Rescue

pumagirl

So I got approved for adoption with the Bull Terrier Rescue. I then offered my services in any way to help. I got a call early Sunday morning asking me to do a rescue and foster. It was definetely an experience resulting in law enforcement but was able to take posession of a beauty. We are only fostering for now. Not sure he is one that we would afopt. If anyone is interested send me a message and I can give you the link to the rescue.
So far what I know is he is between 2-3 years, neutered, good with other dogs, he is a bit mouthy which we are working on.

BulliesofNC

Sometimes when rescues groups or individual people who are advertising a Bull Terrier for adoption hear that the potential owner is picky about the Bull Terrier they want or they are expecting a well trained Bullie free from health issues or temperament issues they tend to discard that person as a good candidate for adoption.
I'd much rather allow a Bull Terrier to be adopted to a family who is committed to owning and raising a Bull Terrier knowing the dog may be in need of training. If I were to sense someone that had any worries about how well behaved the dog was or how well trained it was I wouldn't even entertain the adoption even if I knew the Bull Terrier was a gem and free from any bad habits. It's so much better finding a new home for a Bull Terrier that simply wants a Bull Terrier to add to their family as a loyal companion that will be loved forever verse analyzed in order to ensure the dog meets their personal qualifications.
90% of Bull Terriers in need of rescue are in the predicament of needing a home because of quirks within their behavior or health. Sadly, many people looking to adopt a Bull Terrier have expectations of finding some diamond in the ruff that was well trained, house broken, calm and relaxed, socialized well with other dogs, and as friendly as can be. But in truth if that were the case with most Bull Terriers that are in need of rescue the original owner would have a friend, neighbor, or relative standing in line to happily adopt their dog.
@pumagirl - I feel bad for that Bull Terrier if he was provided to you on a "trial" bases to see if you're going to be happy with him. I hate seeing Bull Terriers being bounced around from one home to the next in hopes the dog will finally find someone committed to raising them. I was under the impression you were looking for a Bull Terrier to add to your family. Apparently you have been afforded that opportunity but it's sad hearing that you may be in decision to get rid of him and find a better or more suitable Bull Terrier for yourself.
I pray this cute fella will find a forever home with someone that will love him from the second they meet him until the last day of his life. He deserves unconditional love and someone that will dedicate their time with him so he fits into their family like a glove. It's the owners responsibility to train the dog they receive without expectations that the dog will come pre-trained with no issues that may require their own efforts for training and discipline. In the event someone's decision is based on how well the adopted dog gets along with their current dog or dogs than there never should have been the opportunity for that individual to rescue the dog to begin with. Most rescue groups won't even take the chances of adopting an adult Bull Terrier to a home with other dogs because it often results in problems.
For those who are picky about the rescue Bull Terrier they wish to adopt I recommend they refrain from looking and seek a puppy instead that they can train and raise so that it can adapt well with that persons life style, other animals, etc. It's just not fair for people to expect to adopt an adult Bull Terrier that has all the correct training and discipline that defines the behavior of a great Bull Terrier. Rescue Bull Terriers more often than not do not come from owners who dedicated to their dog. Those that dedicate with love are normally the ones who wouldn't dream of rendering their dog for adoption.
Good luck with this new Bull Terrier you have adopted, fostered, or allowed to raise on a test trial. I hope he works out for you and you have finally found the Bull Terrier you have longed to adopt.

swbaggies

@pumagirl

I may be wrong but I read your post differently. I took from your post that you offered your services to a rescue agency who took you up on your offer and you are looking after a dog rather than him going into a rescue centre, surely this is better than leaving him where he was, even if only a short term measure. I may be wrong but I did not get at all from you post that you are testing the dogs suitability for you, in fact yoou said your working on his mouthyness and commented on he is a beauty more that you was unsure if this dog is available to be adopted by you.

BulliesofNC

It's always honorable to foster any dog regardless what breed it is and I commend those that dedicate efforts into Rescue, Foster, and Adoption.

