Adopting a rescue dog

heldel00

Before baby arrived we always had dogs but haven't had one since our last died a year ago.
We have been asked to adopt a male Maltese approx 3yrs old. No history can be given on the dog just that he is in the pound and available.
Baby is 8 months old. We know nothing about this dog and neither does the pound only that it was a stray and never collected. I suppose this is the chance you take with a rescue dog.
Are we crazy to even consider?

DBB

Ooohhh... This is a toughie op
It's always a bit of a lottery taking a dog with no history from the pound. Your having a baby who's just coming to the most patience-crunching stage of crawling and walking makes things a lot more complicated.
That's why it's a good idea, if you want a pound dog, to go through a good rescue that has taken the dog from the pound, and had it in foster care to be assessed. You should get some idea of how the dog feels about you and your baba on first meeting... If he's all about you and all about your wee one, that's a good start. But if he's stand-offish with you or baba, I wouldn't be too inclined to take the chance. I know the pound is a stressful place and many dogs act out of sorts in there, but if a dog has the temperament to come out all wags and smiles to say hello, well, that's probably quite a temperamentally resilient little dog.
This might be the dog of your dreams! Maltese are also very rehomable. So... Maybe make a call to a couple of good local rescues, and ask if they'd give you back-up if things go horribly wrong... As in... Would they rehome it, with you effectively having fostered the little thing. Worth a try.
Also, no matter what, invest in a couple of baby gates (you perhaps already have!), a crate, and/or a puppy playpen, so that you can keep pooch with you and baby, but out of harm's way.

heldel00

The pound will take him back if it doesn't work out so technically I suppose we would be fostering him for a few weeks to see how it works out.
Haven't met him yet but have been told that he needs a very good grooming and teeth were really covered with plaque which made it difficult for the vet to give exact age. I'm just afraid that he hasn't been well cared for and might be wary of / snappy with humans. Don't know if he's house trained either and as the saying goes ... Hard to teach an old dog new tricks.
I'd love to be able to give him a good home but feel if I don't do it now before the baby hits the toddler stage then we'll just have to leave it off for a few years.

(A lot of uncertainties when I reread that post. Am I answering my own question?)

DBB

You very well may be. But look... Go meet the dog. He might be full of fun... Maltese are great little dogs. But if there is anything that sounds even teeny alarm bells... Heed those alarm bells!
If his teeth are very caked up, chances are he's a fair bit older than 3. Dogs can be quite accurately aged up to the age of 3 because of a specific pattern of growth on the incisor teeth.
If you take him but he doesn't work out, perhaps make alternative arrangements rather than returning him to the pound, unless it's one of the very few pounds in the country that effectively act as rescues... A couple of them are seriously good (Meath and Leitrim spring to mind)

heldel00

Thanks DBB. You sound like you know your stuff.
I'm dying to meet him and won't be any wiser until then. We'll bring baby as well and see what his reaction is.
As you have said a Maltese would be very easy to rehome so that's a plus.
Thanks again

aonb

heldel00 wrote: »

Thanks DBB. You sound like you know your stuff.
I'm dying to meet him and won't be any wiser until then. We'll bring baby as well and see what his reaction is.
As you have said a Maltese would be very easy to rehome so that's a plus.
Thanks again

He might turn out to be the dog of your dreams!
Fingers crossed
Let us know how you get on

Ive just read an artical about how great for a childs immunity to have a pet about the house when growing up!

Angel2016

heldel00 wrote: »

Before baby arrived we always had dogs but haven't had one since our last died a year ago.
We have been asked to adopt a male Maltese approx 3yrs old. No history can be given on the dog just that he is in the pound and available.
Baby is 8 months old. We know nothing about this dog and neither does the pound only that it was a stray and never collected. I suppose this is the chance you take with a rescue dog.
Are we crazy to even consider?

If you are worried ask someone from a local rescue to go to the pound with you to check him out they should be able to see any issues that maybe you might not.
Pounds will always take dogs back but in doing that they become surrenders and as such by law can be given 24 hours before being put down if the pound is full so just be aware of that.
Any local rescue will help you and also I am sure the warden has assessed the dog to a point and can see it's not aggressive, pounds are very stressful places for dogs so if they were going to show any problems its usually highlighted in there.

muddypaws

Angel2016 wrote: »

If you are worried ask someone from a local rescue to go to the pound with you to check him out they should be able to see any issues that maybe you might not.
Pounds will always take dogs back but in doing that they become surrenders and as such by law can be given 24 hours before being put down if the pound is full so just be aware of that.
Any local rescue will help you and also I am sure the warden has assessed the dog to a point and can see it's not aggressive, pounds are very stressful places for dogs so if they were going to show any problems its usually highlighted in there.

Surrenders aren't given 24 hours, they can be destroyed immediately if the warden wants to. Also, wardens wouldn't necessarily assess a dog. A lot of very nice dogs show problems in pounds because of the environment, it doesn't mean that they will exhibit those behaviours once in a home.

Angel2016

muddypaws wrote: »

Surrenders aren't given 24 hours, they can be destroyed immediately if the warden wants to. Also, wardens wouldn't necessarily assess a dog. A lot of very nice dogs show problems in pounds because of the environment, it doesn't mean that they will exhibit those behaviours once in a home.

