33) ROMANIAN / OVERSEAS RESCUE DOGS: Our Response to the BBC Programme, "Rescue Roulette: Dogs from Abroad"...

Hi folks, you've probably all watched the BBC programme called, "Rescue Roulette: Dogs from Abroad" by now. You may also have seen discussions about this via the media & social media. As you know, we have a lot of experience with these dogs, so we just wanted to take this opportunity to "chirp" in & have our say about Romanian & overseas originating rescue dogs.

We are currently owned by six Romanian rescue dogs & one Thai ex-meat trade dog. In total, we've had ten Romanian & overseas originating rescue dogs, nine of which are, & were, Romanian. We've also been owned by many U.K. rescue dogs. We're pretty indiscriminate, a dog is a dog, no matter where they come from in the world! If they need a home, they need a home! 🙏

As you all know (or, if you're new here, you will find out) the purpose of this entire website is to help you make the best informed decisions & choices at all points on your journey to finding a new rescue dog. We don't just encourage you to consider aspects such as your lifestyle, finances, future plans & circumstances, etc. (personal, family & work) & whether they are right & conducive for adding a new dog to your family, we also focus on the practicalities involved. For example: we encourage introspection, so that you might consider your own mindset & whether you are capable of & happy to adjust for a new dog. Moreover, we help you to consider carefully where you get your new dog from & how to choose your new dog. As a part of this, we help you to consider your choice based on a rescue organisation's overall reputability & their R.B.U. (rescue back up) policy. We also highlight the importance of conducting your own research into a rescue organisation, looking at their reviews, & making sure that your new dog will receive all the tests, treatments & vaccinations that they should (& that you'd like them to receive) & much, much more besides. We encourage you to err on the side of caution, just so that you can make sure you find a reputable rescue organisation who will offer you the best possible dog - from a health & behavioural point of view.

As we highlight throughout our website, this isn't an exact science, particularly from a behavioural point of view. However, it is hoped that our website will lead you in the right direction, & towards your new best friend. 🐶🥰

If you are new here, we would encourage you to read all of our blog articles in numbered order. If you have read "bits & bobs" on here, we would, again, encourage you to read all of our blog articles from the start. This article is in no way as comprehensive, taken in isolation, & should be considered in context of our entire website.

Our main objective of this blog article, as it is in our entire website, is NOT to put anyone off of rehoming a Romanian or overseas originating rescue dog, nor any rescue dogs in general. We purely hope to reduce the amount of dogs, very sadly, being surrendered back to rescue - particularly before they've even been given the chance! Sadly, many dogs are surrendered before they have had a chance to adjust & settle in, which is so sad! 😔🙏 Again, we hope to give you all the information needed to empower you to make the best informed decisions & choices for you, your family, & with consideration to your lifestyle, etc. - going into your rescue journey with your eyes wide open.

Now, let's talk frankly about Romanian & overseas originating rescue dogs. This is obviously something that we have a lot of experience with, in practical terms, ten times over - as adopters. Again, we believe that a dog is a dog, no matter where they come from in the world!

Our Romanian & overseas originating rescue dogs have come via five different rescue organisations. One of these has now sadly closed, one is now unfortunately closing down, one has paused their operations, one is now only rehoming to Europe & the other is still operating & rehoming dogs in the U.K. (We prefer not to mention names here, as we hope to encourage you to choose your own rescue organisation to adopt from.) So, again, we are very experienced with researching & choosing a rescue organisation to rehome from, as well as choosing a dog to adopt. We have also volunteered in Romanian rescue.

Now, we went a bit off point there but the extra background is needed...

But, if you're very careful in your choices of rescue organisation & dog, it's very likely that you will end up with a really lovely dog who will adjust to your family & home just fine.

Yes, they will need time to decompress, adjust, "unpack their baggage" & settle in, etc. This takes as long as THEY need & at a pace set by THEM. It could take up to three months or it could be longer, a year or so. But if you're willing to put the time in, with a patient, kind & understanding approach - giving your new dog all the time that THEY need - then there shouldn't be any issue.

So, let's talk about our dogs...

We've had a real mix of dogs but we always went into each individual journey with our eyes wide open.

We've previously talked about the importance of trying to find out as much about a dog's past as possible, & also grasping an understanding of where they have come from & what they might have experienced. (Please see our other blog articles for more details). This is so important & such valuable information. How can we even begin to attempt to understand them, if we have no idea about their potential or known, past life or lives?!

