Failed the home check

[Ari_RR]

There are breeders of Rhodesian Ridgebacks in Germany........
It may be the opposite of Rupert... no fears ( except perhaps of cold, rain, and stairs, but that can be overcome )
Just a thought.... (*)

(*) I am not impartial here, of course....

[runlikethewind]

I am so angry for you!! I think Emmabeth's plan is an excellent one - what a good ploy. You call up, say you have cleared your stuff and you are now ready to take her. See what they say!!!

[runlikethewind]

Failing that, is this a national chain of rehoming centres or a private one? Can you submit a formal complaint for investigation?

[Ari_RR]

Yeah. Good ploy..
But if it this was me, I'd let this go. Getting back at the rescue center would not justify my time and aggravation, unless it is really, really important to get Luisa back and there is a realistic chance. Other then that - there would be more important things for me then launching an investigation into home checking procedures of this particular rescue center. Just my 2 cents...

[Sarah83]

I'm afraid that we are apparently "not a suitable home for a dog". I'm not sure whether this shelter is part of a national chain or a private one, the only contact info I can find is for the person we were dealing with and who did the home check.

If I thought there was any chance of getting her back I'd fight but I don't believe there is I'm just hoping she's not going to spend months or even years in the shelter waiting for a home. Hubby wants to tell everyone to avoid the place but as I said, it's the animals who suffer then. We've wondered whether it's because we're military as lots of shelters are against us, apparently so many pets get dumped when soldiers get posted out of here. Or whether they just wanted space in the shelter for a while for some reason. They were quite insistent we take her for a walk and very quick to offer her on a weeks trial, makes me wonder and looking back I guess I should have wondered then.

And Sarah, they really don't weigh all THAT much, one end at a time <G> Lift the back end, push the front end with it. Or do the towel under the belly liftie sling thing! He'd learn stairs in no time

It's not the learning to do stairs, it's the strain on the joints from doing stairs I'd be worried about. Wouldn't worry me too much if it were just up to bed and down again in the morning but every hour or so through the day would be a hell of a lot.

[ClareMarsh]

We've wondered whether it's because we're military as lots of shelters are against us, apparently so many pets get dumped when soldiers get posted out of here.

I'm going to hold back on ranting about the shelter

I'm probably suggesting something you've already thought of but is there any way of finding out about dogs who people aren't taking home wih them when soldiers are relocating? I guess it could take ages but you never know?

[Sarah83]

There is Clare, there's a facebook group specifically for BFG pets needing new homes and a few other groups where people tend to advertise them. I joined them a couple of weeks ago. There have been a few advertised but the only one that would have been suitable so far was a 6 month old Aussie pup and he was snapped up by someone closer apparently. They also advertise litters on them. If any breeds I'm interested in come up I'll ask about health tests and all that but I'm betting none do them and if I'm going to buy from a breeder I want a decent breeder.

[emmabeth]

I think stairs are a consideration when getting a puppy - if you *ahem* had a er, second hand adult hound though... not an issue (and they do curl up verrrrrrry small if needed)..

All that said, actually with deerhound babies, stairs are not so bad as long as you are walking the pup up and down them - whats BAD with stairs is when pups gallop up and down them on their own, in play - not something that would happen with you (and a deerhound baby at 8 weeks is a very carryable thing, by 12 weeks, not so much but by then you'd know the potty schedule and would be gently walking them up and down the stairs.

Not that im pushing Deerhounds .... much..

[Cava14Una]

As you know I think failing you was a piece of nonsense and that there was more than was said behind it

Would agree about an older Deerhound they are real gentle giants and certainly take up a lot less space once curled up. I have friends who used to have them and I loved them to bits even if they did tend to pinch my earrings

[Flyby]

Correct me if I'm wrong here, you were introduced to one dog whom you were on your way to collect, only to be told you didn't get that particular dog, but you got Luisa instead, whom they released to your custody before doing their home check, and subsequently reclaimed the dog on spurious arbitrary grounds contrived on the spot with no formal explanation given, and no consideration of the dogs welfare?

I don't know what authorities you have to work with Sarah83, but that kind of conduct for rescue centre seems at best to be grossly insensitive and unprofessional, and utterly appauling to be so needlessly causing distress and upset to both you and the dogs. Not to imply for a moment there was anything wrong with your 'stuff', but just for argument's sake, even if there WAS a legitimate reason for not rehoming the dog with you, the manner in which they went about their business is still nothing short of disgraceful. I cannot imagine anything more crass and heartless than exposing a vulnerable dog to a new home and some TLC, only to take it all away again on a whim. It makes my blood boil, so I cannot imagine how miserable you must be feeling.

I wouldn't give up on all rescue centres, but I would avoid that one particular rescue centre, - avoid it like the plague. I'd also go out of my way to tell the other rescue centres in the area just how nasty your experience has been with this particular centre, and see what these other centres suggest you might do about it.

