In the old days, if you wanted a dog in a rural area, you just put the word out in the community; somebody always knew somebody who…you know how it goes. The first dog Linda and I got, we used the city technique of the time: we saw an ad in the newspaper. For our next dog we used the tried-and-true method of going down to the SPCA and looking at what they had. Each dog was about 4 months old; by that age their personalities were pretty well obvious, and we made good choices.
Our last dog, Josh, was a different matter. We had decided on a puppy, and it’s difficult to tell how a two-month old will turn out. This means that you basically choose your dog ahead of time, going by what you expect of the breed average. In our case, Linda had done a lot of research and taken a list of the top five to our vet for her opinion. Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retrievers won the lottery.
Then we found a breeder with a good reputation: Readyfor Tollers. Then we had to go through Jamie Klein’s rigorous selection process, which involved visiting her and being approved by her alpha female. (I kid you not. Glory was some kind of dog, and she checked us out thoroughly.)
Jamie didn’t allow us to make the mistake of visiting the litter and choosing the first dog that came out to greet us. That’s a sure way of picking trouble. She put us in the pen with the litter and watched us interact. Then she chose the pairing that, in her professional opinion, would suit all of us. We have no complaints. Josh wasn’t always an easy dog (Tollers aren’t) but he was wonderful.
But that all happened when we were in our early sixties. Now we’re in our mid-seventies, and we wanted a completely different pet. Our ideal was a small dog, preferably female, about 10-15 kg, 6 years old, good with other dogs and grandchildren. The breed didn’t matter so much because we could see the dog’s temperament for ourselves. We had a few caveats: no cropping; no extreme breeding causing physical malfunction; no fighting breeds. And no terriers. One strongminded, independent dog was enough for us.
Last and most important: we don’t buy a dog we can’t meet first. Friends of ours have imported dogs from Iran and Ukraine, and they were lucky to get great animals. There are no guarantees.
Modern Search Methods
When you’re looking for such a specific dog, by far the best way should be the old route; go to the SPCA and the dog pound and see what they have. Then you can meet the dog right there, take it for a walk, see its personality.
Fair enough, but there’s no reason not to let your fingers do the walking. The Internet is full of websites with dogs for rescue.
And Therein Lies the Problem
A judicious use of filters meant that we could come up with a lot of hits, but with the usual Internet problem. Lots of data, all unreliable. Dog marketing is a fluid situation. It is essential that the organization updates their website regularly. There’s no sense calling a place and finding the dog you want was adopted two weeks ago. A large number of trails led to a small number of dogs, the same ones over and over again.
The Next Problem
There are all sorts of sites selling rescue dogs, but all the well-organized and updated ones are the importers. The local city pounds simply don’t have the resources or the motivation to have a professional internet presence.
And forget “rescues.” These guys are the business of selling. Pet Smart, the umbrella organization that all the others advertise on, will list a dog as “local” if the organization is in the Lower Mainland. You follow the path and find out that it’s still offshore. Chile and Los Angeles are hot sources right now. (And always Korea, although news is they’ve outlawed the dogmeat trade lately.) $1000 and a couple or three months and you’ve got yourself a pig in a poke. Not for us. We decided to go visiting.
And then the Real Problem.
Of the 31 dogs listed on the Richmond SPCA site, only 3 were males under 30 pounds. 13 were either fighting dogs (bulldog, Staffordshire, pitbull, etc.) or guard dogs (Cane Corso, Akita, Rottweiler, Presa Canario). A few lab crosses. No retrievers or doodles.
Dogs like the one we were looking for get snapped up. The big and fierce breeds end up stuck in the pound. I spent a month searching the internet and didn’t find one local dog that met our specifications. I even tried Vancouver Island.
So, when Petsmart listed Luna on the website of the Alternative Humane Society in Bellingham, we jumped at the chance. On paper, she checked all our boxes: size, age, gender, and personality. Her foster home was in Birch Bay, only an hour away.
So, we drove down for a meet-and-greet last Saturday and hit it off first thing with foster mom, Megan. Experienced dog people know when they’re talking with real dog lovers. It took a little longer to get to know Luna, but soon she was trotting along happily on the leash with me.
There were three other potential clients, but Megan chose us, and we went back down on Monday to pick up our new family member. AHS is an experienced outfit; the paperwork was all straightforward. It took about 15 minutes at the border, and presto! A new refugee enters Canada.
Luna is some kind of spaniel blend, 25 pounds, and very sweet and cuddly. She trots along at my walking pace perfectly. She’s basically untrained — doesn’t “sit” “down” “stay” or “come” — but we can fix that. Very shy at first, she is starting to gambol about the house now, and is learning our routines quickly. As we are learning hers. 😊
The Bottom Line
So, why do people adopt foreign dogs when we have so many rescues of our own that need homes? Because the importers are making the effort to sell online. Local organizations are using the traditional method of waiting for people to walk in, and then the animals are unsuitable.
But we have a dog we already love, so all’s well.