Rescue Dogs - Clues To Their Lives Before You.

[Wobbly]

In many cases you can never know exactly what life was like for a rescue dog before you got him/her, but it can be interesting to speculate based on the dog's temperament and reactions when you first acquired him/her. I'd love to hear other people's experiences & ideas.

This is what I think happened in Jarrah's former life (although ofc I can never know for sure). I got Jarrah from the pound aged between 9 - 12 months (best guess). I think her owners before me weren't bad people, they didn't give her any fears but they weren't good dog owners either - they didn't spend time with her to teach her appropriate socialisation. And they certainly didn't care enough to keep her adequately contained - the ranger picked her up as a stray.

She is a very confident & happy dog, always curious about new things and loves meeting new people, so I think she didn't have any really bad experiences before I got her. I also think her confidence & friendliness toward people might indicate she was handled by people a lot as a very young pup (before she left her mum), though this confident friendliness could be a genetic trait too - likely a mix of both I guess.

I think a broom fell on her at some point early on, she used to be scared of brooms leaning against the wall, though interestingly she wasn't scared of me actually sweeping. Whatever happened it wasn't bad, I used to throw her fetch toys close to my broom and now she doesn't notice brooms at all anymore.

She'd obviously never been in a house before, it was really funny to see her first encounters with ordinary household objects like mirrors & TVs. XD Less fun was the housetraining. She also had no training of any description that I could see. But she learnt all the usual stuff quickly being food motivated so it was never a problem, but it was interesting to me that noone had bothered to teach this bright, food driven dog - it would have been so easy for them to just do it, she's very trainable. Loose leash walking was the only one that took me a long time to get right, due to the aforementioned curiosity. XD

She had absolutely no idea how to relate to people when I got her. She acted like people were other dogs - she would jump up and nip HARD to seek attention. Not aggressive at all, just playful & pushy "pay attention to ME" nipping. The nipping really hurt, we were quite bloody & bruised from her the first few days. This indicates to me that she wasn't socialised properly with people after leaving her mum. Noone in their right mind could accept nipping like that from an adolescent dog of her size and strength. It was just too annoying & painful. If her previous owners had ever spent more than a few minutes interacting with her they'd have to have corrected her on this - it was too painful to ignore. It did take me a lot of time, persistance and a water pistol to break her of the mouthiness habit, since it was quite an ingrained habit for her when she came to me. Have to say I don't miss those days at all.

Whenever she sees a bloke wearing council worker type clothes, ie flouro vest, work boots & shorts she goes totally nuts with joy. Her tail waggles so hard I worry she might explode. XD So I think her old owner was a labourer of some description who kept her in his yard and went out there to feed her and give her a pat. He was obviously associated with great things in her mind (feeding time!) and so she adored him, but beyond that it didn't seem he put in the time she needed. Also tellingly he never picked her up from the pound - she was there a month - he had plenty of time to pick her up if he really cared. I surmise he was a friendly enough guy he was and never mean to her, but far too irresponsible and lacking in time for a dog.

I will never know what really went on for her, but I think I'm probably fairly close to the truth with some of this. Always interesting to me to speculate anyway.

[Loving my Oldies]

Yes, it can be interesting and sad to speculate. Funnily enough, I was playing with Danny's ears last night and said to myself: I wonder where you came from, little man. I've had Danny (from a pound as all mine are) since February 2002, coming up to 11 years.

[mixeduppup]

When I first met Maybe she was deemed to be about 2-3 and had had at least 2 litters before I got her. She had a chain collar that was tied together with wire and a really reactive temperament. She would (and still does on occasion) freeze out of fear. When I first got her she would hear a loud sound or you would touch her and she would go stiff. She was extremely food aggressive and neurotic. She responded to the name "Blacky" when we called out random names. Her coat was shocking. She had worked with sheep on some level but she was very rough and I think she may have been trained half arsely. She still has a very obsessive nature but is no longer reactive and is a lovely dog to be around. For a while when I first had her she was very attracted to young bogan men with utes and would try and pull towards their ute tray or them. We also had to tie her up once and she was very well behaved but hated being kenneled.

