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Old December 21st, 2005, 08:34 AM
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BernerLver BernerLver is offline
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?'s for those with rescued/adopted dogs

Just looking for some insight from those members who have brought rescued or adopted dogs into their home.

My husband and I currently have a 1.5 year old BMD and would like to add another to our family. We have been in contact with a few rescue groups and after much consideration, feel this is the route we would like to pursue.

I would really appreciate hearing any experiences (both good and bad) others have who have gone through this (i.e. brought a resuce dog into their home with or without an existing dog).

Any other tips or advice would also be welcome.

Thanks in advance for any help.
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Old December 21st, 2005, 08:50 AM
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BMDLuver BMDLuver is offline
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Presently, we have 4 dogs in the house. One has just arrived for fostering and is 4 months old. They all work on finding the spot for the new dog arrival. My oldest gal, vocalizes to put a new dog in it's place and make sure they know that she's not really into a lot of playing. My next in line will check the new dog out then test it's play factor to see if it can handle some roughhousing. My youngest just gleefully runs over and starts chewing on it's head.. he's a pup himself so that's his greeting manner presently. There's a bit of confusion for the first 24 hours then it seems to settle into a manageable mix of play and grumble. Dogs are like potatoe chips in my books, can't just have one!
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Old December 21st, 2005, 09:24 AM
Lizzie Lizzie is offline
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I can't really give you any advice here, but I do want to say that I think it is truly a wonderful thing when families rescue/adopt dogs in need of homes. These dogs can be far more loving and grateful for the life you provide them, and will love you until the end of the world.

If you have your eye on a particular dog, I would suggest you inquire with the rescue. They will be in the best position to answer your questions--with specific reference to your own personal living situation.

That being said, there are a lot of people on this site who work in rescue, and/or who have rescued many furbabies. I'm sure they will be along shortly.
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Old December 21st, 2005, 10:51 AM
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BernerLver BernerLver is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BMDLuver
Presently, we have 4 dogs in the house. One has just arrived for fostering and is 4 months old.
BMDLuver - Are all your dogs Berners? If so what resuce group/club did you work with? Any info you have would be great!

Quote:
Originally Posted by BMDLuver
Dogs are like potatoe chips in my books, can't just have one!
I could not agree more!
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Old December 21st, 2005, 11:04 AM
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BMDLuver BMDLuver is offline
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I have a 6 year old Berner, a 6 month old Berner, an 18 month old Aussie X Berner. The little gal in right now is 4 month old Tervuren X. One on it's way is a 2 year old Berner. I do mainly XL breed rescue but will help the little gaffers when I have a spot as well. You can visit my site at http://teddys.petfinder.org . Hope that's allowed? Thanks.
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Old December 21st, 2005, 11:28 AM
jawert1 jawert1 is offline
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When I adopted my 2, I didn't have any other animals in the house. Simon was such a mess he had NO clue how to be a dog, so Peaches naturally took higher rank since she does, and took it upon herself to teach Simon the ins and outs. I had a bit of re-housebreaking to do with Simon (which included replacing a room of torn up carpet), but he came around in a few months. I suppose it depends on your attitude going in - given you already have a dog, understand all the work involved, and are willing to put forth the ton of effort it requires, another shouldn't be a huge strain on you.
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Old December 21st, 2005, 01:17 PM
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Joey.E.CockersMommy Joey.E.CockersMommy is offline
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We got Joey through a breed specific rescue organization, atlhough he we were checking out breeders at the same time, and keeping an eye out on the shelters as well in case anything came up there. We werent able to meet Joey before we met him, so we went on the reccomendation of the owner and the rescue that he would be the right dog for us.

We love Joey but he wasnt quite like the original owner descirbed him and did have some issues, that we are working on. He was growling at my kids but now that seems way better and he hasnt growled at all lately. We were reccommended for the right family for Joey as we had young kids and Joey loved kids. So we were a bit surprised when he started growling at them. Anyways its a lot better now and things are working out. Perhaps the change was stressful on Joey and caused some behaivor issues but hes doing a lot better, but now we have another issue to deal with so its back to the training forum for us.
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Old December 21st, 2005, 03:34 PM
Prin Prin is offline
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I got Boo at the SPCA. It's a lottery but I knew whoever I got, I'd manage. We got Jemma from a lady who was moving to Australia. We got to do test weekends before just to be sure that the two got along. I wouldn't recommend getting a second doggy without testing them out together first before committing.
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Old December 22nd, 2005, 01:11 PM
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MIA MIA is offline
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All of mine are rescues (3) and I also do rescue! I know when I adopted our second dog, the first one hated us for it, but after a short amount of time they became best buds.... When we adopted the third she was a wild child but it all worked out in the end. I always tell adopters to take the dog right to some basic obedience training, even if the dog is trained, it's a great way to bond with the dog. I always separate dogs when I am not home and the rescues sleep in crates. When I am meeting with a potential home, I try and find out as much as I can about them, also meet the existing pets and find the best possible match for them, have the dogs meet several times and sometimes even do a foster to adopt situation. Depends on the dog really. A good rescue will take the time to work with you and make the transition as easy as possible for both you and the dog.
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Old December 26th, 2005, 08:03 PM
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coppperbelle coppperbelle is offline
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Rescued Adopted dogs

I work with golden rescue and my two (rescues themselves) have never had a problem with any dog I have brought into our home. They welcome them and all sleep, eat and play together. I believe a lot has to do with what your own dog is use to and the message they get from you. If you are nervous bringing another dog into the home they will pick up on that.
Currently I have my own two and a very large foster golden who weighs about 120 pounds. They all get along very well.
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Old December 27th, 2005, 02:24 AM
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LM1313 LM1313 is offline
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I got Ebony, my lab/border collie mix, from a local no-kill shelter (no-kill at the time, anyway, since then they've had to change, sadly.) She and her two sisters had been dumped by the highway in a cardboard box at three months old and some kind soul who was actually on vacation stopped and took them into town.

