Trying to adopt Buffy a little sis.

[Buffy & Trixie's Mom]

I am trying to adopt a female of a specific breed (not naming the breed because then I would be possibly naming the rescue (-: ) to be a little sister for my MN, 7 years old.

Both rescues vetted me and passed me. My references from my veterinarian of 25 years were great. The home visits with my dog went great, too. On my application, I did state that I was interested in a female 1-4, maybe 5.

I am 68, in great health. Walk my dog every day except in winter.

I promised a yearly physical and dental; at least one 4-6 week training class, two if the new girl is not potty trained; walks daily in nice weather. Many more amenities. I am home all day as I write from home.

All went well with the vetting, but it seems that Buffy and I are left out of the equation when it comes to picking any dog. I was told by the Rescue 1 contact that the coordinator would "file my wants" as she perused her many fosters scattered across the area but that the final decision would be left to the foster. Keep them in mind, I guess she meant.

I get that the foster should have the final say.

But I know nothing about the dogs she is considering. No pictures, no write-ups. Nothing is online. She said something about revealing this to me after filing an app, which I did several months ago. They are just "out there somewhere."

The contact from Rescue1 who came for the home visit didn't like my training place. Wanted me to buy Caesar's book and CD instead. I told her I didn't want to buy a book and a CD, that I liked the "hands-on" approach better.

After a few other issues were discussed, I asked if the dog would ever be truly mine.

That is when I backed out, thinking probably the rescue dog would never be mine.

Rescue 2 turned me down for their 1-year old girl which I saw online because she said my dog was too old. When I adopted Buffy my existing girl was 7 and he was 1. It was fine. Is it my age maybe and they don't want to say that?

The local dog pound is full of pit bulls and while I agree they have gotten a bad press, I still don't care for them. I visited two breed-specific dogs there. One bit me and the other snarled at my dog.

Buffy was a rescue dog and my experience with that rescue was delightful. She is out of business, but I still have contact with her.
She breeds (responsibly!) but doesn't have any of adult girls available.

Has anyone had experiences like this? Or run a rescue?

I guess I am too independent. Feel like I'm guilty until proven innocent of -- what? And I am too old. And my dog, too. Buffy

[Renee]

Wow, sounds like you did everything appropriately, but unfortunately, have interacted with some rescues that have lost sight of their mission.

Firstly - anyone that pushes the training tactics of Cesar Milan is a huge flag for me. His aggressive training style appalls me. I would never allow someone, trainer or not, to hit or poke my dog.

I run a pug rescue up here in Alaska. Foster homes absolutely never get the final say. They can have input, but the final adoption decision is done by adoption coordinators. Those that are not personally biased in the placement, but rather making decisions based on the best needs of the dog only.

I encourage you to seek other rescues, even those that are out of state. Like a neighboring state, etc. Be upfront with those rescues about your local experience. Meet their concerns head on. An ethical rescue will recognize if you are a good home or not and won't want to miss the opportunity.

I have done placements with ladies of older years, including a few years ago, I placed a dog with a 78 year old woman. I talked at length with her family and they had a plan in place for the dog to live with her daughter should she pass before her dog. It was perfectly acceptable to me.

Nothing burns my biscuits more than rescues that give other rescues a bad name.

[SasAndYunah]

If I may, I like to add something wich you already may have considered but I couldn't really tell from your post :) And also, I understand things here, in The Netherlands are a bit differant, for one, distances here are in the worst case scenario never more then a 5 hour drive....which helps :)
But whenever someone thinks about adopting a dog, whether it's the first dog or a second or third one... the absolute most important thing is a "match". A match between you but also Buffy and the new dog :)

I have adopted several dogs in my life and I always made a list of behavior and character I wanted in the new dog. I never looked at breed, colour, furtype or anything, just the character and behavior of the dog, because that is what you and Buffy have to live with...not with the breed or the furcolour :) And that will heavily influence whether the adoption will be succesful... So determine what type of dog would fit in well in your current life, what kind of energylevel you would be comfortable with, would a huntinginstinct be a problem, would it pose a problem if the dog had guardingtendecies (i.e. bark everytime someone walks passed..)

I know, that won't be easy, I looked at litterally hundreds of dogs the last time I adopted a dog, even went to go see some of them but decided against adopting them because they did not fit my needs and desires, my lifestyle, etc. And trust me, that was very, very difficult...you just wish you could adopt them all :)

And especially in your case, with another dog already there, I would not take in a dog without having them spending time together first..on neutral grounds. Preferably several times. For example, the dog in the shelter that bit, may not bite at all when not on a shelter. Or the snarling one... a shelter is a very stressful place that will affect a dogs beaviour. So my suggestion would be, make a list of how you would like the dog to be, characterwise, what are absolute no-no's (for example excesive barking when you have neighbours), look for a dog with that list in your hand and when you find one that sounds like it would be a match, talk to the foster (if the dog is in foster) and if you still feel the dog might be a good match, go visit and meet the dog...introduce Buffy...etc.

In my personal opinion, that's the way to go when adopting a dog :) I have seen too many dogs coming back after being adopted, some as soon as three days after adoption and others after 5 months...but always due to a miss-match. (my current dog was such a miss-match with the family that adopted her before me...she was miserable there since her needs were not met. Her needs did not match the needs of the family) I think the rescue organisations as well as those wanting to adopt, should be extremely careful before adopting a dog...otherwise it's not fair to the dog when it ends up in a situation which is not suitable for it's character.

But I soooo wish that you and Buffy will find the perfect girl to add to your family...and what a lucky girl she will be :)

All our best,

Saskia and Quincy :)

[molly muffin]

Oh I do hope that you can find the right little sister for Buffy and for you. I know someone else, who would offer a wonderful home and has been looking at rescues across the various states from where she lives that has also met with some frustration and has now stepped back from dealing with any of the rescues and is just going to wait awhile and see if something at a local shelter turns up.
I do hope you can meet the one for you.

[labblab]

Since you are searching for a specific breed, I'm afraid I have nothing helpful to add. But I just want you to know you are not alone with your frustration :o. A good friend of mine who has been a dog-parent her entire life and provides a wonderful, loving home ended up being "rejected" as an owner by a couple of breed-specific rescues for reasons that were unfathonable both to her and to me. Like, for instance, she works and would be away from home during the day...???? I appreciate the fact that rescue orgs are wanting to make sure that the dogs they take in, many of whom have been abused or neglected, will never experience ill care again. But these folks were downright rude and snippy -- I actually wondered how they treat their own dogs when they were this rude to a kind-hearted human. :eek:

Anyway, she went ahead and adopted a mix from the county shelter, and it is a match made in heaven. So if too much time passes for you without success with the breed you're seeking, you may want to consider doing the same. Good luck either way!!!!!!

Marianne

[mcdavis]

I'm sorry to hear that you are facing problems. I do understand that rescues have to be certain that the dog will have a good home, but I sometimes wonder if they are too rigid in their requirements. It's really a case of striking the right balance, but it saddens me when so many dogs are in rescue when there are loving homes that aren't "perfect".

It's worth contacting rescues outside of the state to see if they have a good match. I was reading about an organisation (Pilots and Paws I think it was called) that will fly dogs across the US to new owners so they may be able to help with relocation.

It sounds like you have a wonderful home to offer a lucky dog so please don't give up :)