So I think she was owned by a farmhand bogan with a ute who treated her like shit and then dumped her and her pups when he lost his job.

[Wobbly]

It's interesting that they're still attracted to their old bogan owners (or archetypes that resemble those) even though those owners were manifestly inadequate. The loyalty of dogs is really wasted on some people.

[mixeduppup]

It took a good couple of months before she redirected that loyalty to me. Dogs are such givers and some people are such abusers of that loyalty

[nawnim]

Thanks Wobbly for the thread

My second rescue dog's past has always fascinated me. I think he was very well treated and ended up in the pound either because his owners did not know where to look for him or because they were moving (perhaps overseas) and could not take him with them. He has obviously had some training and is a very easy dog to live with. He also loves sitting on the couch next to me and having a cuddle.

When I first got him he ran off a few times when he saw small children, either with a pram or on bikes. Even today two years later when we see small children he stops and has a good long look, and it brings tears to my eyes. When I say his name he looks back at me and wags his tail and comes back to me, so finally I think he accepts that he is now my dog.

So I think he belonged either to a young family or to a grandmother, and sometimes I would love the opportunity to let that family know that an obviously very dearly loved dog is okay.

ETA He was eight years old when I got him. He had been desexed and microchipped as a young dog.

He loves to steal socks and expects someone to chase him to get them back. As well on lead he walks ahead but doesn't pull, a bit like a dog who has been walked with a pram or with a group of dogs. If I stop he stops without looking back, just waits for the cavalcade to move on again.

Owning him has given me so much pleasure. I have never owned such a gentle people orientated dog before. Thankyou ARF for rescuing him.

Edited November 17, 2012 by nawnim

[Chezy]

I think my sis hit the nail on the head with suggested origin of one of my rescues, Mulan

I went to the pound to find a med size dog after loosing my blue heeler and came home with this older approx 8yo chi x pom , had smokey eyes , having had a black chi as a child i had a soft spot and couldn't leave her there . She had been well looked after , at one stage she had had a op on her ear , she was well mannered and house trained, one of the cleanest dogs I have ever owned, she was skittish and not fond of noise , pertified of men , def not suited to my home, but she was with me for 10yrs .

My sis thinks that she was a older persons dog , that that person had probabaly died and mulan had gone to a family memeber who had not cared for her and possible a male had hurt her , I found her at pound NYE so I guess that come holidays she was dumped rather than kenneled .

She lived a happy life and my friends hubby showed her men were ok and eventually she would approach any man for a pat . If had found the right home for her I'd have let her go , But i was very fussy and she stayed with me .

[Staffyluv]

We got Ziggy from the local pound and best guess is he was about 6-7 months old at the time.

His testicles had not dropped and his canine teeth were not fully grown at the time.

It took heaps to even get him to come out of the kennel to meet us. So we sat on the ground an waited. After about 15-20 minutes of sitting there, talking quietly with the kennel door open, he finally belly crawled out and hid under my sons legs.

Then he crawled across to me and onto my lap.

His ears were flat against his head, he wouldn't look at anyone and his tail was tucked so far under him...

But e was very brave coming out.

It took a bit to get the lead on him and it was even worse trying to get him to go with us on lead.

He jumped and carried on a treat.

However, once we were out of the pound, he walked quite well on lead.

He is so much better now, still has a few issues we are working on.

He is still avoids men, especially with sunglasses and hats on.

At the dog parks and on walks, it is always the younger guys who come up to talk about him and what a great lad he is but he won't say hi to the,.

We walk past the fire station and a few of the guys come out to say hi, it has taken a year of these guys saying hi for him to accept it is OK.. I guess he has met them about 7 or 8 times.

The women on the other hand, he will say hello to but unless we are at home, he doesn't really spend any time with them.

