Buying vs adopting..

Interested to know; what were your reasons for buying your dog over adopting..or adopting over buying?

I'm writing a piece about overcrowding in rescues and how the staffie came to be the culprit, and I find it really bewildering that people still continue to buy these dogs, especially lovers of the breed, and there's obviously a reason for it so was wondering what made you buy? Or what made you adopt?

I bought Loki because every other dog I had was a rescue and I'd ever had a puppy before, so that was it really. Selfish reason in that sense, but I love Loki, so I don't regret it. At the same time, if I want to get a second dog some time in the future, it'd probably be a rescue.

My hubby and I rescued Rocky from woodgreen Animal Charity, at the time we were unaware of the problem of the overcrowding. We had been thinking about having a dog for a while and were not even fussed about breed, we just knew we wanted to rescue rather than buy a puppy to give a dog a second chance at a happy life. We had been visiting Woodgreen for a while and nearly came home with many little dogs.

We would one day love to have another dog and of course would go for a rescue again, a sister for Rocky woud be lovely but need a larger garden first.

For me i bought puppy from breeder
1 first staffy i had owned (tons of dogs before him)
2 with young kids i wanted a pup so could train myself to be social (saddly seeing the parents of pups is needed for this to see temp off parents not posible with rescue dogs )
3 i was blinded by colour blue or dark red (at the time rare in shelters)
4 wanted to make sure had pure breed kc reg due to pb laws
5 i wanted a little puppy to snuggle up with lol( also avalible from shelters)
6 now im well versed with the breed i would consider a rescue in the fuecher

We rescued as I have always wanted to rehome a dog in need of a new family that will be forever - but until March we didn't have a big enough house and lived on a very busy road. Might sound a bit mad but one of my main priorities when looking for a new house this year was suitability for a dog and we were lucky enough to move to a lovely area, with fab walks and a good secure garden. We approached the rescue with no idea what they were going to match with us, I just told them we had cats and children etc and they rang and told us about Dexter. When she said he was a staff my heart leapt, and I just KNEW it was right, they have always been one of my favourite breeds and a good friend of mine not long moved away taking his lovely staffie with him - I was missing him terribly as I used to dogsit sometimes. So far Dex has proved me right all the way, why do so many end up in rescue when they have so much to give? In future we may adopt another, maybe in a couple of years or would possibly consider a pup if finances and time allow us to go to a reputable breeder.

Rachel33 wrote: I find it really bewildering that people still continue to buy these dogs, especially lovers of the breed,

This is a rather sweeping statement - not meant in any bad way, obviously, but a little condescending-sounding. I know you didn't mean it that way, though.

I think it's down to personal choice versus the fact that some rescues won't give dogs to certain people.

Me, for instance.

Because my front door is on the first floor, rescues won't entertain us. They ignore the 40+ years experience in having all sorts of dogs. They ignore the years of training experience when I used to run a training club. They ignore all the good points that could be had from letting us rescue & concentrate on one aspect that is really so petty that it's almost laughable. Rant over.

I have to say, though, that I love getting a pup for two reasons;
1. I like to be able to know that all health tests that should be made, have been made
2. I just like to be able to 'mould' a dog from puppyhood.

I did take on a 'rescue' dog (private rescue) years ago - a GSD x Rough Collie - and he was a pain in the *, but a lovely dog all the same. All the other dogs I've had have been from a pup.

I will always rescue because of the terrible problem in shelters and how many dogs are pts.

janey wrote:

I will always rescue because of the terrible problem in shelters and how many dogs are pts.

And I totally agree, but it isn't an option for some people. Dave, for example couldn't get a rescue because of his wife's childcare work.

Rescue centres refuse to rehome to people that work full time, so we had to buy a puppy. I still feel like I rescued him though as he could have wound up being used for fighting or breeding. What really annoyed me about a certain rescue centre is they wouldn't rehome to me but they rehomed a beautiful staffie to an unemployed couple who hadn't a clue about the breed & the dog wound up being euthanased within 6 months because it became aggresive. ( I know this because I work in a Vets & was unfortunately involved in the euthanasia) made my blood boil!!

Rescue centres do a fantastic job, they really do. BUT their criteria are set in stone & they miss rehoming dogs to very good homes because of it.

Not all rescues are like that, you just need to approach them and talk it through. I thought that working full time and not having a garden would effect me but it didn't. They are more accommodating than people give them credit for

Rescues for me - can't bear the thought of a dog being destroyed because it's an inconvenience to someone.

Have to say, though, some rescues are very unrealistic about rehoming - if they lightened up a bit, there'd be many more rehomed (and without suffering).