We've actually adopted four dogs who came from a public shelter in Romania, two dogs who were abandoned in Romania, three young dogs who were found stray in Romania (likely born & bred on the streets) & our Sophie, who was rescued off a van going to slaughter (tightly packed in a tiny crate with other dogs) destined for human dinner plates. 😔🙏

Our current Romanian dogs are called Rubee, Rossi, Ollie-Bob, Junie, Rodney (aka Hot Rod 🔥) & Gracie. Our Thai ex-meat girl is called Sophie (as already mentioned above).

We've got to be honest, five of our current dogs have settled in & adjusted to our lives & home environment pretty effortlessly, after THEIR initial periods of settling in (a timescale determined by THEM, unique to each) and we've received pretty "perfect" dogs in our eyes. That isn't to say they are perfect or that others would see them as perfect but, to us, they are! Having said that, we expect very little from them, we just let them be... In our experience, keeping expectations low allows for greater adoption success. (Again, please refer back to our other blog articles for further details about this).

Our dogs have some of the most endearing & fascinating little quirks we've ever seen. Take Hot Rod 🔥 for instance, he will literally "loot" our fruit bushes, given the opportunity. It's incredibly sweet but also highlights that he has most likely needed to look for his own food in the past, which is also quite sad. Our Hot Rod 🔥, our late Gem Gem, & our late Juni, have all proved to be quite skilled hunters of birds & rodents. Gem Gem even stopped a rat in its tracks, who had dared to enter our old back garden in the city. Whilst some breeds are quite accomplished hunters, we believe, in this case, that such skills have largely been obtained from their past lives - protecting their territory & resources & finding a meal. (It's worth noting here that a lot of Romanian rescue dogs are mixed breeds, so it might prove difficult to determine their actual breed traits, & to separate these from essential / learnt environmentally based skills).

Our Sophie & Gracie are a little more complex; they both clearly carry a roadmap of trauma.

We have already mentioned the nature of Sophie's rescue above (which is very distressing & we don't need to revisit that any further).

Gracie is a public shelter survivor who was literally found starved, almost to death.

Going back to Sophie now, she had been surrendered back to rescue (in the U.K.) after taking a long flight from Thailand to come here. Unfortunately, her first home did not work out because she wasn't keen on the man she was living with. She waited a long time before coming to us, as the rescue organisation were looking for a female-only home for her, on the assumption that she probably didn't like men. (Quite a reasonable assumption, given that men are usually the most involved in the capture, "processing" & "care" of such dogs - please note, I have used these terms very loosely!)

However, we are aware that environment & energy can play a part, too. We've all heard of "transference down the dog lead", where a person's emotional state or physical tension can be transferred to the dog, via the lead, thus influencing their behaviour. We believe that a dog's home environment & the energy of the people they are living with, can very much affect them in a similar way to the "transference" theory. In fact, science papers are increasingly finding this to be the case. So, just because one home, with a man, hasn't worked out, it doesn't mean that the next won't. The rescue organisation was erring on the side of caution, we understand, but we felt we could step in where nobody else wanted to or was able to. 🙏 Limiting Sophie's rehoming options to a female-only home was, unfortunately, just not yielding enough significant offers. (Extra note: we met Sophie's previous male owner & we observed that he actually had quite nervous energy. It was clear to see why Sophie might have reacted to his energy).

Sophie has been just fine with all of the men we have introduced her to, apart from our ex-builder, but she was completely right about him! 😉😆 One might argue that she is actually just a good judge of character. But, all joking aside, when you come across a dog who has potential, "visitor preferences", management protocols can be put in place to manage such situations, before allowing any potential escalation (things we have already discussed throughout this website). If, like us, you are willing to adjust to your dog & make reasonable easements for them, then this should cause no issues at all.

