Getting a rescue dog

left_behind

Myself and my girlfriend have finally got a house together nice size with a decent well enclosed garden. we both have had dogs when we were younger.
Have decided to get a dog from the gspca and going out on saturday for a look. We both work different shifts and the longest he will be by himself is 4 hours. We wont be taking a dog home till october so have a bit of time to get sorted for his arrival and have a few questions.
*Would you crate train an older dog will it be beneficial.
*What should we feed the dog. Should we stick to what he was eating at the sanctuary or probably get a better quality food.
*What can we do to make the transition easier.
*Is there anything else we should have for him besides the obvious(food, bed, toys, leads and collar)
*I know all dogs are different and am hoping for a positive time with a special dog but what are other peoples experiences with rescue dogs and any advice you can give.

Thanks for any advice

kylith

You may be lucky enough that the dog doesn't need to be crate trained, there are many dogs in rescue who have lost their homes through no fault of thier own and are already house trained.

Definitely change to a better food. Get about a week's supply of whatever he's used to and gradually mix in more and more of a better food, this will hopefully prevent an upset stomach from the change in food.

To help with the transition just let him get used to the house at his own pace.

Rescue dogs have a lot of love to give, but they may have some baggage. Thankfully there's always help on hand.

Cherry Blossom

left_behind wrote: »

Myself and my girlfriend have finally got a house together nice size with a decent well enclosed garden. we both have had dogs when we were younger.
Have decided to get a dog from the gspca and going out on saturday for a look. We both work different shifts and the longest he will be by himself is 4 hours. We wont be taking a dog home till october so have a bit of time to get sorted for his arrival and have a few questions.
*Would you crate train an older dog will it be beneficial.
I'd wait till you get the dog and see if it's necessary
*What should we feed the dog. Should we stick to what he was eating at the sanctuary or probably get a better quality food.
I'd get a small bag of the same food and feed this for a week or two before gradually introducing a good quality food, there will be a lot of change for him/her initially so if the food is the same at first at least that will be familiar
*What can we do to make the transition easier.
Spend as much time with the dog as you can at first, maybe vist the dog at the shelter a few times before bringing it home so you will be familiar to it.
*Is there anything else we should have for him besides the obvious(food, bed, toys, leads and collar)
Make sure you have adequate fencing, you'll need a licence for dogs over 6 months old. Wormer and flea treatments are handy to have to hand once you have decided on a dog. Also a kennel if you chose to leave the dog outside for the 4 hour periods there will be no-one home.
*I know all dogs are different and am hoping for a positive time with a special dog but what are other peoples experiences with rescue dogs and any advice you can give.

Thanks for any advice

Good luck with it

cyrusdvirus

Only thing i'd add to this is to try the pounds before the rescue centres.

Pounds are Death Row for dogs, and you might meet the loveliest dog who, through no fault of his own is there.
To the best of my knowledge, no rescue centre will PTS a dog, whereas a pound will.

My fella is a Pound Dog and everyone he meets wants to take him home with them, he's so friendly and playful.

Up to you though.

toadfly

Yip try the pound (its off the Tuam Rd, Ballybane Ind Estate), other rescues in Galway are EGAR (out past Loughrea) and MADRA (Connemara).

Good luck with your new dog and well done!

left_behind

thanks for all the replies. the reason we are going to the rescue center is we have a friend voluntering there and shes fairly persistent on us going out and this guy has pulled on the heart strings
Bunk

But i wont get my hopes up because theres a bit to go yet before we get him

pobble

hey,

Make sure the dog is micro chipped and when you bring him to your own vet for the first time make sure that vet can find the chip! our dog was chipped but the chip had moved so we had to get it sorted incase she got out!

best of luck, our dog is a rescue dog and shes brilliant!

toadfly

left_behind wrote: »

thanks for all the replies. the reason we are going to the rescue center is we have a friend voluntering there and shes fairly persistent on us going out and this guy has pulled on the heart strings
Bunk

But i wont get my hopes up because theres a bit to go yet before we get him

Hi did ye end up getting Bunk? I seen on their facebook page that he was rehomed at the weekend!

Pics please if you did get him?!

pokertalk

quote Pounds are Death Row for dogs, and you might meet the loveliest dog who, through no fault of his own is there.
To the best of my knowledge, no rescue centre will PTS a dog, whereas a pound will. qupte





not sure all pounds put dogs to sleep .i know ashtown pound ahve a no kill

ISDW

pokertalk wrote: »

quote Pounds are Death Row for dogs, and you might meet the loveliest dog who, through no fault of his own is there.
To the best of my knowledge, no rescue centre will PTS a dog, whereas a pound will. qupte





not sure all pounds put dogs to sleep .i know ashtown pound ahve a no kill

Oh you do know how to inflame a situation don't you, I'm just going to sit back now and wait.

