Don’t be taken in by the term ‘Dog Rescue Centre’

I write this piece as a warning to those who take pity on ‘rescue’ dogs being ‘rehomed’ by organisations which present themselves in a charitable light.  While making no specific accusations (following legal advice) I merely point out the following facts.

We have two small Norfolk terriers already. Between us, my wife Jan and I have a total of 37 years experience of owning, training and loving dogs. Neither of us is ‘doggy-daft’: we both know the best way to have a settled, obedient dog pack throughout life – as opposed to one that leads your life.

A fortnight ago, we saw a Jack Russell bitch on a well-known rescue site. The blurb told us that the dog was ‘a small, quiet and submissive terrier’ who was ‘five months old’ and needed a good home. We decided the time was right to have a third dog again, and rang to try and reserve her.

What we experienced then was a great deal of questioning about our lifestyle and canine experience; indeed, somebody came round to ‘inspect’ our home. The psychology here was that of making us feel as if we had to qualify to take a dog that needed rescue. Like a Building Society saver in search of a mortgage when the world was sane, we felt that being accepted as the dog’s new owners would be a result worthy of champagne celebrations.

We secured the dog – Amy – and drove a 300-mile round-trip to pick her up.

But there were one or two problems immediately. First up, she wasn’t five months old, she was 20 months old. And taking her for a walk down the lanes surrounding the rescue centre, it was clear she wasn’t at all submissive. Finally, as I sat outside the centre with Amy while Jan finished the paperwork, she went for every dog that came out.

However, we were in the frame of mind of those who have been ‘lucky enough’ to find what they want: so foolishly, we waved aside any doubts and paid the £150 fee to take her away. But that bright shine of success dulled somewhat on the way home in the car, as it became apparent that Amy was covered  in urine.

The next day, we took her with our dogs for a walk. Amy went for the younger of our dogs as we left the home – but squabbling at that point is not unusual. What raised our level of concern was the way she became uncontrollably fear-aggressive every time she met a human being or dog while out walking.

We immediately called in a dog-trainer-cum-behaviour-therapist. They don’t come cheap, but the bloke was obviously good. He told us that, in his view, the dog – whom we now called Pepper – had never been socialised, and had probably been bullied. At twenty months, that’s a serious issue.

But we worked at it. It seemed we were making progress in the first week, as Pepper became more settled in our home. She still went mad every time a visitor arrived: but we felt this too would become a calmer reaction over time. We gave her obedience training – very successful – and ensured that she knew (via feeding training) she was very clearly NOT in charge – but much loved.

As the second week unfolded, Pepper began to pick fights with both our dogs. Within a couple of days, our younger Norfolk was escaping from the garden and hiding upstairs to avoid the interlopers attentions. Our dog therapist was right: our rescue dog had been bullied. And – as with humans – dogs will bully weaker animals as a way of achieving higher self-esteeem. When she began attacking our elder Norfolk – a very feisty bitch – things got serious. It was obvious to us that Pepper was a female who could not live with other bitches.

As a dog owner, one wants to give a good home to rescue dogs. But one also has a responsibility to the dogs who didn’t ask for an aggressive interloper to destroy their peace. And so we took her back to the centre – another 300 mile round trip, because the ‘rescue’ home’s terms and conditions insisted on the right to take her back – or closely vet any attempt by the owner to rehome on.

When we got to the rescue centre, my wife was too upset to take Pepper back in. Handing her back, I made the following things abundantly clear to the staff:

* She was neither submissive nor quiet, and suffered from chronic fear-aggression.

*She wasn’t five months old she was twenty months old.

* She showed no recognition of the name ‘Amy’, but by now responded immediately to the name ‘Pepper’. I recommended that this name should be retained, to help with her sense of security.

*She was highly possessive towards the food-providers, and would attack dogs who came between her and those people.

*She was very energetic and needed lots of exercise.

* Therefore, she was ONLY suitable for very fit owners with no other dogs – and even then would need to be managed in terms of fear-aggression towards other dogs and humans.

We drove back to Devon feeling low and upset. On our arrival back here, Jan checked on the website to see how Pepper was being resold. This is what we found on the website:

* She was still being described as six months old. (Jan rang, and eventually this was changed.)

* She was still being named as Amy.

* She was still being described as ‘a sweet little and gentle girl’

* The blurb went on to describe her as someone who could ‘live with male and female dogs quite happily’.

Aside from the fact that our experiences with her had been completely ignored, our feeling was that the revised website copy wasn’t describing Pepper, it was selling her.

It’s worth bearing in mind, of course, that every time a dog comes back to this ‘rescue’ home, the new owners will be charged £150 – and warned about rehoming her without the centre’s permission.

When I descrobed these events to the canine behaviourist we’d hired, he described the rehoming fee as ‘extortionate’. He also affirmed that much of his work came from so-called rescue centres rehoming dogs into completely inappropriate surroundings.

On examining the small print of this particular rescue service, I discovered that it has no charitable status: it is a business like any other. This struck me as surprising given the following elements on its website:

* Make a donation

* Raise funds for —- —–.

* Foster a dog

* Buy something from our Ebay shop and help us to raise money.

What else can The Slog say without inviting a libel suit? You have been warned.