Rescues are near and dear to my heart. That even includes the purbreds that are left behind. Even designer dogs like Doodles that become rescues. Despite the challenges that come with a rescue I will be going over how a rescue comes into being. There are so many things a rescue dog can go through before you get them. If you put in the time and the love they can be some of the best dogs ever. A normal rescue needs 3 months to year to rehabilitate.
Unfortunately, that is just what doesn’t not happens on the regular. If I ruled the world I would put regulation on breeders to responsibly bred and home dogs. They would liscence and have to report to a Animal care Bureau of some kind. Back yard breeders may not match the right breeding pairs together. This can result in genetically unhealthy dogs. To the person who takes them after this could even be thousands of dollars or more in medical costs.
Again, not all of them do this, but it is a major problem for those that do with no consequences. There are also Doggie Mills which are just plain inhumane. They keep dogs in cages and just breed the crap out of them never considering their health. Female dogs should not have puppies every chance they get. They need a few years to recover from breeding a litter of puppies.
It is the other reason why I am a big advocate to spay and neuter your animal. If you are thinking of breeding dogs in your home think about all the consequences and dangers. When dogs breed it is not a friendly affair. There could be biting involved that could hurt you or your family. A lot of puupy mills will just inseminate dogs with even something like a turkey baster.
There are certain states that are worse about dog breeding then others. They do not regulate dog owners at all and then there becomes too many dogs to take care of.
With that in mind there are a few different ways a dog becomes a rescue. One way is just by being one of the too many puppes left on the street. Even in the country this can happen and especially to cats. The animal that becomes a stray has to defend it’s territory and find something to eat.
This can make them hard to reintegrate into society. If like dogs more then people possibly if they had a group they could be with. If they like humans more then dogs then they had someone giving them food as a stray. If they hate both then that means they got into a fight with humans and dogs. This makes them the most challenging to reintegrate back into society as a pet. They could even have a high prey drive for smaller animals.
With my socilization article these are things that you can work past. Create trust with your rescue. Feed them if they will take the food. Play with them if they take the ball. Start from scratch on potty training if you need it. If you were trying to make a new human friend you would use favors or gifts to befriend them.
Then expose them to short amounts of chaos for ten minutes. A busy street is a good one, or a busy park. Sometimes store like Home depot, Lowes, Petco, Petsmart. Just have them watch passively. This will make sure that they know that even groups of people moving around will not hurt them. Then make a high pitched “Hey!” sound and get the dog to look at you. This means they are not scared enough to just keep their focus on the crowd. If you were watching a horror film is it easy to look away?
Hopefully this is a motivating story. I knew a pomerian mix who was dropped off at someone’s house. When the dog came to me it was scared of my hands. I knew that it had been hit by someone. This poor small dog! I sat on the ground and just threw a lot of food to the dog to slowly gain it’s trust. Then I would put the food on my knee. The dog slowly came up to me more and more. Then one time when they left the dog in the Petshotel. The dog came up onto my lap. I was about to cry but I didn’t want to startle the dog it had been months, but that little dog finally gave me something worth more then money itself. It gave it’s trust to me. So even if these cases take a long time. The ones that succeed are so beautiful I cannot fully describe it. Even in the face of cruelty and hopelessness there is still love.
Here are more resources on dog overpopulation
American humane society https://www.americanhumane.org/position-statement/animal-population-control/
ASPCA https://www.aspca.org/animal-homelessness/shelter-intake-and-surrender/pet-statistics
This is a video clip on how Bully breeds may not even leave the sheltershttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVRGxo-py_o
Pawvana 