Maybe I'm getting @pumagirl mixed up with someone else who was on the pursuit for finding a Bull Terrier to adopt for herself. I may have completely misread this post entirely and thought someone may have adopted/fostered a Bull Terrier but wasn't quite sure they actually wanted that particular rescue and was more or less keeping the dog on a trial bases to see if they really wanted the dog or whether they opted to turn the dog over to someone else. If this was simply a discussion meant to create awareness of a BT being fostered that was available for adoption than I a was mistaken. I was under the impression @pumagirl was initially looking to adopt a Bull Terrier. My mistake. When I seen this post I thought maybe she was provided a Bull Terrier and was making the decision of keeping him or adopting him to someone else and continuing the pursuit of finding some other Bull Terrier to adopt instead of this one.

Now that I realize this is just a BT being fostered in hopes of finding a good home it's clear that I confused her with someone else that was actually looking for a Bull Terrier to adopt.

I hope my response wasn't taken in a negative fashion. I hear about so many Bull Terriers that are bounced from one home to the next because people fail to dedicate to raising the dog. Sometimes people that claim to be fostering are actually only volunteering to take care of a dog while they make the decision on whether or not they actually want the dog. In that type of case I'd rather see the dog remain in one Rescue Group where the intent is to find the right person to adopt the dog so he or she can find a forever home.

BulliesofNC

If this Bull Terrier is in fact in need of a home please let me know his current location. I Have MANY people looking to adopt a Bull Terrier and this one sounds like he would attract many people that would be thrilled to claim ownership of him.

pumagirl

I was lookinh for another bull terrier. In the approval process I volunteered my time until the right match is found for us. Through the rescue i was asked to rescue this male from another foster situation that turned bad. We have only had him for 1 day and working with the stress of his situation. He has been tested when rescued initaly with the rescue Im working with. He will eventualy be adoptable and yes we will be given the option of keeping him however I just wanted to put the word out there.

BulliesofNC

So the poor guy went from the original owner, to a foster home, and now to you, but you too may be looking for a new home for him. I feel bad for him because he seems to be hopping all over the place without really getting the opportunity to bound with a permanent owner who will commit themselves to raising him. What is it about him that is preventing others from falling in love with him and thankful to have him in their life?

You mention him being "eventually adoptable." What does this mean? Does he not qualify to be adopted right now because he has yet been afforded the opportunity for anyone to get to know him and endorse him as a good dog qualified for adoption to someone else? Sad that he's easily accepted to different foster homes but not allowed to find a permanent home. When does his probation period end? Again, I know of several people looking to adopt a Bull Terrier. Please let us know when he's actually available to go to a forever home.


 

pumagirl

Im sorry, why do I feel like your attacking me??? He has only been with the rescue a couple of weeks. His orig foster only had him for a short time when she had a family emergency out of state. Another foster had him only days and obv not experienced enough to handle him. That was when they called me. He has been under considerable stress and need to settle in. I guess I posted a bit prematurely however did not feel I was going to be torn up like I have been.
I like the rest of the people on the forum love the breed and trying to do all I can to save them. Wow how about were thankful for people like you who took money out of their own pocket to travel, take 2 ferries, stand my ground to call law enforcement to ensure this dog's safety, and open up my home. Why? Because I love the breed!!!
No one is perfect and unfortunately not every situation is ideal. I was just putting it out there so if he doesnt work out for watever reason someone could offer him a home. I to have a mini bully and a lab that I love dearly and theit happiness and safety comes first. Not every combination works

BulliesofNC

I'm not attacking you @pumagirl. Just sticking up for the bull terrier you are in possession of. You mentioned he gets along with other dogs and there was no mention of any bad habits. However, many Bull Terriers (good and bad) can have certain habits which aren't considered to be note worthy. I'm sure the rescue Bull Terrier you have right now is under a lot of stress and often the stress and anxiety of a dog is very difficult to recognize. He's been going from place to place and is very confused. He has yet to get comfortable with his own surroundings let alone a trusted owner. Based on his description compared to "Bobs" he sounds like a much better tempered Bull Terrier. He may not be quite as young but he's still very young.

I'm glad you have helped out with foster efforts for any Bull Terrier. Mu confusion came because you not only welcomed a rescue Bull Terrier into your house but you pursue interest in an alternate Bull Terrier while you look for a home for the one you just received. Sorry, I'm just trying to make sense of it. I guess it would be like fostering a child and while you are looking for a permanent home for the child you are also looking to adopt a child of your own.

