No matter where you get your dog from here are some things to consider.
Adopt or Shop, the To Be or Not To Be of the canine industry. Thrown about without any real regard for the message it is sending out and the damage it could be causing. People are entitled to get the dog that will fit their family and lifestyle, whether from a rescue or a breeder. Good ethical breeders should not be shamed for what they do in keeping a breed healthy and in some cases improving the standards of the breed. Without modern ethical breeders, the improvements that are being seen in certain breeds would not be possible. Not only this but if we can encourage a high standard of ethical breeding and care then rescue centres would no longer be needed to the same extent that they are today.
Many breeders, particularly those that breed rarer breeds, will offer some kind of backup to the people they sell the puppies to. This means that if something were to happen and the dog could no longer to cared for by the people that bought them, the breeder would take that dog back and find them a new home. If this kind of practice could be standardised to all breeders, then rescues for ethically bred UK dogs would no longer be needed. Of course, there are still the backyard breeders that do not care what happens to the dogs after they have made their money off them. These dogs, and those imported to the country, would still need some kind of backup in place in the form of a rescue. There are also reasons that the breeder may not be able to take the dog back from a family, for example, if the breeder is no longer in operation they may not have the facilities to be able to take the dog and care from them until a new home is found. But even with these instances needing a rescue centre the demand for one would be a lot less, therefore leading to less overcrowding and lower stress levels. This would also mean that the dogs that are in a rescue centre would be given the care and attention that they need in order to be able to find a new home, for example, if they have a behavioural problem.
A responsible breeder will know the traits of the parents and even grandparents, or further, of the puppies they are selling. What this means is that the breeder should be able to make a good estimate as to the traits of the puppies and therefore be able to match them with a suitable home. It therefore falls on the breeder to check the potential owners and ensure that they are capable of caring for the dog they are attempting to take on. These are the same sorts of checks that many rescues will put potential adopters through.
Rescues are often good at pulling on the heartstrings of potential adopters to, for lack of a better word, guilt them into adopting a dog from them. The blame cannot be put entirely on the rescue for this, as in some cases dogs are brought in for no fault of their own and are then overlooked due to how they look for their age. From the rescues’ point of view if they can get the “easy” dogs out into a home then they have the space to take another dog that needs it or the time to work with a dog that needs to undergo some training before they can be homed. Rescues are overwhelmed, and it has only gotten worse in recent years with people getting dogs during the pandemic, and either returning to work and not having enough time for the dog or giving up a dog with behavioural issues because they were not socialised properly when they were a puppy. Almost every rescue in the UK has a wait list for dogs that need to be rehomed, meaning they need more homes for more difficult dogs than ever before.
Your decision as to where you get your new dog from should not be based on the pleas for homes from rescues or the cute puppy picture you see from a breeder. Emotion, for all intents and purposes, needs to be kept out of the decision. A dog will be part of your life for 10+ years and therefore what your life looks like in a decade needs to be taken into consideration. Of course, you cannot know exactly what is going to happen in 10 or 15 years time but you know where you want to be whether that’s settled down with a family or travelling the world. You need to choose a dog that is going to fit your lifestyle not just a dog that you think looks cute. There are no certainties when getting a dog from a rescue or a breeder, but if you get a puppy from a Border Collie breeder that has titles in agility with the parents then you can be pretty certain that the puppy is going to have a lot of energy. Don’t be afraid to do research on different breeds, ask questions both of the rescues and the breeder and most importantly don’t be afraid to travel to get the dog that suits you.
Here is a, by no means comprehensive, list of things to consider when you are thinking of getting a dog:
- What do you want from the dog?
- What breed do you want or are you not bothered?
- Are there any breeders in your area? – if not the breed you are looking for then just to have a chat with about what to look for in an ethical breeder
- How much are you willing to spend?
- What age of dog are you looking for?
- What’s the reputation of the local rescue? Do they have a waitlist for a certain type of dog?
I speak as someone who has dogs from different backgrounds and has worked in both boarding and rescue.
It doesn’t matter.
If you get your dog from a responsible breeder and it suits your lifestyle that’s just as good as adopting. In fact, in many cases, I would rather you go and get a puppy that you can train up to like your other pets and kids than attempt to take a rescue with an unknown background because you feel bad.
While some rescue dogs are there because their owners cannot look after them for one reason or another that is not the dogs’ fault just as many if not more are there because either their genetics or their owner has failed them. And yes a lot of these dogs could be worked with to get to a place where they are reasonably socialised, it is a long, hard road that is not for the faint of heart and is not for everyone. And there is nothing worse when working in a rescue than thinking “Finally that dog has a home” only to have them be returned because the owner did not realise how difficult the journey would be despite the warnings.
Please consider all of your options before deciding to get any dog.
The Dog Standard 