Some pounds are better than others at working with rescues, which enables dogs to get out to safety. Unfortunately though a lot of pounds don't or won't work with rescues, so the dogs get 5 days if they're strays, and can be pts immediately if they're surrenders.

pokertalk

ISDW wrote: »

Oh you do know how to inflame a situation don't you, I'm just going to sit back now and wait.

Some pounds are better than others at working with rescues, which enables dogs to get out to safety. Unfortunately though a lot of pounds don't or won't work with rescues, so the dogs get 5 days if they're strays, and can be pts immediately if they're surrenders.

just pointing out that not all pounds should be tared with the 1 brush:D doing some volunteer grooming and dog walking for ashton pound and i was told today they have a no kill by the staff he said he would not work there if they did

EGAR

Oh no, it strikes again .

Of course Ashton pts's dogs, there isn't a single pound in this country with a no kill policy. Having taken many dogs from Ashton, I've also seen many dogs go down in Ashton. And some breeds are not even shown to willing adopters.

crally

hi. i know MADRA takes dogs from the pound in Galway and Loughrea but they are away till the 15th of Sept. i got a rescue dog from inistioge puppy rescue in kilkenny. she is a super dog, housetrained, neutered, great recall and generally a sweetie. i tried to get a dog years ago from GSPCA but they would not give me one as no one home during hte day. this is life for a lot of houses these days. i now have 2 dogs. they are walked morning n eve n stay in the house during hte day. they are fit, healthy and well minded. ideally it would be better to have company during the day but that is why i have two dogs. they are great company for each other and spend their time chasing each other around the house.

Tranceypoo

crally wrote: »

hi. i know MADRA takes dogs from the pound in Galway and Loughrea but they are away till the 15th of Sept. i got a rescue dog from inistioge puppy rescue in kilkenny. she is a super dog, housetrained, neutered, great recall and generally a sweetie. i tried to get a dog years ago from GSPCA but they would not give me one as no one home during hte day. this is life for a lot of houses these days. i now have 2 dogs. they are walked morning n eve n stay in the house during hte day. they are fit, healthy and well minded. ideally it would be better to have company during the day but that is why i have two dogs. they are great company for each other and spend their time chasing each other around the house.

I know the MADRA ladies are away but MADRA are still taking calls and operating on a skeleton staff and open for business!!
I got my dog from the GSPCA 3 years ago and he was about 1.5/2 years old, fully housetrained. They will tell you about the dog when you get him anyways, they told me he was very clean in his kennel and never soiled and I have never had an 'accident' with him in the 3 years I've had him, he is an amazing dog, an absolute sweetheart. Ask the GSPCA what food they are feeding him etc, they should give you advice and tips, they won't just hand over the dog and say 'good luck'!!

tesslab

http://www.anvilireland.ie/fulcrum.html?ep=37
Some statistics for pokertalk. If anyone can find more up to date ones I'd be interested in reading them.
Ashton had a lower rate when they were working with the rescue groups I wonder what this years statistics will be.
Pounds are not rehoming centres they are there solely to remove dogs from the streets.

cyrusdvirus

pokertalk wrote: »

not sure all pounds put dogs to sleep .i know ashtown pound ahve a no kill

This guy was 2 days from being PTS in ashtown pound when i went in there...

There were 4 dogs i was interested in, but could only take one... he was the shortest term.....

Tranceypoo

tesslab wrote: »

http://www.anvilireland.ie/fulcrum.html?ep=37
Some statistics for pokertalk. If anyone can find more up to date ones I'd be interested in reading them.
Ashton had a lower rate when they were working with the rescue groups I wonder what this years statistics will be.
Pounds are not rehoming centres they are there solely to remove dogs from the streets.

Possibly the most depressing thing I've read in a long time.

Gatecrash, your dog looks like a real softy, so sweet.

boxerly

not sure all pounds put dogs to sleep .i know ashtown pound ahve a no kill[/QUOTE]



Sorry but that is so not true !!!!!especially if you are on the restricted breed list:((((

cyrusdvirus

Tranceypoo wrote: »

Possibly the most depressing thing I've read in a long time.

Gatecrash, your dog looks like a real softy, so sweet.

He's a bould little sod!! But when he gives a look like that, how can ya stay (pretend) angry!!

left_behind

Sorry been busy. But i got Bunk from the heathlawn sanctuary on monday and hes been great. He settled in very quick loves the attention and his walks. hes very independent once he gets his walk and a few hugs he will happily relax in the sun or in his bed. Vet was very impressed with his personality and temperment and he was perfectly healthy. Going to the groomers tomorrow so he will be looking the real deal then.
ill have pics up soon

Tranceypoo

Ah, a happy ending, hurray for Bunk!