Has many of you know I use to be a puppy trainer at The Rescue Home & now I am an home checker & checker upper for The Rescue Home, its not a easy job as when someone fails their home check or follow up check you have to say sorry you are not eligible to adopt one of our dogs or I am sorry we have to take back the dog you have adopted. So far I have at to say sorry your not eligible to adopt one of our dogs 14 times, its heart breaking but The Rescue Home have a 100 point sheet & new owners must have 70 or above points to adopt one of our dogs, most fail on the dog's needs section which as the highest number of points in. I have not yet at to take a dog back & touch wood I never will have to, again this has a point sheet & but you must have 90 or above points to keep your dog, if I do have a follow up visit that the owners fail to get the required points I will phone up The Rescue Home & ask the Boss to come down & let him talk to the owners, about how to improve or alter the way they are looking after their dog. We are not bothered about how clean your house is, we are more concern about how secure your garden is & if you have no garden then where you would let the dog go toilet, but drives & gardens that are full of broken down vehicles/caravans/engines that have not or can't be moved, will automatically be turned down.
They (home checker) came to my home and whined about small bits that a puppy may pick up and Jade's temperament. They also mentioned the lack of a fence but as fences can't be built here, they let it go. They were intrusive and annoying and had I not wanted Nigredo so badly, they'd have been told to leave my property and I'd have been sure to bash them on media. Nobody is perfect. Nigredo is a happy dog and under total voice command and doesn't leave his yard and after 3 years, hasn't come to any harm. If I ever wanted another dog (I don't) there's no way I'd go to such a place. There are plenty of places that don't barge into peoples homes and complain about every little thing before letting me adopt a shelter dog. As this place also practices unethical juvenile neutering, I just really did not like the experience. They told me I wasn't allowed to keep the dog as an outside dog (wasn't even planning to) and that he was going to be a 60 lb indoor dog and was Border Collie and Labrador. The vet took one look at his double rear dewclaws (with full bones, not just attached by skin) and said he'd be more like 80-90 lbs. How could the vet instantly tell but they were way off? I didn't want a big dog. I already had him and loved him so I kept him, but they have a decent return rate despite the intrusive home checks, and maybe that is why.
Sounds like you live in America, here in England male dogs have to be minimum of 12 months old (1 year old) before they are neutered. Being a home checker is like being a social worker, we have to check that the home is safe for dogs to live in, just like social workers have to make sure the home is safe for a child to live in, same goes for the dogs needs/child's needs. What you class as whining & being intrusive is us making sure that the dog your wanting to adopt isn't going to end up at the vets, because it as swallowed something small & sharp, or been attacked by another pet living in the home, we also have to make sure no one living in the home have every been accused of animal cruelty, including any children living in the home that's been accused of animal cruelty, no one will be able to adopt one of our dogs if they are going to leave the dog outside 24/7.
Yes I am American. They euthanize so many dogs each year it isn't even funny. They are too picky about who they let adopt. The adoption process was like two hours long and it doesn't surprise me that they're constantly full of dogs and people have bad things to say. And background checking? Ridiculous. They needed vet references etc. as well. We had everything they asked for but I found it ridiculous. Income earnings and other things aren't their business. Making sure the dog doesn't end up at the vet for perhaps swallowing something is more important than trying to home dogs that you absolutely don't have room for? The dog ended up eating an incense stick that was impossible to see and it made him sick but he didn't need a vet. We had him vaccinated, I trained him to come when called, and he's a good dog now. ANYBODY willing to put up with even half the nonsense they put us through would REALLY have to want the dog.
We are a non kill home when our kennels are full, we have fosters myself included that take in the toy/small & nervous dogs, we take them back to the kennels during the day & they come home with us at night.
Since when ? First ive heard of it ! 100 point sheet & new owners must have 70 or above points to adopt one of our dogs! I am surprised that anyone passes, all these point systems are just ridiculous there is more to owning a dog than ticking the boxes. I have not yet at to take a dog back & touch wood I never will have to, again this has a point sheet & but you must have 90 or above points to keep your dog,) What, never heard nothing like it, Why would a point system be needed AFTER the dog is rehomed. Surely just by looking at the dog and having a chat one would see if dog was happy and looked after. For many years I used to do voluntary homechecks for a GSD rescue. We had a checklist guide for questions and answers, once the Preliminary questions were out of the way ie: fencing, children, other pets, working hours ect: I mostly went by my gut instinct and ‘Would I be happy for my animals to live there. If I was undecided, I presented the facts to the best of my knowledge, listed any reservations I had along with the good points, and left it to the rescue to take forward. We did "follow up" visits a few weeks after the re-homing, just to get to meet the dog and to see that everything is ok, if the owners had any concerns we would talk them through.
