Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dear Op,

Rescues have rules because they know from experience that people adopt the dog and then find out how much time, work and money they are so they bring them back. Do you know how hard this is on the animal? How difficult do you think it would be to find a home for a dog that has been brought back a few times?

Look, we need to have rules so that rescues weed out the people who are not serious. It is the best for the animals. By all means go to a breeder but, the good ones will also have some rules too. After all, you get to know each animal wouldn't you want to give it to the best home?

It's a rule that cuts out an awful lot of families. And that's just one of the myriad rules they have. I'm a longtime dog owner and know what it takes.

Whatever. It's one more dog that will sit in a cage without a home.

It's better then a dog will become a road pizza or get attacked by some roaming dog.

If you don't want a real fence, you can get an invisible fence. But the fence is a must.

- rescue dog owner

BZZZZZT. Wrong answer. Thanks for playing.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dear Op,

Rescues have rules because they know from experience that people adopt the dog and then find out how much time, work and money they are so they bring them back. Do you know how hard this is on the animal? How difficult do you think it would be to find a home for a dog that has been brought back a few times?

Look, we need to have rules so that rescues weed out the people who are not serious. It is the best for the animals. By all means go to a breeder but, the good ones will also have some rules too. After all, you get to know each animal wouldn't you want to give it to the best home?

It's a rule that cuts out an awful lot of families. And that's just one of the myriad rules they have. I'm a longtime dog owner and know what it takes.

Whatever. It's one more dog that will sit in a cage without a home.

It's better then a dog will become a road pizza or get attacked by some roaming dog.

If you don't want a real fence, you can get an invisible fence. But the fence is a must.

- rescue dog owner

Anonymous wrote:This isn't true. Plenty of people in apartments adopt dogs from rescues (including my family).

Yes, our dog is from a rescue. We live in a house with no fenced in yard. The dog gets a couple of walks a day, as well as regular potty breaks.

Anonymous wrote:You can probably persuade an adoption place that you're serious if you are convincing about how you plan to ensure the dog gets ample exercise. It becomes very onerous to have to walk a dog 3 times a day but it is necessary if you want them to have a reasonable quality of life. If people are not willing to walk them or pay someone to walk them 3 times every single day in rain snow heat and freezing wind, then please don't get a dog. The walks should be outdoors therapy (or use the time to make phone calls or visit neighbors.) Leaving a dog in the yard to pee and poop is really not the ticket, and you can make this case to the adoption people.

I rarely walk my dog, but he runs and plays like crazy in the backyard for hours each day. I am often out there with him, throwing a tennis ball. I seriously doubt he is getting any less excercise than a dog that is walking around the block a few times.

There are definitely some rescues that are quite difficult, we tried with a breed specific group and they were very rude. I don't mind answering questions about what my husband and I would do if we divorced, but when they saw us planning to have a child in the next 10 years as a negative, I decided this wasn't the group to work with anymore. FWIW I used to care for animals professionally and had great references, I feel like I had a good answer for all their other questions during the 90 minute phone interview, I was even willing to try the raw diet they recommended!!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What rescue is doing home interviews? We had a 5 minute "interview" at a persmart. We do have a fenced in backyard but I'd have no problem saying I did if I did not.

A Forever Home dog rescue requires home visits

And I can think of at least a dozen northern VA rescues that do not.

Anonymous wrote:I work for a rescue group. A fenced in yard is preferred, not a must have. As long as you can demonstrate how you will take care of the dog's needs to pee/poop outside. We don't want dogs to be left out in the yard all day.

If this is the concern, it would seem to me that the lack of a fenced yard would be a positive.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Dear Op,

Rescues have rules because they know from experience that people adopt the dog and then find out how much time, work and money they are so they bring them back. Do you know how hard this is on the animal? How difficult do you think it would be to find a home for a dog that has been brought back a few times?

Look, we need to have rules so that rescues weed out the people who are not serious. It is the best for the animals. By all means go to a breeder but, the good ones will also have some rules too. After all, you get to know each animal wouldn't you want to give it to the best home?

It's a rule that cuts out an awful lot of families. And that's just one of the myriad rules they have. I'm a longtime dog owner and know what it takes.

Whatever. It's one more dog that will sit in a cage without a home.

So it is ok for the people to bring back the dog when it doesn't work out? There are lots of people willing to do what it takes to adopt a rescue dog. If it isn't for you, fine. But, don't go complaining about the rules because you don't like them. They are there for a reason. Would you say the same for adopting a child? I had to find homes for cats and believe me when you care for an animal you want them to go to a loving home and there needs to be standards. Sorry if you don't like it but, I think you are 100 percent wrong on this.

You do realize that making this comparison makes you seem either mentally deficient, a deranged lunatic, or a little bit of both?

I had so much trouble getting a dog when I had an infant. Everyone was SO convinced I would give the dog back once the baby could crawl. The attitude was the worst: "We see this aaaaalll the time. We know you and your life better than you do, and we can tell what's going to happen, so we're not going to listen to you at all." We wound up finding someone (Lucky Dog Animal Rescue), but it was tough. They were the only ones who didn't mind we didn't have a fence either. A fence would be nice, but I didn't have $15K while I was on unpaid maternity leave. (All the breed-specific rescues wanted a SAHP, which I found completely ridiculous.)