There aren't half some horrible people in the world eh?

[Sarah83]

Pretty much it Flyby. We weren't on our way to collect Johnny, just spend time with him so he wasn't going to come home to complete strangers but then they said they didn't think he'd taken to us as he got distressed when we took him out. Fair enough. They asked whether we wanted to take some for a walk and suggested Luisa who, despite her shyness at first, we thought would fit in very well here. We brought Luisa home on what they call a "looking after" contract (they suggested this as soon as we expressed interest) so she was never actually ours, she remained their property. They said they'd call us on the Monday to arrange a home check, they didn't. I phoned them on the Wednesday to arrange one and they were very short with me, didn't ask about her or anything, just said they'd be here on Friday. The woman accepted my offer of a cup of coffee as she came in, they were gone before the kettle had boiled. Now either my house is horrendously unsuitable or dangerous for a dog or there was some other reason if they can decide that quickly. And if it was another reason why not tell us that reason?

Unfortunately I don't know what authorities we have to work with either. From what I've heard a lot of the shelters out here are really against us because of so many animals just left behind when soldiers get posted out but why send a dog home with us in the first place if that's the case? Why not simply keep telling us they don't think any of the dogs are suitable? Why not do the home check first and say no based on that before sending a dog home? Hell, why not just say no when we said we lived in a flat?

Looking back, the whole situation seems very odd to be honest

[WufWuf]

What a horrible thing to happen to you both and to poor Luisa

This is a disgrace and I think that you are right, there's more going on then "too much stuff". I've done home checks (always before homing) and people are given the oppertunity to fix any issues they might have (hole in fence, cables exposed, cat food left down where dog can reach it) a home check is supposed to help everyone. I've certainly never had a problem with too much clutter.

The only time I recommended that a couple didn't get a dog was they were working all day and even in this case they were put off the idea by the homecheck (as I pointed out some things about dog ownership they hadn't considered (walking several times a day as they had no garden, possible destruction of nice furniture, what where they planning on doing with the dog when they had children) so it wasn't hard to convince them that now was not the right time.

In my opinion it was also strange that they said Johnny didn't seem to be bonding with you as shelters are very stressful places and staff are aware that dogs do not show their personaliltes or bond well in these sitiations. It's common for pups to become distressed when taken out as often it's the only time they are out of the shelter.

I am aware that rescue people can be judemental and I think it's possible they never intended to let you keep the dog

We've wondered whether it's because we're military as lots of shelters are against us, apparently so many pets get dumped when soldiers get posted out of here. Or whether they just wanted space in the shelter for a while for some reason. They were quite insistent we take her for a walk and very quick to offer her on a weeks trial, makes me wonder and looking back I guess I should have wondered then.

Once again I'm so sorry this happened but I believe that there's a dog out there just waiting to be with you forever and it will be a very lucky dog.

[Flyby]

Hmmm...

When you mention military, it rang a faint bell in my memory.

A few years ago, I had a friend who was trying to buy a Weimaraner puppy, but his preferred breeder flatly refused to sell him one simply because he was in the Military. He found it acutely frustrating, but the breeder would not be persuaded.

I wonder if that's the real reason you're being turned down, but perhaps it's difficult for the rescue centre to openly acknowledge being prejudiced against the military. Maybe this has caused them problems or complications in the past, so now it's something they cannot admit to.

It's the only way I can make sense of it, but I would still roundly condemn the cack-handed and unprofessional way they go about things.

What a horrible experience.


Edit - And just to add, because my friend was denied a Weimaraner, he bought himself a Rhodesian Ridgeback, and if he'd never done that and thereby introduced me to RR's, I doubt very much that I'd ever have bought my Odin. By my reckoning, that's one cloud with two outstanding silver linings.

[Ari_RR]

That could be it... If Sarah had not mentioned them being military during visits to the rescue, and the first time the rescue lady realized that they were dealing with military was when she saw the uniform during the home check - that would explain the abrupt ending.. It may have been that from her point of view they should stay away from military at all costs, and the minute she noticed the uniform her decision was made - grab Luisa, give this couple some explanation ("too much stuff" is as good as any), and get the hell out of there as quickly as possible, forget the manners, never mind coffee, etc.

[MPbandmom]

I kind of understand shelters being against military at least for single soldiers. The animal shelter was just across the street from where my son was stationed. One of his roomates was going to be deployed and had 4 dogs and several cats to try and rehome somewhere before leaving. Some went to family, but I think some ended up being returned to the shelter.

It just seems that a couple with a stable relationship in which both parties want a dog, military or not, would be a different matter. Military spouses often stay behind depending on where the soldier is deployed to, so the dog would still have a stable environment. Certaintly your moving with Rupert would be testimate to your commitment to your pets.

It is sad that probably bad experiences with much less dedicated, or single military pet owners has led to this attitude from shelters.