I don't view living in a flat, or on the first floor, or owning a motorbike, or working more than four hours a day to be sufficient to exclude potential owners in a lot of cases.

Caryll's case is a good example.

I'm also ****ed off with certain rescues that destroy perfectly good dogs that might be a bit fear aggressive when coming in to kennels - never mind working with the dog, just give it the needle instead.

I approached 5 rescues in this general area - four of them wouldn't even discuss it past the 1st floor thing & the other one came out & still said no.

Working dog wrote:I'm also ****ed off with certain rescues that destroy perfectly good dogs that might be a bit fear aggressive when coming in to kennels - never mind working with the dog, just give it the needle instead.

I know - a little work with someone knowledgeable could easily put them straight.

Sounds like you guys have had some cr*appy experiences with rescues... The larger centres do generally have guidelines set in stone and it drives me mad because I've seen some brilliant potential owners turned away, although to be fair though it makes it harder for genuine people like yourselves to rehome, it does also help when they need to say no to a home also or they would have to let them go anywhere!

However smaller or private rescues are usually much more lenient.. a friend of mine that works full time adopted a dog with ease, and I adopted Biscuit when I lived in a top floor flat without a garden because I went and openly explained my situation, and the fact that nobody else was going to take her probably helped the situation the little terror.

I'm not sure which rescues you're referring to when you say about them not working with dogs, but until you've actually worked in one full time I do think it's really unfair to pass that judgement. For example; I had a dog recently that had been in kennels for 8 months, she couldn't cope with the environment and broke her leg from throwing herself around in the kennel despite daily work, all the enrichment I could give her in her kennel, 2 walks a day and spending my lunch break with me (much more than most get) I searched endlessly for a foster or forever home to no avail for 6 months. She got herself into such a state that we had no other choice than to put her to sleep, but out of the kennel to people that didn't see her all day every day she seemed like an okay dog! We've got 120+ other dogs to rehome, and nobody wants happy, healthy staffies let alone one's with problems, and the numbers just keep rising. It's common knowledge that kennels are the worst place for dogs with fear or aggression complaints to be as there's no certainty about the day or routine, so if it's apparent that they are not going to cope in kennels it's much kinder to put them to sleep early on before they hurt themselves or somebody else! A friend of mine who runs a rescue actually has a block of 20 aggressive dogs that have been in rescue for years and are never going to find homes to live out their final years, they have big sofas in their kennels and daily exercise too but it's no way to live!

Rachel33 wrote:I'm not sure which rescues you're referring to when you say about them not working with dogs, but until you've actually worked in one full time I do think it's really unfair to pass that judgement.

I did not generalise my comment to all rescues, hence I think it's perfectly fair to be honest.

My comment was made in the light of talking to certain rescue owners and solicitors in the week - there has just been a big think tank policy meeting in London regarding potential changes in dog laws - and I attended a legal debriefing.

Certain people were upfront about the line they draw before putting a dog to sleep. It more than validated my comment.

Ah okay, fair point. I've worked in a few rescues now, and my feeling is that they've all started out with their hearts in the right place, however circumstance can sometimes lead them to high levels euthanasia. I could have just picked good rescue centres to work at though! It's heartbreaking, and I heard of one place that tried to put a dog to sleep for chasing her tail which really did make my blood boil, but then looking past the rumours she'd actually chewed half of her tail off overnight through pure stress of her environment and months and months in kennels! If these people are straight up admitting to not even trying with dogs however, they should probably just be shut down now..

Always a rescue for me, iv rescued 3 staffs from rescues and 1 a home which needed rescuing. Anyone wanting to rescue a staff, try little angles staffies rescue, they are brilliant, they really get to know the dogs they are rehoming so can match you with the right one.
They are on fb and have a website.

Unfortunately I've had the same problem, rescues around here aren't keen are adopting a dog out to someone who will (from next year) be working at least 8-5 and who has an unneutered male dog who I'm not planning on neutering anytime soon.

If I could, I would love to adopt, I'm actually going to visit 2 'streetcase' Staffie's at our academic hospital tomorrow and see if Hiccup gets along with the female. They at least aren't so strict.

janey wrote:

Not all rescues are like that, you just need to approach them and talk it through. I thought that working full time and not having a garden would effect me but it didn't. They are more accommodating than people give them credit for

Totally agree, when we decided to get a dog, we knew it would be a rescue, due to just how overcrowded they all are. But as we both work full time, have a child and live in a 1st floor flat thought the odds would be against us. We visited as many local rescues as we could (some well known, others not) and after talking our situation through with many of the lovely staff we all decided a younger dog would be a better option due to not having a garden (although we do have an area outside where Percy can pop out to, but it isn't secure) as it would be easier for a puppy to get used to this and also having a child (many of the older dogs need to be rehomed with a child 13+ etc). in every rescue every other dog was a staffie we didn't mind what breed we rescued, just aslong as we could give them the best forever home possible.