The baby is now almost five and a big brother, and we still have the dog. Turns out we did know ourselves better than the strangers at the first few rescue orgs we tried.

Anonymous wrote:You can probably persuade an adoption place that you're serious if you are convincing about how you plan to ensure the dog gets ample exercise. It becomes very onerous to have to walk a dog 3 times a day but it is necessary if you want them to have a reasonable quality of life. If people are not willing to walk them or pay someone to walk them 3 times every single day in rain snow heat and freezing wind, then please don't get a dog. The walks should be outdoors therapy (or use the time to make phone calls or visit neighbors.) Leaving a dog in the yard to pee and poop is really not the ticket, and you can make this case to the adoption people.

Why would I walk my dog three times a day? He has a perfectly beautiful yard to run around in.

Anonymous wrote:You can probably persuade an adoption place that you're serious if you are convincing about how you plan to ensure the dog gets ample exercise. It becomes very onerous to have to walk a dog 3 times a day but it is necessary if you want them to have a reasonable quality of life. If people are not willing to walk them or pay someone to walk them 3 times every single day in rain snow heat and freezing wind, then please don't get a dog. The walks should be outdoors therapy (or use the time to make phone calls or visit neighbors.) Leaving a dog in the yard to pee and poop is really not the ticket, and you can make this case to the adoption people.

We couldn't persuade a D.C. Rescue we were competent. We tried a few.

We actually have a yard but the dog I got out of state is shy and nervous alone. We have had him 2 years and he has never gone outside alone without me. In the winter I shovel him a place that is nice and low so he can pee without touching the snow (we moved to a snowy area). He is curled up next to me now as I type. D.C. Rescues need to learn to apply better filters.

In good news, I am glad they turned us down because I love this dog!

Anonymous wrote:This isn't true. Plenty of people in apartments adopt dogs from rescues (including my family).

So true, why would you say it's not if somebody has a different experience? The rescue didn't even consider and apartment and turned my sister down because of the height of their fence.
My sister and BIL had a rottweiler and the dog had a great life-walks on trails and later on big back yard. They also spent thousands of dollars on him over his lifetime at the vet. We grew up on a farm, my sister studied to become a veterinarian before we left the old country, so it's wrong to always assume that people adopting animals don't know what they are getting themselves into. Anyway, so after their dog passed, the wanted to adopt another rottweiler, but were told their fence wasn't high enough. The rescue left with the dog and they haven't had a dog since. I'm glad they are not going to the breeder, but were very put off by the rescue.
Big back yard, no kids or dogs to play in it. She caught on camers fox cubs playing on her back porch until they got tired and fell asleep there.

Anonymous wrote:You can probably persuade an adoption place that you're serious if you are convincing about how you plan to ensure the dog gets ample exercise. It becomes very onerous to have to walk a dog 3 times a day but it is necessary if you want them to have a reasonable quality of life. If people are not willing to walk them or pay someone to walk them 3 times every single day in rain snow heat and freezing wind, then please don't get a dog. The walks should be outdoors therapy (or use the time to make phone calls or visit neighbors.) Leaving a dog in the yard to pee and poop is really not the ticket, and you can make this case to the adoption people.

When did this become a rule? Rarely walked our dog. Had a fenced yard and a dog door. Dog had a long, happy fabulous life.

You can probably persuade an adoption place that you're serious if you are convincing about how you plan to ensure the dog gets ample exercise. It becomes very onerous to have to walk a dog 3 times a day but it is necessary if you want them to have a reasonable quality of life. If people are not willing to walk them or pay someone to walk them 3 times every single day in rain snow heat and freezing wind, then please don't get a dog. The walks should be outdoors therapy (or use the time to make phone calls or visit neighbors.) Leaving a dog in the yard to pee and poop is really not the ticket, and you can make this case to the adoption people.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Oh my god. I cannot imagine why people get so upset when there are requirements from rescues for a dog.

Why is a fence important? Because rescues know from experience that in a great many cases, dogs will either run away or get tied up all day in no fence homes.

These recuses work with dogs who have been abandoned, mistreated, lost, and worse.

To reduce the chance of the dog being returned, some guidelines are in place.

You can shop for a dog OP if it makes you feel better, and it is ABSOLUTELY OKAY for you to not want to put in a fence just to get a dog.

But don't get yourself all butt hurt, offended, and righteous over perfectly reasonable requirements.

You must have no children, a yard with a fence, a stable job, no job because someone must be home at all times, etc.

These are not reasonable requirements. Families with kids, often small children, want pets. They may not have a fence, but they do have love. And in most households, dogs are fine napping during the day while people are at work and school.

I could have written your reply. We searched high and low for a rescue dog but since we lived in a condo where we both worked, we were turned away from several rescues. They wanted someone to be home all day! After months of looking we bought a dog. We are FANTASTIC dog owners who adore these pups. Just a few year laters we have a sfh with a large fenced in yard. Rescues can also be short sighted.