He adores other dogs, he says hello to the vets cat nicely every time we have ever been there, so I think he is cat friendly.

He loves the water.

He is not scared of storms or fire crackers (it seems to be the other dogs going off that make him react, not the crackers).

He loves the water and is more than happy to have a shower or bath.

He is not food focused but loves toys.

He is not a barky dog, unless there is a noise outside if a night or someone comes to our door of a night.

He meets people nicely at home. Gives them space to enter and will come to say hi if someone acknowledges him

He tends to avoid things he hasn't seen before. He does seem to be easily scared sometimes..

I have no idea about Ziggy's background but I could speculate that he was probably just a pup in the backyard and had little human contact but did have other dogs to play with..

[kayla1]

All of my dogs are rescues, but I only know the history of one of them. The others I can only guess at. Although I know my older girl had been adopted and returned to the shelter a couple of times before I adopted her.

The one that I have history for spent the first 11 years of his life in a backyard - never walked, never met other dogs or people, never allowed inside. It absolutely breaks my heart to think that all he had for 11 years was a kennel and a backyard, always alone, and to think of all the things he missed out on. Then I remind myself that he doesn't think like that and look back on those lonely years, rather what he cares about is the here and now. So I make sure that, in the here and now, we enjoy the good life and make up for that lost time. He will never be alone again. :)

[mantis]

I got Cougar from Staffy Rescue, she was 7. She is the most laid back, placid dog I have met. She doesn't bark at all, she only makes the WOO WOO sounds when she sees other dogs & wiggles her bottom & wags her tail madly, so I assumed she had no problems with other dogs. Alas, 2 weeks ago, someone brought their ACD to visit one of my neighbours & luckily Cougar was inside, because she went absolutely psycho, growling viciously & I am sure that if she had the chance, she would attack the dog.

She originally came from Mildura, so I am guessing she had a bad experience with an ACD there. Luckily, that ACD is the only one I have seen in my area, so I'm hoping that the ACD doesn't visit here too often.

[HazyWal]

I have rescue Greyhounds, they didn't have much of a life before they came to me. Stan was a Hawksbury pound boy, saved by a rescue group and had a few foster homes before he came to me as my first foster grey. Maddie was taken in for euthanasia to a vet hospital and was saved by the vet nurse as she was such a sweet girl. I hate to think what would have happened to them if not for those that saved them and I hate to think of my life without them.

[persephone]

WE have one Koolie , Smokes, who was 'rescued ' as his owner just left him with someone. Smokes , by some of the ways he worked , let us know he was probably a poacher's dog .. someone who would drive along in the dark, and end up going home with stock in the back

Smokes also told us he had never been cuddled, and that he had been badly treated (the big chunk missing from one ear gave us a hint! )

We later found all our surmising to be true ..and the bit missing from his ear was done with some pliers , as a way of punishment for not coming back.

Yes, Smokes is chained , when not working , and yes, he doesn't get as much work as he should ...he's not totally reliable ..but now he demands a cuddle before his dinner..loves his paddle pool , has learned that patting /kissing on his head is a nice thing and enjoys just sitting with me and cogitating :)

he still will not come to me if he is loose .. but will jump in the ute . If I have jam donuts I stand some chance .... but otherwise he just won't approach .. he is very 'apologetic' ... and never runs away ... My Bro has no trouble .

Ah well :) He's safe .

My Kieran was found as an 8-10 week old , hiding in a hollow log ..dehydrated and scared.

he was a staghound .

He was also a woos .. with a lot of noises ...

and would also stand in between me & young men/drunks.

We did learn that he was bred for pigging ..and on this, his first outing, he ran away at the noise, and so the men drove away and left him in the middle of nowhere!He was the gentlest of giants :)

Edited November 17, 2012 by persephone

[Ons]

FlashBazil my coolie is my foster failure from Hawkesbury Pound

I think his background is he was left in a backyard with nothing to do and little contact with human.