Aside from some minor separation anxiety, Ebony never had any problems other than "normal" puppy problems, like having to be taught not to jump on people in happiness. She was a breeze to housetrain, which is pretty amazing considering we didn't have a crate for her or anything like that. She grew up into the sweetest dog. Definitely not a watchdog, she loves everyone!

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Old December 27th, 2005, 10:06 AM
catsnatcher-CDN catsnatcher-CDN is offline
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My baby was also from the SPCA. He is my first dog and we got him at 6 months old. He is part Doberman, part crazy. He was returned 3 times. They told us he was a great dog and put a smiley face on the adoption papers.

They recommended basic training and a crate since he was neither housebroken nor trained. I got him a metal crate and placed it in a spare room and signed him up for obedience training at the SPCA. When we were home, we kept him on a leash in our hands and when we were gone we would crate him.

The trainer told us we got the wrong dog for our lifestyle and that I should consider replacing him with a smaller dog. I ended up flat on my face several times on our walks. He would pull with all his strength and I would pop Tylenols for the back pains that ensued. My vet recommended I put him on Ritalin. I didn't.

My new dog spend the next few months breaking out of the metal cage, spending the day destroying my home, defecating and urinating everywhere and then greeting me at the door every night on my return. I soon turned my picture perfect home into an obstacle course with baby gates, closed doors, strategically placed bookshelves and nothing deterred him. He broke out of the cage everyday, open doors with the tip of his nose, jump over or knocked down baby gates and went straight through the bookshelves. STRAIGHT THROUGH THE BOOKSHELVES LIKE A TORPEDOE! He ate my toothbrush, my CD collection and my grandmother's antic velvet book cover, to name just a few things. I once found him defecating a piece of "The Complete Shakespeare Collection" book cover.

Prior to having adopted him, I spend two years renovating my house and buying beautiful furniture and accent pieces only to come home to a pig's sty and a dog with his own decorating plans who thought 11:00 pm was his cue to bark for an hour.

I finally threw out the metal cage and bought a pet carrier instead. I cried for twenty minutes on the first day we used the pet carrier and I came home to find a dog obediently waiting in the cage and house as intact as I had left it in the morning. It was like winning the lottery. And everyday that followed became a little more pleasant, and a little easier. The first obedience training classes didn't really stick, nor did the second. The third class finally taught him to sit and stay but only occasionally and as long as that cookie was in plain sight. Within a year, everything but his energy level subsided.

Now, 4 years later, scratches remain, the pet carrier is in the closet and the bookshelves have been replaced. I love him for having put my values in check and he loves me because that's what dog's do.
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Old December 27th, 2005, 10:52 AM
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Joey.E.CockersMommy Joey.E.CockersMommy is offline
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catssnatcher=

Quote:
Now, 4 years later, scratches remain, the pet carrier is in the closet and the bookshelves have been replaced. I love him for having put my values in check and he loves me because that's what dog's do.
oh my gosh that just made me want to cry. Its so great this guy has a home with you, and you saw him through his destructive phase.
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Old December 27th, 2005, 11:21 AM
catsnatcher-CDN catsnatcher-CDN is offline
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It's bringing me back so many horror stories. I think the worst thing he did was when I walked in to find him chewing on plant roots, lying across a couch covered in mud. It took a couple of seconds for me to figure out what the hell I was looking at. He had emptied all the content of a huge pot plant on my brand new $5000.00 WHITE couch. WHITE!

I'm a neat freak and a bit of a germaphone. I'm the one with the psychology degree and he turned out to be my best therapist!
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Old January 2nd, 2006, 05:43 PM
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mummummum mummummum is offline
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Rescues are The Best !

[QUOTE=catsnatcher-CDN] He had emptied all the content of a huge pot plant on my brand new $5000.00 WHITE couch. WHITE! QUOTE]

Catsnatcher you are a HOOT! Oh the memories of puppydom -my grrrrls must be a relation - they actually ate my couch right down to the springs ! Ah, but we luv 'em anyway. Even when we wake up to see a sole is all that remains of our last pair of shoes and we have to wear hiking boots in July to work.

My grrrls, Ceili and Bridie, are Bernese/ Belgian Shep/ Golden x's and are now 6 but who were so young when they came to me as rescues they had to be hand fed for their first few weeks. I recently brought home Declan (The Boy) an approx 8 yr old Newf/ Border Collie x, a rescue from up north who came to me a day before his "kill-date". It's been a difficult time and being the "holiday" (ha-ha-ha) season has made it more stressful for all. My alpha grrrl is a true-blue Don't-mess-with-me Alpha and absolutely HATES The Boy and I am definitely soooooo off her Christmas Card list for having brought him home. Behaviour therapy intervention has been required and I have a feeling it's going to be a long adjustment period. To top it all, we've been dealing with - as the vet tech put it today - "a splash of vomit with a dash of diarrhea twist" on a rotational basis for the last few weeks. Yum-yum!

While it wasn't possible in our case, ideally, I would have like to have had a number of occasions for The Grrrrl's and The Boy to meet and socialize in and out of the house and I would have taken two weeks to be home with them working on our relationship and helping Declan to adjust to things like a leash and being walked, eating treats not fingers. But for all the hardship and heartache I wouldn't un-do it for the world. Good for you for considering an addition to your family.
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