If you adopted a rescue dog, how did you find them? (lab, bulldogs)
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I did an internet search on all the rescues in my area. Found out where they held events and did a lot of research on what dogs they had in their rescue.
I also have a Facebook account so I would visit their Facebook pages.
Honestly, the best rescue in my area has a fantastic website where they are very thorough in their postings of the dogs, where they came from, what their behavior is like, and any comments foster may have for them. While Facebook rescue posts are good, they weren't always detailed enough for me. I used Petfinder only when I had to.
My suggestion is that wherever you post, please give people a LOT of honest information on the pet with several photos of the dog.
Petfinder is my favorite resource. Over the years I found two marvelous dogs to share my farm. But when I wanted a small dog and one without obvious genetic oddities, I had to go to a breeder as all the nicer small dogs were quickly unavailable.
When I was looking for a dog, I put my criteria into Petfinder and started the application process.
Now I volunteer for the rescue where I got my dog. We rely heavily on Petfinder and Facebook to promote the available animals in our care. (We have a website as well but it's not updated every day). If you adopted a rescue dog, where did you first find them?
Petfinder is how I found them both and from the same rescue
My current dog came from kijiji (similar to Craigslist) when I ran into trouble trying to get his specific breed from a breeder. Not knocking breeders at all, btw; in fact, I'm glad to see that their criteria is so high [in my case I worked away from home 5 days a week, and most reputable border collie breeders will not sell to someone if the dog is going to be alone during the day; highly understandable]. I already had a lot of experience with a high-energy dog and was able to meet the dog's demands, but a lot of people won't (or can't) and the dog winds up being rehomed or put in a shelter. And not surprising, because he came from a less than stellar background, my guy did bring with him some pretty challenging issues. Would I buy from someone selling puppies on kijiji or any other buy/sell website again? Absolutely not. While I have no regrets at all in taking him...I wouldn't do it again.
My last dog (the high-energy dog) was a cattle dog mix who I met while I was volunteering as a dog walker on weekends at the local humane society. I had no intention of getting a dog, and was volunteering there for almost a year before we actually crossed paths. The moment we met though, I knew, without a shred of doubt, that she and I were meant to be. She had been there for a couple of months, I believe, before I met her...she'd been adopted out twice and returned both times within a week because of her own issues. She started going downhill emotionally not long after we met, and after seeing her every week for about a month or so, I discovered that she was being put on a list for possible euthanasia, deemed as 'unadoptable'. She came home with me as soon as I found out, and she lived with me and my son (and our cats, and later, some rabbits) for the next 15 years. She was the best dog I ever met, and probably ever will meet. She was my heart dog.
I wanted the same breed (Boxer)I grew up with, so finding rescue groups for that breed resulted in some amazing dogs. Each group vetted us a bit differently. One group required references.
I saw a photo of a puppy in a kill shelter in Texas on Facebook. I am in CA and was starting to look for a new dog and was NOT looking for a puppy; However, something about that puppy's photo shouted " I am your dog" to me. I called the shelter and yes they allowed out of state adoptions and gave me info of a volunteer group that could help me but puppy had to be out by a certain date and the volunteer group took too long to return my call so I reached out to someone I met on here when we both had dogs with nasal cancer. After we lost our dogs we stayed friends on Facebook and I knew she was in that part of Texas. I got ahold of her and asked if she could pull the puppy for me and board it at her vets until I could get to Texas. The rest is History as that is my beautiful Chaos and yes that I am your dog feeling I got looking at that photo was right as she is my dog and we have so far had 8 wonderful years together. All because of someone sharing a photo on Facebook! My other rescue dogs have been dogs that I saw in person either at shelters or rescue events.
The big Bonus of adopting Chaos was I got to meet a fantastic person I had only known online and that was a great experience as she is a wonderful person.
My very first and only rescue was through the Central Illinois Sheltie rescue (Shelties are my breed of choice and I have received them through other means as well). She was in such bad shape (mentally & physically for various reasons) I was very concerned that she would be euthanized. She is the love of my life along with my first love, an older male Sheltie.
We got our rescue dachshund mix from a Petsmart Pet Adoption weekend. Once a month they have Humane Societies from several towns in the area set up with dogs and cats looking for new homes. Our dog's former owner was an old lady who couldn't take care of him any more. He's a year old this month and we joke that he's running on about 120 octane. We also adopted a cat from this deal at Petsmart, but she ran off a few months later
We got our used dog from shady animal hoarders the day after Xmas. Needed an emergency dog for daughter's adolescent issues. Dog was listless, but she wanted it. Turned out to have heartworm, that I'm sure they knew about. They lied about every detail of the dog, except his extraordinarily sweet personality. We got it treated (expensive). Turned out to be the absolute BEST dog. Gentle, friendly. I'm looking at him right now.
The problem with petfinder and such is that SO many ads are for dogs not in the area, but in "shelters" far, far away. I want to be able to go meet the dog I'm going to adopt. I wish that shelters would not abuse the location feature, and post dogs that are in Georgia or Texas as if they were located in the Northeast. There is no way to screen for location, and find a dog close to you, that you can go meet.
Have you looked at Petfinder lately? There is a feature where you plug in your zip code and can choose a range of mileage from your zip code. I think it's 35 miles, 50 miles, 100 miles or Anywhere. Then when the photos pop up, the dog description states how many miles away. I've found several which are 3, 4, 5, 10 miles away. So far none have been what I was looking for specifically, but the feature is very helpful. This might be a new feature - I just have started looking in the last few weeks.
I'm so glad you found such a great dog, though you certainly had your challenges initially. Your dog will be forever grateful to you for doing all the right things.
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