Dear Dog Owner....

threenorns

Well-Known Member
yes, i heard you the first time when you told me "she's a rescue". i don't know exactly why you had to say it two more times. were you waiting for applause, maybe? if so, you got the dog for the wrong reason. (she didn't look very amused when i said "well, unless they're bought from a breeder, technically they're all rescues, aren't they?").
 

brody_smom

Experienced Member
Whenever I have used that term, it's meant to convey the fact that I didn't get my dog as an 8 week old puppy, that he was rejected by his first owner for some reason, and that he has some unknown facets to his story that make living with and training him a challenge. I don't say this to make myself sound awesome, but to give the other person context to Brody's behavior, and hopefully, garner some empathy and patience. I know of plenty of people who aren't breeders, but choose to breed their dogs and sell the puppies, and, while I wouldn't do it myself and don't believe most people should, I know they are responsible and careful in the way they do this. The people who adopt these puppies aren't rescuing them.
 

threenorns

Well-Known Member
see, that's how i use the term, usually something along the lines of "he's a double rescue dog - first i rescued him from being drowned by the farmer, then i rescued him from me!"

but the dog in question - she claimed "purebred malamute" because it was a white dog with black markings and two blue eyes and you KNOW "only" huskies (which are only grey) and malamutes have two blue eyes, right?

anyway, the dog was perfectly well behaved, just a little too full of joie de vivre - you could see the happy energy radiating off her. i doubt malamute - she's so small and with That Stare and the intensity, she was all border collie to me. but like i said, there was nothing wrong with the dog and the owner says "this is Laika - she's a rescue." and i said "oh, that's a nice name! she's absolutely gorgeous!" and the owner said "yes, she is - but she IS a rescue" and then *looks* at me.

so with her body language and non-verbal cues, my instinctive reaction was "what, you want applause or something?" because there was nothing at all wrong with the dog - she was not afraid of humans, she didn't react to a kid going by on a bike, she was open and friendly with dandy, she was just fine!
 

Pawbla

Experienced Member
Yeah, that kind of people make me a bit annoyed.

Or that sort of people who say, when they read in Facebook that a stray dog needs help: "Oh no! Those horrible humans did nothing to help this dog! Sadly I can't foster him because I have two dogs, one of those is a rescue." Why does that people need to state that one/two/whatever of their dogs are rescues? Why is it relevant? Who knows.

Usually I use the idea of "rescue" when somebody says my dog is pretty and asks the breed of my dog. I say "He's 100% mutt, I found him as a stray dog." (purebreds don't last too long on the street here. They get picked up and resold or adopted). I do that to emphasize that not only purebred dogs are "cute". There are plenty of mutts that are adorable, well behaved, and well deserving of a home.
 
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