Yes, one Bull Terrier might be better mannered than the next but they all can be trained to adapt well with your lifestyle provided the dog gets along with other dogs. You made it known he does well with other dogs which is a plus. You didn't respond to my comments regarding adoption to people I know that are looking for a Bull Terrier which matches what you are currently fostering. So I'm not sure if the BT you have possession of is available for adoption or you are still deciding whether or not you have dedicated to claim ownership to him. Your interest in another rescue Bull Terrier let's me think you may not be very attached to him.

Honestly, I have a lot of appreciation for those that dedicate to fostering dogs with the intent to keep them safe while finding loving homes for them. These are normally people who aren't involved in obtaining a dog for themselves by means of picking and choosing between the various available. I don;t mean to sound harsh but based on what I've read it almost sounds as though you are only involved in fostering while in pursuit to find the best possible BT rescue for yourself instead of just being happy to have come across a Bull Terrier that needs a home. I hope you don;t take that the wrong way because I'm not trying to be mean or cold-hearted. I know you want the perfect BT to add to your pack and there's nothing wrong with that but it's saddening if you already have a suitable BT that is at risk to be bounced around again because you might find a younger or better one.

Nothing brings more sadness than when I have adopted out a rescue BT to someone who was so excited about adopting the dog only to see them return the dog after a short while with no other explanation of returning the dog other than they made a mistake or that they no longer want the dog. One thing for sure is that you can never really determine the true dedication someone will have with raising a rescue dog that you are offering them. You can only hope that their integrity is real and they devote to training and raising the dog with love and passion. It's sad when there are people who talk the talk but in reality they are only going through a mock trial and if the dog doesn't meet their expectations they will simply give it up and look for another one that requires less effort and is more suitable to their expectations.

Personally if I knew someone had a rescue Bull Terrier that was doing just fine with them but preferred to adopt out that dog and look for an alternate Bull Terrier I'd be a bit hesitant about allowing them to be afforded another opportunity to adopt a different one. In the event you don't find it a good idea to raise the rescue Bull Terrier why would prefer someone else to? What is causing the delay to decide whether or not you want to keep the Bull Terrier you currently have or whether he can be listed as available for adoption? If it's a matter of seeing how well things go within your living situation than it is in fact that you have a Bull Terrier on a trial bases. You see, when I adopt out a Bull Terrier I'm looking at all aspects to ensure the dog doesn't end up in a home where they are only going to be on some trial bases. I want them to spend time with the dog before even taking it home. I want them to fall in love with the dog and commit to raising it. I'd hate to find out they adopted the dog while keeping their eye out for a better deal on a younger or better trained dog that they could trade in on.

Fostering is great! We've been doing that for years but we're doing it for the goal of getting the dog into a forever home as soon as possible without bouncing the dog all over the place from home to home with people changing their minds on ownership. We are not fostering with the goal of finding the perfect rescue dog for ourselves while weeding out the others we don;t wish to claim.

Once you have claimed a rescue Bull Terrier whether it be the one you currently have or a different one that comes up, do you plan on continuing the rescue efforts via fostering Bull Terriers in need? I hope you do because there is nothing more satisfying than helping the breed with true love. Would you be willing to foster a 10 year Bull Terrier that was in need of daily medications and didn't get along with other dogs? Those are the tough cases involved with rescue. Even seeing a BT in need of adoption that is covered in mange. Many foster homes won't even allow a dog like that in their home. 

