Calling your dog a "rescue"

[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.

LOVE YOU!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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.

LOVE YOU!

I agree as well.

We have a rescue dog. She came from a high-kill shelter in West Virginia, where she had given birth to three puppies before being rescued and fostered by a local humane society group. She is a terrier mix, probably scottie or cairn terrier and something else - not a pit bull, doberman, or other "those are the only kinds of breeds" rescue dogs.

When we adopted her, she weighed 12 lbs and was skittish. She was completely house-trained but had the occasional piddle accident and cowered sometimes if we spoke to her in a less than friendly tone. Fast-forward four years, she weighs 24 lbs, is super-friendly, never cowers or piddles. She is very playful and will play fetch for ages, then cuddle up to watch a movie. She sits, lays down, stays and comes on command, waits politely at the door when it is time to go out (will not move until we say "let's go") and is the darling of all the neighbors. She is the perfect pet in every way.

It didn't take much work to transform her into the perfect pet - just some love and attention. I'm glad we invested the time because had we bought from a breeder (our original plan), she would not be alive today. For every dog bought from a breeder, a rescue dog dies.

I wouldn't say I use the word rescue in a proud way to describe her, but I do use it in a happy/joyful way for sure.

[Anonymous]

I used to go to the dog park frequently, that's where I heard people say "I rescued her" over and over. It really started to disgust me. I only say I got my dog from lab rescue if specifically asked, mainly to point out there are plenty of pure bred dogs available .

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I think there is shame in buying a dog from a breeder. Sure, it's not as bad as buying from a store that gets dogs from a puppy mill. People can find dogs from shelters that meet their needs, but they give up or they refuse to compromise (as in, they want a puppy). And puppies bought from breeders can also turn in to problem dogs or be incompatible. It happens all of the time.

Breeders are part of the problem, overpopulation of dogs, and the people who buy from breeders only encourage the problem.

But people don't want to admit that. I'd have more respect for someone who admitted, "yeah, I went to a breeder b/c that was easier." But I can't stand the people who give the BS excuses.

Not that I am writing this to garner your respect, but the reason I bought my dog from a (very reputable) breeder is because I wanted what I wanted. Nothing more and nothing less. The part that I am beyond proud of is that I saved up my money a little at a time over many, many, many years to do so; to reach this very important personal goal. Beyond loving my sweet dog more than most anything, I feel she symbolizes to me what patience and hard work mean. All dogs are incredible but mine is the best !

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I think there is shame in buying a dog from a breeder. Sure, it's not as bad as buying from a store that gets dogs from a puppy mill. People can find dogs from shelters that meet their needs, but they give up or they refuse to compromise (as in, they want a puppy). And puppies bought from breeders can also turn in to problem dogs or be incompatible. It happens all of the time.

Breeders are part of the problem, overpopulation of dogs, and the people who buy from breeders only encourage the problem.

But people don't want to admit that. I'd have more respect for someone who admitted, "yeah, I went to a breeder b/c that was easier." But I can't stand the people who give the BS excuses.

Not that I am writing this to garner your respect, but the reason I bought my dog from a (very reputable) breeder is because I wanted what I wanted. Nothing more and nothing less. The part that I am beyond proud of is that I saved up my money a little at a time over many, many, many years to do so; to reach this very important personal goal. Beyond loving my sweet dog more than most anything, I feel she symbolizes to me what patience and hard work mean. All dogs are incredible but mine is the best !

Yeah. There's nothing like having very important personal goals.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Gives the dog street cred.

Cute!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

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.

I think there is shame in buying a dog from a breeder. Sure, it's not as bad as buying from a store that gets dogs from a puppy mill. People can find dogs from shelters that meet their needs, but they give up or they refuse to compromise (as in, they want a puppy). And puppies bought from breeders can also turn in to problem dogs or be incompatible. It happens all of the time.

Breeders are part of the problem, overpopulation of dogs, and the people who buy from breeders only encourage the problem.

But people don't want to admit that. I'd have more respect for someone who admitted, "yeah, I went to a breeder b/c that was easier." But I can't stand the people who give the BS excuses.

Not that I am writing this to garner your respect, but the reason I bought my dog from a (very reputable) breeder is because I wanted what I wanted. Nothing more and nothing less. The part that I am beyond proud of is that I saved up my money a little at a time over many, many, many years to do so; to reach this very important personal goal. Beyond loving my sweet dog more than most anything, I feel she symbolizes to me what patience and hard work mean. All dogs are incredible but mine is the best !

Yeah. There's nothing like having very important personal goals.

Oh please. At the age of 47 does every thing I do have to be save-the-world worthy? I think not. I am a (female) firefighter in Leesburg so I actually do touch lives every single day. Other than reply with snarky comments, what do you do to help folks every single day? And because my profession is a noble but low paid one THAT is why it gives me pleasure to know that I saved and worked hard for dog who I adopted proudly from a breeder. Btw, despite the department telling me so, I did not get a dalmatian !

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So many of the dogs at the shelters are the same breeds that the books tell you are "difficult"

Aussies, Beagles, pit bull, part shepherd mix, hounds, beagles, beagles, beagles.

[Anonymous]

I only mentioned my dog was a rescue in two types of situations:

1) to explain age/health:

Is he your dog or your husband's?
We got him together.
Oh, I didn't realize you'd been together that long!
We got him when he was 7.
You bought a 7 year old dog?
No, we rescued him.

or

How'd he lose his leg?
We don't know.
How can you not know? Was he born that way?
No, he wasn't born that way but we don't know how it happened. We rescued him that way.

2) when I felt people were judging me for having a purebred.

"Oh, you have a [popular dog breed]? We've always just had mutts. They're so loveable."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I only mentioned my dog was a rescue in two types of situations:

1) to explain age/health:

Is he your dog or your husband's?
We got him together.
Oh, I didn't realize you'd been together that long!
We got him when he was 7.
You bought a 7 year old dog?
No, we rescued him.

or

How'd he lose his leg?
We don't know.
How can you not know? Was he born that way?
No, he wasn't born that way but we don't know how it happened. We rescued him that way.

2) when I felt people were judging me for having a purebred.

"Oh, you have a [popular dog breed]? We've always just had mutts. They're so loveable."

I'm the OP, and we have a 3-legger too! We're asking about it every time we're out with him. But I guess I just never say "we rescued him that way," more just "we got him that way." NOT saying you need to say that, just that it wouldn't occur to me to say "rescue." When asked, I just tell the story as we know it. I say (short version) nobody knows what happened to his leg, but it was injured and had to be amputated;" or (long version) "well, one day my friend called and said she knew of this dog who was going to be put down..." Again, the word "rescue" means something different to ME (as in "I rescued him from a burning building!!" as opposed to meaning "I adopted him.") So anyway. I'm belaboring the point.

As an aside, as we were walking with our dog the other day, a woman drove by and yelled very loudly "Heyyy! 3-legged dogs are awesome!! I have one too! All right!" I think there is a certain 3-legged-dog club we all seem to belong to.

[Anonymous]

* we're asked about it, NOT "asking" about it.