I can understand Sylvia giving people the worst possible picture of rehoming an ex-breeding bitch, it's far better to put off the wrong potential owners than to have a dog who then has to be returned to the rescue because she didn't behave well.
I do homechecks for lots of rescues and when I talk to the potential owners, I probably sound as if I'm trying to talk them out of adopting a rescue dog. I would much rather they back out at that stage than get a dog and be disappointed. It's better that they expect the worst and then maybe get a pleasant surprise.
I have Nelly who is an ex-breeding bitch from Many Tears. She's been with me now for just over 3 years. She was originally rehomed from Many Tears and was later discovered to be suffering abuse (beatings) in her new home, so Many Tears took her back. She then went to a foster home and from there, she came to me. I love her to bits and wouldn't ever do anything to hurt her, but even after 3 years, it's very frustrating to come home and find poo on the living room carpet. She doesn't do it all the time. Just this morning, both dogs had been in the garden for wees & poos before I went to Church. I didn't have time to give them breakfast before I went out, so wasn't expecting any "accidents" when I got back. As soon as I walked through the door, I could see a pile of poo on the carpet. What made it worse was that the dogs were so pleased to see me (I'd been out for all of 45 mins
) that they were prancing about in and out of the pile of poo and thus spreading it even further. I was not amused
but what can you do? I know it was Nelly, because on the rare occasions Dillon gets caught short in the house, he does it in the kitchen.
When she first came to live here, I was told she was "silent". She'd been in her foster home for a month and had never been heard to utter a sound
. I think that some of the beatings she got were because of barking. One evening, when she'd been here for a couple of months, Dillon was having a little bark at something or other, and Nelly made a tiny little barking noise and looked at me with terror in her eyes
. I couldn't have that, so I said "good girl" and she barked again, a bit louder this time. I said "good girl" again. What a big mistake that was
! She's now probably one of the noisiest dogs I've ever had but what a joy to hear her lovely contralto bark just for sheer joy when we're getting ready to go out or she's waiting for her breakfast. It's one thing training a dog with kindness to be a bit quieter, but no dog should ever be
afraid of barking.
In Nelly's favour though, she gives simply the best hugs in the world. She climbs up on my knee, puts her front paws on my shoulders and hugs me. I've had dogs all my life (nearly 60 years) and Nelly is the first one who has actually hugged me
So, what I'm trying to say is, yes, there are fustrations in having an ex-breeding bitch, but the delights far outweigh the bad things.