When I brought him home I took him to the front door and he started to tremble and refused to walk in I had to carry him and tell him it was okay

He is absolutely petrified of brooms even after all these years. Trembles and shakes when he sees one

And he growls at young dark haired men and is scared of them. Not all men, just that age group. In our old home I used to take the dogs for a walk to our local hardware, Flashy absolutely adored one of the workers there and would bound up to him when he saw him, once David was standing behind a young dark haired men and poor Flash ran to David, saw the fellow and just froze

[WreckitWhippet]

I think people read too much into their rescues behaviours. They attribute certain behaviours to neglect, abuse, poor dog ownership by the previous owners or whatever fits their theory on why the rescue acts the way they do.

Why not just deal with the behaviour and get on with life, rather than dwelling on the past and what could have and might have happened to the dog

[Gertrude139]

I have no history on Salt my rescue husky.

he came from Blacktown pound via rescue and was reportedly picked up from the concord area (I think) he is approx 4-5 years and was entire - now desexed.

he flinches at sudden or unexpected movements and loud or unexpected noises and is very, very afraid of trucks even when we are walking at quite a distance from them.

he was very underweight approx 17kg when he should be around 30kg and his coat was in poor condition, very wiry and broke easily.

sometimes he wakes with a shock and if anyone or anything is touching him he freaks out, jumps up and growls defensively until he realises where he is. He is obviously used to being woken up with a start which has given him cause to fear.

BUT

He has definitely been loved in the past...

very well behaved and house trained

used to sitting on the couch and lying on people's laps

knows sit, come, shake, outside, off and probably more I haven't discovered yet

used to sleeping on soft bedding

used to eating from people's plates

walks well on lead

no aggression at all

He seems to get especially excited when elderly ladies show an interest in him or come over to pat him so my current theory is that he was loved by an elderly lady or family which maybe had an elderly lady that was at home a lot and he spent most of his time with her. Perhaps he escaped, although he has shown absolutely no tendency to escape from me, Blacktown is a fair way from Concord and the owners may not have checked so far afield. Although I think it more likely that for whatever reason the elderly lady was not able to care for him anymore and relatives who did not care for him were given the responsibility and failed.

Either way I am sure he spent some amount of time on the streets due to his fear of trucks and the way he flinches and wakes suddenly then instinctively growls. I also think that is why he was so underweight, he is an incredibly fussy eater and will clearly be hungry but pass up 3 different foods until he finds one he approves of. I don't think he was ever given a bone to eat either, probably just canned food as he wasn't even sure how to eat a chicken neck at first and his jaw would struggle to get through a chicken wing.

So wish I knew what his story is.

But I am happy to settle for seeing the happiness in his eyes everyday and making sure the sad eyes he had on in the pound never return.

[Guest Arcane]

I think people read too much into their rescues behaviours. They attribute certain behaviours to neglect, abuse, poor dog ownership by the previous owners or whatever fits their theory on why the rescue acts the way they do.

Why not just deal with the behaviour and get on with life, rather than dwelling on the past and what could have and might have happened to the dog

I concur.

[CHA]

I don't know how you can not want to know what your dog's life was like before they came into your life. We are dealing with their behaviours and getting on with life, but it doesn't hurt to speculate.

It really really intrigues me as to what breeds my dog has in her and also what her life was like before she came to me. I am one of those people that absolutely want to know every bit about my dog's life before me, but we don't know so we can only assume.

My dog was a lost dog and never claimed from the pound. She has NEVER even once looked like she might run away from our house, so I can only assume that she was dumped.

She was not desexed, approximately 1 year old, not house trained and had absolutely no house manners. She was petrified outside of our house on lead - reactive and stiff as a board (if she wasn't shaking like a leaf). She would cringe big time even if my husband walked past her. He had to practice speaking in a really high voice because when he said "good girl" to her she'd fall to the ground and cringe.

She loves my dogs, cuddles right up to my old dog - so this makes me think she may have been kept in a backyard with her mother. When she came on heat she was probably dumped.