Yes, the shelter I used was a "no kill" shelter. They are quick to fill up and by refusing people left and right, slow to empty. Here, they also refuse dogs with behavior issues or hard to treat or physically apparent health issues (such as mange). They simply refuse dogs once they fill up, which ensures the dogs end up at kill shelters. No kill shelters aren't better and they usually just serve as a sanctuary that houses dogs and are hardly moving them. They beg for donations but they refuse dogs they can't viably adopt out and string people along to adopt out the ones they have. Not a fan. Oh. And take a dog back? This is America, there will be none of that. You'd need legal power AND physical power to do so. Nobody is handing over their dog and wasting money etc trying to get legal ability to remove the dog is extremely impractical and almost impossible unless the dog is in HORRID physical condition. You won't get him back for simple breaches of contract that you probably can't prove, you'd just get laughed at.
Oh. And I was told I could ONLY give the dog back to the shelter should I ever be unable to care for him. Do you think that I will do that? Sure won't! I'll find someone I trust and I will give them the dog or I will take him somewhere where I think he'll actually get a new home instead of sitting in the shelter for a year + because nobody passes the grill. I can't recall if it was them or a therapy program we were doing, but one said the dog is never to be fed raw meat whatsoever. I believe the shelter said that. Ridiculous! I'll feed MY dog what I like. Frankly that contract can go into the trash, I paid for the dog and I will care for him however I like. If he's not ABUSED or NEGLECTED, then they can stifle themselves on fences and my income. BTW - they wanted to come back and check around. Nope! They were refused entry altogether. Like I said, I only put up with all of that to get the dog. Once he's mine, they can disappear. I showed them the big, happy, and obviously loved dog and assured them his care was as good as his appearance and demeanor and sent them along. Haven't seen or heard from them in like two years.
I wouldn't like to do your job Tina. I'm sure I would feel like rejecting more homes than I passed - and then the kennels would stay full! There are lots of people who don't go to rescues because they think that they are going to be rejected for things like needing fencing, or going out to work. Nobody likes to feel that they are likely to fail a home check. It would be good if there could be a universal standard, so everyone could know in advance what criteria applied. Three of my last four dogs have been rescues. Mia and Tweed came from council kennels. I was told that I would have to have home checks, but because of my doggy background it could wait till the following week. I'm still waiting for them to come. Both girls were adults, and were released unspayed, but I was given a discount voucher for a nominated vet practice. Eddie came through a rescue trust which is supported by our training club. No dog was allowed to leave without a thorough check of the house and garden, but this does allow for a cooling off period, so I think is a good thing. Our garden is totally enclosed by either 6 foot wooden panels, or 5' 6" iron railings, but there is a four inch gap under the main gates. We were told that as he was a puppy, (15 wks), if there were any gaps at all, he wouldn't be released, so we had to fit wire mesh frames to the gates, which stayed in place until he was almost fully grown. There was no neutering requirement, just a recommendation, so he was done at my own vet at around 15 months. I believe that the Dogs Trust, and most of the breed rescues do home checks, and they spay/neuter before leaving their foster homes or kennels.
The point system came in force I think 3 years ago, must admit its totally different from when I first rescued a dog from the RSPCA 30 years ago, back then the home checker that came to check my home, walked through to the kitchen, then straight out to garden walked up to fence pushing it to see if it moved, then said you can pick up your dog in 2 hours. Now things have changed & the point system is mainly more on the dogs needs (food/toys/walking/grooming/health/vets/playtime) 20 points does go garden/drive areas, the taking the dog back as been in force for pass 6 years, in the whole 6 years only 3 dogs have ever been removed from their adopted family, (gravely underweight, grossly obese & tied up 24/7 in garden) when new owners adopt of of our dogs they are told that the dog will be removed if they are not caring for the dog correctly.
We offer free neutering/spaying for all puppies/dogs, however usually small/medium dogs over 1 years old & large/giant dogs over 2/3 years old will already be neutered, small/medium bitches will be spayed either after their 1st or 2nd season & large/giant bitches after their 3rd or 4th season (depending on how old they are) but if we have an elderly dog/bitch in that's not been neutered/spayed, then we advice new owners not to have them done unless its on medical terms, we inform them of the dangers of putting a elderly dog under anesthesia (some elderly dogs can die during or after operation more common in larger dogs)