Moving onto Gracie now, she had clearly struggled to access food at the public shelter. She was moved into a tiny kennel space, on her own, by a rescue volunteer there, most likely, as they realised that she couldn't access food in a group situation &, perhaps, they saw a fight break out. Clearly though, she was emaciated & starving & action needed to be taken. 🙏

Upon arrival at our home, she occasionally, preemptively, lashed out at a few of our dogs, but we could see it was out of fear & anxiety. We quickly realised that Gracie couldn't cope with any dog being behind her, where she couldn't see them, it just made her too nervous & scared. She also couldn't cope with dogs suddenly running near her or trying to push by her. Nearby food also seemed to trigger her. Given her known background & unpicking the behaviour, it's very clear to see that she was probably put in the position to fight, particularly over food (what little food she was given at the public shelter, a sad reality, unfortunately). The kennels at the public shelters are also, generally, over crowded & unstimulating, with few beds or dog houses to move away to; certainly, there is no comfort to be had there (more of a place to "hold" dogs in vast numbers). So, it's very easy to see how fights could break out, & we could see exactly why she was, as she was. She must have quite regularly needed to defend & protect herself. She was locked into a state of fear-based hyperarousal. 😔🙏

Gracie has been with us for two & a half years now. We've allowed her to gently settle in, in HER OWN TIME. She has her own safe space in the kitchen, that she can take herself off to, whenever she wants to, or if she feels overwhelmed. It's taken Gracie a good year & a half to settle in properly & to understand that the other dogs are no threat to her. We've gently integrated her but also allowed her to have her own space, too. She is now living a much calmer & happier life & is integrated into "the pack" - realising that soft, comfy beds, fresh water, delicious & regular meals, & cuddles are all plentiful & can be shared out equally. It's taken time, love, patience, kindness & understanding, but she is just the most sweetest, most gentlest & loving girl. She just needed a kind approach & time to "unpack her baggage". 🙏

We mention Sophie & Gracie here to illustrate that some Romanian or overseas originating rescue dogs MIGHT come with some "baggage" but, to be fair, that can happen with ANY rescue dog - even one found in the U.K. And, as we have already mentioned above, our other five Romanian dogs have settled in pretty effortlessly, with few issues.

If you consider carefully how an individual dog was rescued & where from, what state they were found in, & how they've been since rescue (behaviour wise) you should be able to get a reasonable idea about what sort of dog you might be taking on. That's not to say that every dog from the public shelter will be as deeply affected as our Gracie. Our late Gem Gem, in fact, spent some time in the public shelter herself & it clearly didn't affect her at all. Like us humans, some dogs will cope better than others. 🙏 They are as unique as us!

Moving onto U.K. rescue dogs, we've actually had a few who have seemed more traumatised than Sophie & Gracie...

Our late Zak, the German Shepherd, is a case in point. He suffered dreadfully with very severe separation anxiety. It wasn't surprising really. He was five years old when he joined us, & we were his FIFTH home, already! 😔🙏💔

Zak was originally trained up to be a security dog as soon as he was perceived to be ready to leave his Mum. Sadly, he didn't pass the grade & that's where his very bumpy rescue journey started. "Bouncing" around homes only made his separation anxiety much, much worse each time, we're sure. We made a commitment to him, despite all of the challenges & difficulties posed, & we actually felt like we'd been a bit misled by the U.K. rescue organisation involved (but that's another story & one to chalk up to experience,again, highlighting the importance of choosing a rescue organisation carefully). But we saw Zak, who was so desperately let down by so many people, & we desperately wanted to do our best for him.

So, you see, it isn't just Romanian or overseas originating rescue dogs who have the POTENTIAL to carry some "baggage" or trauma & exhibit some very UNDERSTANDABLE behavioural issues. It isn't just rescue organisations dealing in the rehoming of Romanian or overseas originating rescue dogs who you might need to research & consider carefully, in making your selection, either.

This is the thing, when you adopt ANY rescue dog. You're never really going to know what they have endured in their life nor how deeply affected they will be by their experiences!

If we're going to be really honest, taking in ANY rescue dog, whether they are a U.K. rescue dog or one from abroad, could be perceived, on this basis, as a game of "roulette". We don't think this is unique to Romanian & overseas originating rescue dogs, to be honest, not in our experience!

But, this shouldn't put anyone off of giving one of these wonderful souls a chance at a loving home. You just need to be very honest about your own expectations & how much you're willing to adjust & give, before you consider adopting a new dog (aspects that we have covered extensively in previous blog articles).

Going back to Sophie, Gracie & Zak again, we took Sophie into our hearts, knowing that she might have a problem with men. We took Gracie into our hearts knowing that she'd experienced lots of potential trauma. We took Zak into our hearts knowing that he'd "failed" to qualify as a security dog & had had lots of homes since. We may not have really been aware of his issues, or the severity of them, until we encountered them, but we realised that there was a reason why he'd been "bounced" around so much. Regardless, we were PREPARED for bumpy roads in all cases, which we accepted. It was completely our CHOICE to take all of them in & ACCEPT THEM, "warts & all". All of them just needed time, love, kindness, patience & understanding, & the allowance for them to TAKE THEIR OWN TIME to adjust & settle in.

This all makes us think about Scotty from "Star Trek". His wonderful character always used to verbalise a longer time period to perform his repairs. He sensibly learnt that this was the most realistic & achievable approach to take, to save on disappointment. We think that this very much applies here, not just the extra time allowance provision, just in case something takes longer, but also lowering the bar on the expectation of something getting delivered quickly. Then, if something is delivered quicker than expected, it is indeed deemed a nice & pleasant surprise. 🥰 We could all adopt the Scotty principle, set you & your new dog, small & achievable goals over longer & more realistic timescales (take a "baby steps" approach). Be guided by your new dog & also be prepared to move the goal posts accordingly. A good plan is, afterall, a changeable plan. 🙏 And, if we falter on the way, just remember what Albert Einstein said, "failure is success in progress."

So, we went a bit off the point again there! But points well made, nonetheless! 👍

Let's go back to "Choice"! We keep circling back to "choice" & it is mentioned often, deliberately. If you opt to adopt a Romanian or overseas originating rescue dog, as it feels like the right time for you & your family, you have many choices, particularly what rescue organisation to use (based on your own research & considerations) & in your choice of the actual dog that you choose to adopt.

Most reputable Romanian & overseas rescue organisations will offer full testing & some will even offer the APHA approved Brucella Canis tests (which are accepted in the U.K.) This should always form part of your consideration of a rescue organisation to choose, as well the vaccinations offered & R.B.U (Rescue Back Up). (You can read more about choosing a rescue organisation, choosing a dog, tests, vaccinations, & Brucella Canis, in our earlier blog articles, throughout this website).

We would also recommend that you consider the general health of any dog offered - find out exactly what they have been tested for, what treatments they have had - things like flea & tick treatments, worming treatments, as well as any reactive treatments to illness, etc. If they have been unwell, how have they been treated, monitored, retested & found to be recovered. If they have a chronic condition or disability, similarly, what tests, treatments & monitoring have they had, & what will be needed going forwards. You might also like to consult with a few U.K. vets to check what the commitments will be going forward (e.g: regular tests, treatments & prices, etc.), prior to adoption.

The same goes for a dog's behaviour. You can find out quite a lot about a dog by asking the rescue organisation the right questions, listening to what the shelter staff or "foster" have to say about the dog, & by assessing any photos or videos they can offer. If a dog is already in the U.K., in a foster home, you will have the added benefit of knowing how well they are adapting to a home environment. Similarly, if the dog has been previously surrendered back to the rescue organisation, this might also pose a good opportunity to learn more about them, such as why they were surrendered, how long they were in their new home before surrender, etc.

The questions you might choose to ask are limitless. Please take the time to read through our previous blog articles, as they will help you to compile a list of such questions. And, of course, ask all of the questions needed BEFORE committing to any adoption! The same goes for research! Do as much as you can BEFORE you commit!

It is very worth pointing out here that a dog in a kennel environment is very likely to behave differently in your home environment. Please bear this in mind. Seeking to discover how a dog behaves at a shelter in Romania or abroad is very valuable to a point, but being prepared for a different character to potentially emerge in your home environment (a very different & new environment) will serve you well.

Another factor to consider is that, how a dog behaves (after a period of adjustment & settling in, as determined by THEM) will also be determined by a lot of other factors such as your energy (as we have already mentioned), how calm or busy the home is, etc. & how they learn to cope with such factors & adjust. Other factors come into play too, like diet & nutrition & pain considerations. If your new dog seems "off" or seems to be struggling, a visit to the vets might be a very good idea. Re: diet & nutrition, take the time to research the best diet for your new dog & be open to paying a bit more, if need be. Just like us, diet can play a huge role in how a dog feels & behaves, as can pain. 🙏

To conclude now, we hope that the guidance contained within our website, as a whole, will help to empower potential adopters to make their best informed choices & decisions, at all points, on their journey to finding a new rescue dog. We believe our guidance should help potential adopters to navigate their way through this (so called) game of "roulette" - as well as possible. All with time, love, patience, kindness & understanding. Always remembering that a dog is a dog, no matter where they come from in the world! 🙏

Pictured is our Gracie - before rescue, as she was found in the public shelter, in Romania, & after rescue, in her U.K. home.