Now it is really uplifting to see her running round the place as happy and confident as anything. Happiness just exudes out of her and I am so happy that we have been able to take this cringing scared little thing and let her be the dog she needs to be.

[PuddleDuck]

I got doof from the AWL at around 14 months. From what i was told-He was surrendered with another dog by a lady with 4 kids under 4 whose husband had just walked out. She was devastated and apparently spent a long time with them crying before she left. She told them something had to give and it had to be the dogs. it wasnt a choice she wanted but i believe she did the right thing. He was back yard bred, by a friend of family and they apparently couldn't resist him. His name was buddy but doofus suits him far better.

He was surrendered with another very large dog, who found a new home about a week later. The shelter called when the other dog was adopted to see if I was happy with doof as the other dog's new owner would have liked to keep them together. I told them to bugger off!

Around a year later I volunteered with the SES and over the course of chatting with some of the people up there discovered the other dogs adoptive owner was actually in my SES unit. Unfortunately the other dog was diagnosed with aggressive cancer and had to be PTS before we could have a reunion.

Doof has always been extreme-either scary happy or freaking out about something. He is well adjusted and speaks fluent tennis ball, is learning to speak wubba, and can't understand other dogs to save his life. Unless they have a tennis ball.

[mantis]

I don't know how you can not want to know what your dog's life was like before they came into your life. We are dealing with their behaviours and getting on with life, but it doesn't hurt to speculate.

It really really intrigues me as to what breeds my dog has in her and also what her life was like before she came to me. I am one of those people that absolutely want to know every bit about my dog's life before me, but we don't know so we can only assume.

My dog was a lost dog and never claimed from the pound. She has NEVER even once looked like she might run away from our house, so I can only assume that she was dumped.

She was not desexed, approximately 1 year old, not house trained and had absolutely no house manners. She was petrified outside of our house on lead - reactive and stiff as a board (if she wasn't shaking like a leaf). She would cringe big time even if my husband walked past her. He had to practice speaking in a really high voice because when he said "good girl" to her she'd fall to the ground and cringe.

She loves my dogs, cuddles right up to my old dog - so this makes me think she may have been kept in a backyard with her mother. When she came on heat she was probably dumped.

Now it is really uplifting to see her running round the place as happy and confident as anything. Happiness just exudes out of her and I am so happy that we have been able to take this cringing scared little thing and let her be the dog she needs to be.

Exactly, it is good to try & work out why our rescue dogs behave in certain situations, it doesn't mean we aren't going to try & overcome their problems. I can't see anything wrong with it to be honest.

[PuddleDuck]

One of my dogs I had while growing up, Riff, was rescued from the RSPCA at about 10 weeks. Dad took me to get him (I was probably around 8?) - the shelter was an hour's drive from home. We got there and picked another dog, and went to find someone to get her out of the cage. On the way to get her out the guy told us he had to let Riff into the yards first. He opened the run, riff jumped from the ground onto dads shoulder then on to me, knocking me flying onto the ground (covered in god only knows what). Apparently as I went catatonic with joy dad gave the man a filthy look and said we didn't want a puppy. He replied that Riff was next for the needle, and it was our choice We bought him, popped his new collar on and walked outside feeling all warm and fuzzy about saving a life. Riff then slipped his collar and ran back into the shelter, causing total pandemonium :laugh:

The next week dad took him to work. His office was on the local ferry wharf and apparently a fairy walked past, looked inside and walked in and told dad she had bred him and sold him to someone out west. As it turned out, she worked at the children's hospital. Thus the fairy outfit. The next day a clown walked into his office with 2 slightly feral dogs on leads. It was the same chick, with his parents. From the description dad gave, I'm pretty sure he was a pitty x cairn. Like all dogs bred on the island where she lived, Riff was batcrap crazy and swam like a water rat on steroids. Every time dad took a boat near the island where he was born Riff would throw himself off and it would take hours to find him. He was one of the most unique and special dogs I've met and I have a million insane stories about him but should probably stop now :laugh: