06/04/2023
Very interesting piece from Roz at The Mutty Professor Well worth a read 🤓
ADOPTING OVERSEAS DOGS: I'll respond to questions and comments from my previous post across the next week.
Today I'll answer the questions:
🗣️ “How did it all start?"
🗣️ “What makes you choose dogs from abroad?
🗣️”Do you DNA test your dogs?"
and also comments regarding group shelters vs solitary kenneling we often see in the UK.
It all started with my first dog called Denzel (pictured) back in 2010. We'd had family dogs, and he was MY first dog as an 'indepedent woman'.
He was in foster with Sarah (now a friend) in Birmingham. I somehow stumbled across his picture online and decided he looked like the dog for me.
This was because he was ginger, and the previous year when I was on holiday in Thailand I was 'adopted' by a local free ranging dog who followed me around and slept outside my bungalow. He was ginger and that was enough of a link.
I went to view Denzel having done virtual home checks with the charity prior. I remember being a little intimidated by his size and strength (he pulled a lot on the lead on our intro walk). I knew he had a history of food aggression in the shelter which had been escalating, leading to having his own kennel (rather than a group) which was making him more stressed. So they got him to the UK into a foster (with two other dogs).
I decided he was the dog for me and was allowed to take him home with me.
I had not long started my dog walking company, so I was somewhat naiive and ignorant to many things. But somehow it all worked well and he got to spend most of the day with me walking with other dogs.
Denzel had a chunk out of his tongue missing and was rescued off a chain by a local vet in Spain before getting to the charity where he spent about 2 years waiting (if i recall, Gill may correct me).
Within the first few months of having him he bit my partner and a friend (over dropped food and a food wrapper) - but these warning bites (small scratch/puncture at worst) was the last of it. I learned to read him, I learned how to manage him, I learned how to protect him from the environment and how to protect others from him. He learned no one was a threat and never bit again.
Ten months later, my second arrival came from Spain. I asked the same charity about getting a second dog and they persuaded me to get Leto because no one wanted him. He'd been found with his puppy littermates who'd all been adopted- and now he was 4 years old with leishmania, no one was interested.
I didn't really like how he looked- but I set that to one side.
I went out to volunteer at the shelter and meet him prior to his journey. One year after adoption he tested clear of Leish and came off meds.
Then a year later (2012) came along the dog who REALLY changed me in a massive way.
Kanita was a meat trade survivor, pulled from crammed chicken crates full of dogs on their way to vietnam to be eaten. She was put in a shelter with approx 1000 dogs and selected with about 15 others by the charity Soi Dog and transported to Bangkok and then on to Phuket.
I'd been watching the increase of exposure about the meat trade online and this was also at the time Romanian imports were starting to become more popular. The charity I observed this through the most was K9 Angels.
I decided to donate money to support the meat trade rescue, but this wasn't enough and I found myself choosing a dog who was then flown over from Thailand approximatly 2-3 months later.
Kanita helped me understand the primitive mind of dogs. From community dog ancestry, she's domesticated but also highly primitive.
I honestly don't know what I'd know now if I hadn't spent 10.5 years with her- but I think she gives me an edge on truly understanding dog behaviour. I dont mean that to belittle others, but when you own such a dog you discover layers of behaviour you never knew existed.
Had she ended up with someone else she would have probably been labelled as a highly aggressive dog and/or become a genuinely aggressive dog.
To me, she is a master of (mostly) proportionate and in context ritualised aggression and has helped me develop a very healthy respect and admiration for aggressive behaviour from the dog's perspective.
Perhaps it's down to her that I have never been bitten by a dog in my dog training career.
I've had one redirected light puncture bite from my Border Collie Roo when I blew a whistle for Tooey. Then two very low level bites (one defensive to equipment coming off and one redirected frustration) as a dog walker - and that's it!
She's helped me hone my awareness of distant trigger-contexts and very subtle body language changes (such as breathing rate and whisker position) and maybe this has helped me learn how to stay safe around dogs that are huge bite risks.
By this point I was working as a trainer/behaviourist (or wannabe behaviourist- not doing anywhere near as good a job as I do now). K9 Angels asked myself and a friend Rachel Trafford to become adoption support/behaviour advisors for their dogs which were predominantly from Romania which we both did for about a year.
This helped me learn more about the rescue system back then and the common problems seen in overseas rescues- preparing me for the increase of in-person cases in my home town of Bristol from then on.
Then came Roo, a Border Collie from a loving UK family and most recently Tooey from the same shelter in Spain. I got Tooey because Roo was aging and needed the pressure taken off doing social rehabilitation. I also like having a variety of dog shapes and behaviour styles for my work as it helps the learners generalise their new found confidence and skills.
I also bloody love having a group of dogs and I think most dogs bloody love being in a group of dogs! 😂
WHY DO I RETURN TO SPANISH DOGS?
All of my spanish dogs have been AMAZING at helping me with social rehabilitation. Roo was amazing at this too and Mohawk (the only dog I've raised from a puppy) is also a great helper dog.
Either I know how to pick 'em and how to raise them, or I am fortunate enough to know an amazing rescue who just do such a great job of caring for their dogs.
After Denzel and Leto (and me volunterring out there 4 times) Gill the rescue manager knows what type of dogs I look for and picks them for me (Tooey and incoming Amigo).
