Calling your dog a "rescue"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Shaming people has been a very effective way to get people to quit smoking. If we can shame people into not buying dogs from breeders or stores, then I'm all for it.

This whole attitude is just wrong-headed. First, shaming was completely ineffective in getting people to quit smoking. Laws banning smoking in public places and workplaces were effective. Laws raising taxes were effective. So, if you want to pass laws banning dogs from being sold in stores, do it. (Some jurisdictions have.) If you want to pass laws requiring all breeders to get a license to sell animals in a given state with criminal punishments for buyers in addition to sellers, do it. Those would be effective at getting people to stop buying dogs from puppy mills. Second, breeders are not the same as stores. There are many legitimate reasons why people seek out specific breeds even if you don't want a show dog. Allergies are the biggest and I'd say temperament and suitability to family lifestyle are the other. If I know I am not going to be jogging with my dog or available to play for hours on end or able to tolerate a lot of barking, I will seek out a reputable seller of a breed which is a good fit for our family and lifestyle.

To sum up, these sorts of self-righteous statements are why people think those who go on about "rescues" are self-righteous.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I posted earlier but I wanted to comment and encourage you not to give up. We have a senior special needs dog. We failed the first interview and were positive we were not getting a dog. In hindsight it is a very funny story, but we ended up with the perfect dog for us. Do not give up!

We have a yard and it is enclosed with 3 feet privacy bushes and they still didn't want to give us a dog- a dog that was senior and had difficulty walking. We also didn't want to hire a dog walker because we are only gone about 6 hours a day- (I leave later in the am and my husband is home earlier because he goes to work earlier) and again the dog is senior and has difficulty walking so will sleep all day (and night if you let them ). Basically they wanted us to put in a fence and get a dog walker- we said no and we didn't hear anything for about a month.

Then we got a call, the foster brought the dog over the next day and it is history...... rescue organizations mean well- some of the dogs have come from some sad situations and they just want the best for them. Luckily cooler heads prevailed and we got our dog. I should also mention we already had one dog- same breed- so we had a successful history of caring for dogs. My point is- don't give up!

Thank you for adopting a senior dog - most don't have great stories. I say this from the bottom of my heart. I don't know how anyone could take their senior dog to the shelter - where's the empathy?

[Anonymous]

What really hurts is when you spend a fortune on a show dog and people say "did you get him from the pound??" LOL! They were giving them away that day!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It only bothers me when they are using that as an excuse for not training or restraining their dogs. People with lovely, gentle dogs are an excellent advertisement and I am fully supportive of them talking about how they got their dog as encouragement for other people. People with aggressive, constantly barking dogs who aren't house-trained? I'm over it.

I grew up in a house where we always had at least one dog. Since our marriage DH and I have always had at least 1 dog. I've encountered many well-trained rescue dogs and many poorly-trained purebred dogs. Ill-mannered dogs and their irresponsible owners are unpleasant with or without a pedigree.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Shaming people has been a very effective way to get people to quit smoking. If we can shame people into not buying dogs from breeders or stores, then I'm all for it.

This whole attitude is just wrong-headed. First, shaming was completely ineffective in getting people to quit smoking. Laws banning smoking in public places and workplaces were effective. Laws raising taxes were effective. So, if you want to pass laws banning dogs from being sold in stores, do it. (Some jurisdictions have.) If you want to pass laws requiring all breeders to get a license to sell animals in a given state with criminal punishments for buyers in addition to sellers, do it. Those would be effective at getting people to stop buying dogs from puppy mills. Second, breeders are not the same as stores. There are many legitimate reasons why people seek out specific breeds even if you don't want a show dog. Allergies are the biggest and I'd say temperament and suitability to family lifestyle are the other. If I know I am not going to be jogging with my dog or available to play for hours on end or able to tolerate a lot of barking, I will seek out a reputable seller of a breed which is a good fit for our family and lifestyle.

To sum up, these sorts of self-righteous statements are why people think those who go on about "rescues" are self-righteous.

I agree with the second PP. There is NO shame in buying from a reputable breeder if you want a specific breed (whether for show, for allergies, or whatever reason matters to the person seeking out the dog). Puppy mills, yes. That is an entirely different situation. I wish there was more oversight and regulation of puppy mills. You can't compare that to real legitimate breeders. I have a dog from a breeder for my own reasons. Perhaps I could have found a dog that met my specific needs from a shelter. Or I could have been stuck in over my head with a dog that didn't turn out to be compatible or have issues beyond what I could handle. 10 years later, my dog is literally my best friend. It worked out for me, personally, to get this dog from a breeder. There is no shame in that. But kudos to people that can chose a rescue and have it work out for them.

[Anonymous]

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Shaming people has been a very effective way to get people to quit smoking. If we can shame people into not buying dogs from breeders or stores, then I'm all for it.[/quote]

This whole attitude is just wrong-headed. First, shaming was completely ineffective in getting people to quit smoking. Laws banning smoking in public places and workplaces were effective. Laws raising taxes were effective. So, if you want to pass laws banning dogs from being sold in stores, do it. (Some jurisdictions have.) If you want to pass laws requiring all breeders to get a license to sell animals in a given state with criminal punishments for buyers in addition to sellers, do it. Those would be effective at getting people to stop buying dogs from puppy mills. Second, breeders are not the same as stores. There are many legitimate reasons why people seek out specific breeds even if you don't want a show dog. Allergies are the biggest and I'd say temperament and suitability to family lifestyle are the other. If I know I am not going to be jogging with my dog or available to play for hours on end or able to tolerate a lot of barking, I will seek out a reputable seller of a breed which is a good fit for our family and lifestyle.

