking for someone that is ready, willing to go above and beyond and it doesn’t get cold feet despite what they are explaining about the dog. Only if they can’t find someone like that, they will contact a few more people. You should have everything ready, no near holidays booked, no moving home, no changing jobs. Likewise, you need flexibility to drop everything and be able to meet the dog asap. Oh, yeah, rescues are demanding. But remember that it is your decision to go there.
Sometimes, I get the impression that people looking for a rescue dog apply because there is a sense of achievement when you are chosen. But the reality is that you are going to face rejection until you learn to understand your best match. Also, don’t tell them I said this, but usually pestering works. If you are there everyday, they will find you a dog just to get rid of you. Being there, done that.
8. If you don’t hear back
In short, you are going to be filling application forms and not hearing back from rescues, but that’s the process. It has nothing to do with how good your home is nor it says anything about you. If anything, it says something about what you are choosing…
Let me explain. All the time people get frustrated when they are not able to get a particular dog. Well, if you want a certain dog, it is going to be tough. Because you are going to compete with lots of other people. Period. On the other hand, if you are just looking for a rescue dog… that’s easy!
Certain dogs get all the interest: small ones, cute ones, pure breeds, they just fly out! Everybody wants a puppy! Seriously, they can get hundreds of applications. Nobody says “I’ll take one that no one else wants”.
For example, a black greyhound or lurcher can spent lots of time waiting for a home. Just because nobody wants a black hound, regardless of their personality. It is such a pity! Look, I don’t make the rules. I just tell you that if you are open to look beyond breeds and physicalities, you can strike gold.
In case you are wondering, these are the least sought after dogs in rescue:
If you want to have a call back, apply for one of these.
9. First call!
You did it! They chose you and they are now calling you back! Pretty exciting, isn’t it? But keep calm now. This is your moment to ask more questions, learn everything you can about that dog and truly understand if it is a good match. Also, just because they chose you, doesn’t mean you have to take it. If they tell you anything that you are not comfortable with or a bit unsure, you can walk away. There are plenty of dogs and we are talking about a 10 year commitment, better be sure.
Ask how the rehoming process will be and what are the next steps, so you can be prepared. It is not uncommon to have a home visit. Although after covid, they usually just ask you to provide pictures or video of your house. So they can check that everything works for that dog at this point.
A home check is not a test, they won’t go there looking for problems. What they do is just make sure that your garden is fully secured or where the dog will sleep or whatever the dog will need. Even if you fail a home visit for a particular dog, it doesn’t mean that you can have a different one. And usually what happens is that they will suggest you any changes necessary.
If you decide to go ahead, they will book you a meet & greet in the next 24 hours. Only if you are after a more complicated dog, they will be willing to hold it. But otherwise, time is of the essence. Ideally, everybody at home should go to this first introduction. Even your dog, if you have one! Sometimes the rescue would advise otherwise, always check first.
10. Meeting your dog
Depending how straightforward the dog is, the first meet and greet is just a first interaction. Don’t try to do too much, watch more and do less. Ask lots of questions. Get as much info as possible.
See how the dog interacts with the handler, not just with you. They can be shy, but they should have a good interaction with the person that is bringing them. Some dogs are very loving and will interact with you from the beginning. While others will need a bit of time or be less bothered about you.
Depending on the type of dog and how easy they are, you will need multiple meet and greets. During them, try to spend time alone, playing, giving treats, walking, doing some training, stroking them like you will do at home. Obviously, follow the advice of the training team at all times, if the dog has any particular issues.
Sometimes, it doesn’t work out. You just don’t connect with the dog. It can be that they are bigger than they looked in pictures or not as playful as you thought they would be,… It is ok. The important thing is that you know what you want and you are willing to wait for the right one.
11. Taking your dog home
When the moment finally arrives and you are ready to take your dog home, keep in mind that:
Rescuing a dog is a long journey, and hopefully this will be the beginning of an amazing story.
Conclusion
Looking for a rescue dog can be overwhelming, but following these steps will help you:
The easiest way to find your dream rescue dog!
Get an alert every time you match with your perfect rescue dog