I think the Podenco mixes I have ended up with work well. The Podenco can be either very clownish and/or quite sensitive- but I've ended up with ones crossed with quite motivated, confident breeds (Denzel was a labrador mix, Tooey a pointer mix and Leto was god knows what!!). So they train well, have a grounded level of confidence and just seem to have amazing social skills which works for my multi-dog households, but also for the work I'd like them to do in helping rehabilitate dogs.
I really like that the shelter my dogs come from socialise the dogs in groups. Some are grouped together in pens (Leto was in a group of 6!) and in their more recent premises- they are introduced to one another in a structured way to enable them to be let out of their kennels into the community area/garden and simply mingle, mooch, hang out in a pair/group or on their own under supervision.
They are often walked in groups too- all on harnesses :)
This group socialising gives them lots of opportunity for interactions with staff and other dogs.
I think we should consider the potential impact on a dog changing from social group living to being an only dog though! Something my guys (since Denzel) have never had to deal with.
I would imagine it's quite the shock to be in a large social group and to suddenly find yourself as the only dog in a unfamiliar place and facing the world on walks without social support from their own kind.
I don't want to poo-poo the UK rescue system, as we are blessed with some incredibly behaviour savvy rescues who are all doing their very best! But the I think the absence or reduction of social opportunities with both people and dogs that comes with dogs being predominantly kept on their own in a kennel is a big turn-off for me.
I don't like the classic kennel set ups as I think this can lead to rehearsel of barrier frustration or defensive behaviour. I think restricted periods of socialisation with people and the outside world due to resources and time can be problematic, leading to elevated arousal and frustration in these contexts.
It's not as simple as UK rescues bunging dogs in groups and many rescues are trying to change kennel design so to mimise stress - but for me at present- I lack confidence in knowing I'm going to get a dog that will require minimum settling in and I also feel more comfortable with the behaviour traits in Spanish dogs.
I'm not scared of getting a project dog, and Kanita kind of is one, I guess. But when I get a dog who is not taking up all of my behaviour modification energy and who I can 'put to work' more quickly once they're settled- I can help more owners and more dogs.
As Kanita ages I am finding myself wondering- would I get another dog from Eastern Europe or Asia? I am just not sure.
There is so much to learn from these dogs, and in ways- they can be excellent helper dogs because they bring their own style to set ups. Kanita is 'niche' and doesn't get used very often at all! 🤣
But there is just such a huge risk that they will be so emotionally traumatised and life changing as a result of the support they need. I have to think about maintaining my physical and emotional resources to help others by not rinsing myself dry with a dog that needs extensive rehabilitation and requires so much of me.
I'd like to think I could pick the right dog based on my knowledge of 'types' and their associated traits. I think if I was to consider it, I would probably look for a foreign rescue dog already in the UK rather than bringing one over. Or I would go and volunteer at a recommended shelter and see the dogs in person.
Part of me worries I’ll be a bit bored without a complex, primitive wolf like creature in my house. 🐺
I’ll have to cross that bridge when I come to it- hopefully not for a good while yet. My anxiety about loosing Kanita is high recently, due to loosing two dogs in 4 months, so I have been thinking about it more whilst also soaking up the senior Doris-wolf hybrid I currently live with! 😆
You'll get very different traits from dogs depending on where in the world they come from.
Spanish dogs are often mixed with working/ domestic/pet breeds and are more often abandoned, rather than having bred on the street.
Successful street living tends to involve being cautious of danger, and adopters will do well to remember this. If your rescue dog was born in a shelter or rescued when young- do not forget their ancestry (genetics). Fearful traits can be inherited.
I haven't DNA tested Kanita as I dont have confidence the panels can accurately identify Asian “breeds”. I actually enjoy having a dog who is not defined by a breed name or type. People ask me what she is and I simply say “she’s a village dog from Thailand”. That description, to me, fits her traits anyway!
I think now the panels have caught up with Eastern European breeds these can be helpful to do because knowing what breeds MAY be in your rescue can help you understand traits, motivate and train accordingly and manage your expectations.
For example, a livestock guarding mix/type/breed will naturally be cautious and aloof of unfamiliar persons and sometimes of dogs too. A Peruvian Hairless mix (often seen from Romania these days) are likely be more easily aroused, more sensitive, more quick to react but can also be highly motivated.
So for me, Spanish dogs work. They have never 'let me down' yet. I am lucky to know some one who knows me and who also knows her dogs bloody well!
If you want to rescue a dog and are considering a dog from abroad, Gill is your lady 🙂 But there are many other amazing rescues too. Perhaps go and volunteer yourself so you can see how they work and get to know the dog types that are in that country?
TAKE HOME POINTS:
- Social kenneling can be beneficial if done well (groups created carefully and monitored carefully).
- Volunteering is a great way of getting to know the dogs and their traits.
- Recognise traits will vary depeding where in the world you decide to get your dog from. You will see different traits depending on whether a dog was a street dog, a free ranging dog, community/village dog or abandoned pet or working dog.
- DNA tests are now worth doing for Eastern European dogs so you can learn about their inherited traits.
If you want to learn more about street dogs and learn more about what Kanita taught me- you may wish to consider buying my street dogs webinars (linked in comments).
Bit of a waffle, but hopefully interesting to those who asked.