To sum up, these sorts of self-righteous statements are why people think those who go on about "rescues" are self-righteous.[/quote]

I agree with the second PP. There is NO shame in buying from a reputable breeder if you want a specific breed (whether for show, for allergies, or whatever reason matters to the person seeking out the dog). Puppy mills, yes. That is an entirely different situation. I wish there was more oversight and regulation of puppy mills. You can't compare that to real legitimate breeders. I have a dog from a breeder for my own reasons. Perhaps I could have found a dog that met my specific needs from a shelter. Or I could have been stuck in over my head with a dog that didn't turn out to be compatible or have issues beyond what I could handle. 10 years later, my dog is literally my best friend. It worked out for me, personally, to get this dog from a breeder. There is no shame in that. But kudos to people that can chose a rescue and have it work out for them. [/quote]

I agree with this. I got a wonderful dog from a breeder and I don't feel at all guilty about it. I live in a pretty urban area with children and I did not want a dog that might snap at any moment based on an abusive history. Not all rescue dogs are like this but, sadly, many are. I feel for the dogs, believe me, but I don't want to put others at risk because of an unpredictable dog. I think it's so irresponsible when people don't take proper precautions with their dogs. I can't tell you how many dogs have snapped at mine with no warning from the owner and the owner pretends to be surprised and says the dog is a rescue like it's an excuse. It is no excuse. If you cannot control your dog you should not have that dog, rescue or not.

[Anonymous]

So what's the "excuse" for the purebred dogs that snap at my sweet and gentle rescue? Actually, no excuse is needed because even well-trained dogs will snap at each other sometimes. The important thing is for the owners -- both of them -- to be alert and know what to do when this happens -- or, better yet, spot the signs that this could happen and keep the dogs apart in the first place.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So what's the "excuse" for the purebred dogs that snap at my sweet and gentle rescue? Actually, no excuse is needed because even well-trained dogs will snap at each other sometimes. The important thing is for the owners -- both of them -- to be alert and know what to do when this happens -- or, better yet, spot the signs that this could happen and keep the dogs apart in the first place.

I'd be interested in seeing just what your "sweet rescue's" body language is when he gets snapped at. Many, many people do not realize what message their dog is telegraphing and are just shocked when their sweetie pie getsicked on. Meanwhile, their dog was being incredibly pushy.

[Anonymous]

*gets picked on*

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So what's the "excuse" for the purebred dogs that snap at my sweet and gentle rescue? Actually, no excuse is needed because even well-trained dogs will snap at each other sometimes. The important thing is for the owners -- both of them -- to be alert and know what to do when this happens -- or, better yet, spot the signs that this could happen and keep the dogs apart in the first place.

I'd be interested in seeing just what your "sweet rescue's" body language is when he gets snapped at. Many, many people do not realize what message their dog is telegraphing and are just shocked when their sweetie pie getsicked on. Meanwhile, their dog was being incredibly pushy.

It would be hard for her to be "pushy" at a distance of several feet, though, maybe your purebred has ESP?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What's wrong with being proud to have adopted a dog? Really. I love all of the outrage that, oh, my, god, a person could be proud of adopting a dog instead of buying it from a store/breeder. But why is that a problem? Some people are proud of their McMansions or proud of their cars.

Yeah, I'm proud to have a shelter dog. Damn proud. I don't care if it bothers people if I call my dog a "rescue" or call my dog my "baby." You don't get to tell me how to feel about my dog. And it's no skin off your back for me to love my dog or be proud of him.

I'm tired of this ridiculous "you are allowed to say/be proud of X, but not Y" BS.

I tend to think that people who get so offended at the most ridiculous things, like how people refer to their pets, are people who either have some serious insecurities or are people who are so snobby and have such a narrowly defined view of what is socially appropriate that they are the ones with the problem, not the people who call their dogs rescues or furbabies.

I can see you don't have children. Why are you hanging out on a parenting website?

[Anonymous]

A dog is a dog and, unless someone asks where you got it, there is no reason to broadcast it. People who announce that their dog s a rescue without being asked seem like they are looking for attention. Like when people make it known that they give to a charity or volunteer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:A dog is a dog and, unless someone asks where you got it, there is no reason to broadcast it. People who announce that their dog s a rescue without being asked seem like they are looking for attention. Like when people make it known that they give to a charity or volunteer.

People invariably ask "What kind of dog do you have?" The answer: "We don't know for sure; she's a rescue."

Or, someone asks you to brunch, and you say, "Sorry, I can't -- I'll be volunteering at the animal shelter that day."

If you're reading more into it than this, maybe you feel guilty about not volunteering and spending your money on a purebred dog, rather than contributing to charity.

[Anonymous]

The response to "What kind of dog is he?" should be "We're not sure but we think he's a mix of X and Y." No need to add that you were so noble to rescue him, doesn't answer the question.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So what's the "excuse" for the purebred dogs that snap at my sweet and gentle rescue? Actually, no excuse is needed because even well-trained dogs will snap at each other sometimes. The important thing is for the owners -- both of them -- to be alert and know what to do when this happens -- or, better yet, spot the signs that this could happen and keep the dogs apart in the first place.

I'd be interested in seeing just what your "sweet rescue's" body language is when he gets snapped at. Many, many people do not realize what message their dog is telegraphing and are just shocked when their sweetie pie getsicked on. Meanwhile, their dog was being incredibly pushy.

It would be hard for her to be "pushy" at a distance of several feet, though, maybe your purebred has ESP?

Maybe not pushy, per se, but your dog can give a hard stare from several feet away, which is super rude in dog language.

Oh, and who said I had a purebred? Oh, you just assumed that, too.