advice on how to find a good rescue to adopt from

[doglover4ever]

Hello Everyone

after my first post JudyN gave me good advice as well as Nettle and thought maybe a puppy is not right for me and my husband has looked at the replies and agrees. and as well as me putting in a lot of time to socialize and train our new member my husband also want to be able to take the dog to work with him a couple of times a week (he's a dog groomer). our exercise limit has gone up to 2hrs a day as my husband would like to do more with him like agility (just for fun) we have decided to get a rescue but don't know where to look we were watching the dog rescuers so thought the RSPCA. my husband also met a beautiful Greyhound and found out they are laid back what we are looking for.

should we go to a breed rescue like the retired greyhound trust or a rescue like the RSPCA. what should we be looking for?

[JudyN]

I'm so glad you're considering a greyhound, they can make wonderful pets I would recommend a breed-specific rescue, as they will have a more in-depth knowledge of the breed. Ideally, you would look for a rescue that fosters their dogs out as much as possible so you know what they are like in a 'real home' - bear in mind that an ex-racer may never have been toilet trained. Also, you can tell a lot by what the rescue asks you. It should feel like an interrogation - how long will the dog be left for, what do you plan to do about holidays, how high are your fences.... Ask if you can return the dog if it doesn't work out - any decent rescue will be happy to do this, and will insist that you don't pass the dog on to anyone else if you can't keep it. Be worried if they seem keen just to give you whatever dog takes your fancy.

Whereabouts are you located?

[doglover4ever]

Hi JudyN

we really liked what we learnt about the Greyhound. there over looked a lot which surprised me. if they do a home check I was worried about our garden as we don't have fencing we have tall shrubs all the way around about 6ft high and our neighbour has on her side mesh fencing so a dog wont get out do you think they might turn us down for not having prober fencing.

[JudyN]

They might well turn you down. Do you think a determined dog would be able to get through the shrubs? Is there any way you could erect a fence? I'm in a similar position - our dog wasn't a rescue and we started off with chicken netting round the garden until we realised that he couldn't escape from a paper bag, so would be defeated by our shrubs - but if I ever get a rescue, we're probably going to have to get some fencing and upset our neighbours

Some rescues have a blanket rule on this, others are happy to look at individual cases - for instance they might be happy with your garden if you are adopting an old greyhound with three legs. The best thing to do is to find a rescue you feel happy with, ask them what their rules are, and maybe ask for a homecheck so someone can advise you on where they think the weak points are. In the meantime, have a think about how easily you could make the garden - or maybe part of the garden - secure.

[JudyN]

As far as I know, Greyhound Gap is a good rescue. Here's their page about their adoption process, which could give you a feel for what to expect - you can click on a link to see the questionnaire they will ask you to complete: http://www.greyhoundgap.org.uk/homing-a ... on-process

[doglover4ever]

Hi JudyN

I cant put any fencing up as mesh is on the other side so I wanted to put prober fencing panels up and they council said yes but would need permission from my neighbours on both sides before they can say 100% yes and they both said no . so I don't think a rescue would be a good idea and we wont be moving anytime soon. if I was able to have a puppy in the future as I am likely to be on fewer hours as my husband Is doing very well at his salon. in the future do you think it would be possible to teach a dog from a young age to not go through privets? ( my husband said there not shrubs there privets or hedges) one neighbour has mesh fencing up and the other has a small wooden type fencing. the dog would need to go through the privets and jump over my neighbours fencing.

what do you think.

[mansbestfriend]

Limited interwebs
Hi. I fostered some greyhounds (qld,Australia) and also adopted one. Found that just starting the process (after lts of research), made decision making easier. Subitting an enquiry to the Rescue got the ball rolling. Good luck.

[JudyN]

I had thought that you could erect a fence without neighbours' permission if it was inside your boundary, but I've had a search and that may not be the case. Maybe you could suggest something like this trellis fencing to your neighbours? http://www.worldstores.co.uk/p/Winchest ... wgod4n4Amw You could even grow climbers up it. Of course, you could mention to your neighbours that you don't want your new dog to dig up their lawns...

I'm not sure you can train a dog not to jump a fence - at least not using positive methods, and using aversives is unreliable and can be really damaging to the dog. On the other hand, some dogs can still clear a 6' fence, so it is a case of balancing risks (I can't say my dog wouldn't find a way of getting next door if there was a deer in the middle of their lawn). If you did get a dog, you could monitor whether he was likely to try to escape the garden, keeping him under constant supervision and maybe on lead or in a smaller area with temporary chicken fencing - but you would have to have a Plan B in case he showed he wasn't going stay contained. This might be some sort of fencing your neighbours will allow, or even always keeping him on lead in the garden (which wouldn't be too bad - many people keep dogs in flats and they do all their toileting and get all their exercise on walks).

It would be a shame if you couldn't get the type of dog you really want because of the fence issue, so I do think it would be worth talking to a greyhound rescue and explaining the situation. They will have had a lot of exerience with this sort of problem and may be happy that a dog you want to adopt won't go through the privet, or suggest other options.