What does "Dog Rescue" mean to you?
I ask this because I get some of the strangest comments and questions from people. I always answer them and I try really hard not to come off snotty or rude but sometimes I am sure I do. I know growing up you are taught there are no stupid questions but you know what sometimes I think there are.
It seems whenever I have puppies I get the same questions.
What was the dad? It always says in the petfinder/adopt a pet posting if we know who the dad was or not. Sometimes I feel like asking "can you read? it says in the listing the mom was a stray and no one knew she was pregnant.
How big will they get? ok that one I can somewhat understand but what I don't understand is when this is followed by I don't want a dog over XX pounds. My response is usually "with a rescue puppy not knowing the dad it is probably best that you get a full grown dog." And of course they always email back but I want a puppy."
Will the dog have health issues when it gets older? I don't know let me check my magical crystal ball!!! UGH!
Oh my favorite question is "Will you take less for the dog then what you are asking?" OMG I am not e-bay or a flea market.... ok so with that question I do get a little rude. I usually list all the expenses of what we have into the dog. I say nothing else just list what we have spent on the dog thus far. It is usually MORE then the adoption fee.
Does the dog shed?
Do you know why someone got rid of him/her? "Well the dog was a stray at the shelter whose owners never came looking for him but yes I know the exact reason NOT!"
Then the weird statements I get from people
"I don't want a dog that is already fixed because I want my vet to do it."
"You are getting the puppy fixed at 8 weeks is that safe." No it isn't safe but I thought I would give it a try and see what happens. lol
"I really really like this dog but he is too skinny. I don't want to adopt a dog that is skinny."
"I don't want a dog that will bark"
"I don't think I should have to pay for a rescue dog" ya, know what you are correct I work a full time job trying support my family and volunteer all my FREE time so you can have a fully vetted, housebroken dog FOR FREE!
My favorite all time comment that was made but not to me but one of my rescue friends.... let me set the stage for the comment real quick.
My rescue friend had a litter of puppies, they were all pretty much identical looking very hard to tell apart. So, instead of having people pre pick she wait till they were all fixed and then had people come over as she approved their applications and pick up and take home a puppy. I forget exactly how many puppies she had but regardless she had left two messages for this one family. They finally called her back by that time there was only one puppy left. When the family found out that all the puppies but one were adopted this is what they said
"Well what is wrong with this puppy that no picked it? We don't want the last puppy because something must be wrong with it."
My friend was so shocked she said OK and hung up. LOL!!
Any other rescue folks out there are more then welcome to make comments on this post about the silly things people have said or asked you. We can all use a good laugh and it helps to know we aren't alone in this lonely volunteer work we do!
8 comments:
I don't work in dog rescue, but I have two rescued coonhounds.
I am always shocked when people ask what's wrong with them. Why does something have to be wrong with them just because they were rescues??
Rarely is there something "wrong" with a rescue dog; there was something wrong with its family/previous life situation - non-existent, lost their home, irresponsible, health issues, puppy mill, etc; not saying the something wrong was always the person/family's fault but most definitely it was not the dog's fault. Cheers to your friend for just saying OK and hanging up on those people; I wouldn't want to adopt a puppy to people who think that way.
I still like the question about recommending a breeder, lol, you handled it well.
Our rescue offers low cost spay/neuters to members. Someone asked the other day if they used anesthesia for the surgery. The woman being asked was a bit taken back by the question and wanted to tell the asker, no the vet just straps them down to the table and tapes their mouth shut so they dog won't scream and hopes for the best.
At the shelter I work at we actually have a journal that we keep of stupid questions. One of my favorites that somebody asked me was "I have a 6 year old unneutered male dog. Why does he *ahem* you know, ummm, try to "mess with" my cat?"
I also like the "I'm looking for a housebroken, 1 and a half year old black lab with a little white spot on his chest named Fido". Employee: " did you lose a dog like that?" Dingo customer: "no, I'm just looking for a dog like that". I'm always tempted to say "sorry, our special order hasn't come in yet"
We also always get people reporting lost dogs and say "he's brown and his name is duke". Well hang on a second, let me go to the kennel and see if anybody answers when I call duke...
Dumbest thing ever said to me- when I told a university classmate I was fostering a basset hound puppy, he asked why I didn't just go out and buy from a breeder, because "Aren't you kind of scraping the very bottom of the barrel with rescue dogs?"
Saddest thing ever said to me- my foster failure pitbull and I were out for a walk in our local park, some kids came over and asked to pet her. She loves kids, so I said ok and they swarmed around. One asked what kind of dog she was, I told him she was a pit, and he immediately asked, quite seriously, if she was a good fighter. The kid could not have been more than nine years old, and I live in a smaller college town.
I was at a large rescue event and there were literally hundreds of animals (dogs and cats) there for adoption. I had a man stop by and ask about our dogs. I had just finished talking about our dogs coming out of commercial breeding facilities and he proceeded to tell me he was there looking for a pair to breed. I was at the end of my rope dealing with idiots and told him to look around at all these animals needing homes. Did he truly believe more needed to be bred? He stomped away.
Another crazy woman kept coming back and trying to get a guarentee that our dogs would be housebroken. She told me how she had two previous dogs put to sleep because they couldn't be housebroken! After her 5th visit to our table, I told her the only dog I could guarentee housebroken was a stuffed one.
See, there's a reason I don't do public relations. :)
At a adoption event a young man asked about a husky up for adoption. He stated he had a pack of 30 coyoties on his property (they don't run in packs!) and wanted the husky to kill them. When we told him the dog would not kill them he stated "well, if he wasn't neutered he could! You took the fight out of him!" We told him to go away!.
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