I have been brought up with collies and Australian shepards, but the staffies we met stole my heart and 3 of the rescues we visited had litters of staffies to be rehomed so thankfully it worked well for us and for Percy, as now were all happy and Percy is loved and safe and happy

Wish I could go back and get them all

X

Always been rescues for us too, unfortunately they were all stolen at some point the reason we also never even considered a puppy is because of the amount of dogs in rescue centres.

I previously rescued my staff cross who i lost to cancer at nine...this time we bought a pup as i have a five year old son so wanted to make sure i knew the background of the dog....that said i tried a couple of rescued who would not let ud have a pup as my son is apparently too small

me and my fiancee specifically moved house so that we could get a dog, and it always had to be a rescue for us as the cost of pups were just too expensive,

I wasnt a massive fan of staffies (not really knowing any though) but my OH said that the majority of dogs in Cheltenham animal shelter were staffies so i researched alot and started paying attention to the MASSIVE amounts of staffies in my area.

Then visited the animal shelter to see if we could adopt ? (knowing we had to jump through lots of hoops) we had a look around fell in love with a sad little pooch who only wanted a scratch, they got us to fill out a questionaire asked a few questions which we pased that then a week later we got a home visit, they did ask the question about working through the day for more than 8 hours, luckily i work 5 mins from home so could come home to let him out, this is not the case any more as it actually made his anexiety worse me coming home and leaving after 30 mins !!!

the only regret i have is that i didnt get to see spike as a puppy as he is such a handsome boy i can only imagine how cute he was as a pub !!!

i go back to the animal shelter regulary to see all the pups all looking for a forever home i just wished i had a big enough house :-) !!!

I wanted to get a rescue. I looked everywhere. But there is only 3 dog shelters in the WHOLE of Finland. And between them they had about 20 dogs, all types of larger hunting dogs or gun dog. I was dead set on a staffy. Its not possible for me to have a needy dog from england or any other country sent to Finland to be given a home, so i had no choice, if i wanted a staffy i needed to go to a breeder. Romeo was worth the long wait and every penny

I bought Harv as i fell for him as soon as i saw the photo and i'd hate to think where he'd of ended up with the other guy who wanted him, he asked if the breeder would put harv in a taxi and send him to skeggy?

Chance i saw his photo by chance (haha) on a rescues page and we'd already said we would get a rescue dog next and well i HAD to have him.

I will say we do plan on getting a pup next from a breeder and will get a rescue again in the future. But the centre we got Chance from is not what i would call 'good' they basically want nothing to do with us or him in the past year of having him, no letters, no follow up home check, don't answer emails etc so yer

We bought Tilly because we wanted a puppy for Jenny , I think every kid should have at least 1 puppy experience in their lives and didn't really think about the possibility of rescue , I had spent ages working on the missus to let us have another dog after losing our old boy that we had rescued so it was a very spontaneous thing that was decided and resolved over a couple of days:D Also the puppy factor came in for no possibility of any history as OH is a childminder. With Tommy it was again puppy for history because of the kids

We've got 3 dogs, an australian kelpi x, a jack russell and a staffy x. All of ours are rescue dogs. I feel as there are so many dogs in rescues, it was important to me to rehome a dog over buying a puppy from a breeder.

The first 2 were 6 months when I got them, then Maggie are staffy x was 2. I rehomed the other 2 dogs a long time before overbreeding of staffies was a problem.

The reason I rehomed a staffyx this time was because of the problem of rescues being full of them. I then looked into the breed to see if it would be sutable for our household. We are really pleased she fits in well and we really enjoy having her.

The thing we struggled with was picking which one to chose. The rescue we rehomed from had 2 centres with at least 30-40 staffies and staffy xs. So Picking which one was a bit of a challenge!

i wanted to rescue because my parents rescued a collieXspaniel when i was young and i was really close to her. and i always remember going to the rescue center and thinking how bad it was so many dogs without homes.
since having buster i think i'd have rescue again as it's so nice seeing his improvements in behaviour since we've had him and he's so affectionet towards us.
allthough sometimes i like to think if we'd brought a puppy we'd have been abel to leave him off his lead on walks when other dogs we don't know were around, as we'd have socialised from the start, but it's a small sacrafice we're willing to make for the best friend we'll ever have.