It depends on the pounds and the wardens as to how long surrenders get I know they can be destroyed right away but generally by the time paperwork is done it could be 24 hours or in some of the good pound the wardens hold onto them as long as possible and when I said assess I meant the wardens again depending on which pound can interact with the dog and tell you a basic outline of the dog, I know dogs can show certain behaviors when in pounds and not when adopted I have seen this time and time again as I take dogs from pounds I am just saying that if they are very nervous as a local rescue to go with them someone who is experienced in dogs and could spot something they might miss so as to get a somewhat good idea of the dog.
All the pounds in this country as different some with wardens who care others who don't.

muddypaws

Angel2016 wrote: »

It depends on the pounds and the wardens as to how long surrenders get I know they can be destroyed right away but generally by the time paperwork is done it could be 24 hours or in some of the good pound the wardens hold onto them as long as possible and when I said assess I meant the wardens again depending on which pound can interact with the dog and tell you a basic outline of the dog, I know dogs can show certain behaviors when in pounds and not when adopted I have seen this time and time again as I take dogs from pounds I am just saying that if they are very nervous as a local rescue to go with them someone who is experienced in dogs and could spot something they might miss so as to get a somewhat good idea of the dog.
All the pounds in this country as different some with wardens who care others who don't.

Yes, it definitely does depend on what pound and which warden, I was just pointing out that surrenders can, and sometimes do, get killed very quickly when being surrendered, they don't automatically get 24 hours. If a dog is returned the day the vet is there, they will just add it onto the kill list for that day. And if a dog is handed back in and the warden told that it has a particular behaviour problem, chances are, the warden won't allow it to be rehomed.

Do you know any warden in the country that has a behaviour qualification, so that they can assess a dog properly? I've not heard of any.

Angel2016

muddypaws wrote: »

Yes, it definitely does depend on what pound and which warden, I was just pointing out that surrenders can, and sometimes do, get killed very quickly when being surrendered, they don't automatically get 24 hours. If a dog is returned the day the vet is there, they will just add it onto the kill list for that day. And if a dog is handed back in and the warden told that it has a particular behaviour problem, chances are, the warden won't allow it to be rehomed.

Do you know any warden in the country that has a behaviour qualification, so that they can assess a dog properly? I've not heard of any.

I live in Dublin so we have the Ashton pound I know the warden there certainly does not have any qualifications he did go on a one day course so said he was qualified which obviously he isn't, I don't know of any that are qualified behaviorists but I do think it should be compulsory to have one working with pounds, I know certain pounds that have really nice and caring wardens working there mind you they come far and few and do give dogs extra time and go out of their way to help dogs with issues if you like but most pounds just put them on the kill list if surrendered from my experience and it does be a race against time at this present moment I know one girl who is working very hard to get a dog with issues out and she has been for the past three weeks

heldel00

Quick update.
We didn't end up adopting the dog in the end. We went and met him and he was such a lovely little pet of a thing but just not suited to our household at the minute. As I said in original post, baby is just starting to crawl and I could foresee problems with a rough toddler pulling the Maltese around the place. He was very, very small.
But the good news is.... Friends of ours were looking for a house dog and when we rang them they went to meet him and fell head over heels. We were in their house last week and Bobby was sitting in a plush doggie bed, after being primped and preemed at the groomers and is being extremely well cared for. Happy ending to that story.

Just an added note on the dog warden - he was more interested in vetting our suitability to the dog rather than the dog to us. Talked through the the dogs needs and our ability to provide a good home. Both of us are working full time so he was concerned that the dog would be left for long periods of time on his own and was too sociable for this. Was keen that we would go home and think about it because he could see that I was caught up in the excitement of meeting the dog and really wanted us to make an informed decision. Was very impressed by this.

Angel2016

heldel00 wrote: »

Quick update.
We didn't end up adopting the dog in the end. We went and met him and he was such a lovely little pet of a thing but just not suited to our household at the minute. As I said in original post, baby is just starting to crawl and I could foresee problems with a rough toddler pulling the Maltese around the place. He was very, very small.
But the good news is.... Friends of ours were looking for a house dog and when we rang them they went to meet him and fell head over heels. We were in their house last week and Bobby was sitting in a plush doggie bed, after being primped and preemed at the groomers and is being extremely well cared for. Happy ending to that story.

Just an added note on the dog warden - he was more interested in vetting our suitability to the dog rather than the dog to us. Talked through the the dogs needs and our ability to provide a good home. Both of us are working full time so he was concerned that the dog would be left for long periods of time on his own and was too sociable for this. Was keen that we would go home and think about it because he could see that I was caught up in the excitement of meeting the dog and really wanted us to make an informed decision. Was very impressed by this.

That's all good news to hear and a welcome update....would you ever think of adopting a kitten / cat instead of a dog at the moment ? and then maybe when your child is older you could think of a dog as cats are less work and dont mind being left for longer periods you could take in two kittens which would be company for each other too.

heldel00

Thanks for suggestion but definitely not a cat person. They give me the creeps. We'll wait until he's bigger and get a dog.

Angel2016

heldel00 wrote: »

Thanks for suggestion but definitely not a cat person. They give me the creeps. We'll wait until he's bigger and get a dog.

Okay no worries, you wouldn't like my house so I have 8 of them and a dog best of luck !