Again, I'm not trying to be mean or attack you with anything. Originally I was just under the impression you were looking for a Bull Terrier to adopt and I got confused when I seen you received one but were undecided on whether or not you wanted to keep him and pursue your quest to find a different one.

pumagirl

I understand your frustration with my posting and like I said before feel I posted it prematurely and for that I appoligize. So let's take a step back.
We rescued our mini EBT a little over a year ago and fell in love with the breed. Educated ourselves on the breed as much as we can. We decided that Puma needed a playmate, one of a kind of her own. We contact our local/Cali rescue and filled out the app. It took forever to finaly get the ball rolling.
While doing our home visit I mentioned I would be willing to volunteer/foster if needed. Fostering would give us a chance to give back and to also decide if we were really ready to take on another dog full time.
Sunday I got a call asking if I could rescue and foster the current dog we now have. They did not have alot of info on the dog as he had only been with the rescue for not quite a month. They were still trying to obtain his report from animal control that picked him up.
We are slowly finding out info on him like he was a stray, known to have killed a feral cat, should avoid small animals etc. we agreed to foster him and see him through this. I contacted the rescue with an update letting them know that im not sure our situation would be the right situation for him in the long term however would like to keep him as long as it takes to give him some time to settle and give us some time to work with him so that his little behaviors aren't misunderstood, such as his mouthyness thought to be aggressive biting.
We are at fault for not realizing the huge size difference between the standards and the mini. Our Puma is a small mini. We have yet to intriduce him to our females as we want to do the introduction slow and correct.
So I guess to answer some of your questions, are we shopping for that perfect dog? In a way I guess we are but that was not our intent when we agreed to foster. We didnt expect to be thrown head first into it and like you said, had planned on spending some time with the possible dog prior
What makes him adoptable? Like I said, he has only been in the rescue for not quite a month. It would be unfair to him amd the adopter to commit to him not knowing his history or any possible behaviors to be aware of that could result in a return.
My intentions are good.

BulliesofNC

I can understand you wanting to adopt a Bull Terrier that fits in appropriately with you, your family, and all your other dogs. Had it not be for noticing that you were wiling to adopt a couple other Bull Terriers without such a calculated decision and many days of raising the dog like you are doing with the current rescue you have I would have never a thing. I was actually confused at first because you mentioned being undecided in regard to keeping the rescue bull terrier you already or adopting him to someone else and eager to adopt an alternate Bull Terrier advertised on here in which you had never even met.
In fairness, you have to admit that for someone like myself who conducts many rescues each year and adopts them out to new homes I'm used to looking at all types of potential new owners and looking deep at what I believe to be their true dedication to raising the individual dog for the rest of its life. For me to see someone in possession of a rescue that is debating whether or not they wish to keep that dog and are quick to say they will adopt another dog without knowing anything about that dog I can't help to wonder what the future would hold for any dog that didn't measure up to your expectations.
I'm also confused why the rescue dog you currently have requires such a prolonged analysis before he is afforded the opportunity to be adoptable. You mentioned that he has already been with the the rescue group for over a month at another foster home before you received him. Does his screening start all over now that he is in a different home? In the event you have to provide him to a different foster within a week or two will that foster have to start all over with assessing his personality in order to allow someone to adopt him? Normally with any of the rescues we receive in it only takes a couple days to get a good feel for the dogs temperament, personality, character, and negative quirks. Adoption normally happens fairly quick from the time we have received a BT until the time they are adopted which is good because it allows the dog the ability to transition into their permanent home verse being confused from the long stays at several foster homes and getting to trust and bond with so many people that they think are their actual new owner. I try and alleviate as much stress on the rescue Bull Terriers as possible but any time a Bull Terrier is shuffled around from place to place with new owners and completely new living environments it's easy for them to become stressed with a great deal of anxiety. Ideal behavior patterns may be hard to see with any dog that is depressed and stressed.
Sometimes it's a great feeling to meet people wanting desperately to adopt a Bull Terrier after knowing they recently lost their own beloved Bull Terrier after 13+ years in their family. Understanding that many people looking to adopt actually have more experience with Bull Terriers than some of the foster home owners  make it hard to wonder why the dogs remain so long in foster care. Obviously the first foster home your BT resided for the past month turned out to be a big mistake.
It will be a happy ending when your Bull Terrier is finally allowed to meet potential owners that would love to adopt him and to see him go to a loving forever home once and for all. I'm sure he deserves that. Just as quick as you to want to adopt a couple of the other BT's that have been listed on this forum there would surely be others with background experience that would love to provide your rescue bullie with a forever home.

pumagirl

When I made the comment yesterday on the 7month old pup it was a general comment. I appologize and realize I should not have posted that. It was taken out of context, im sure you have seen a pup before and said, wow I would like to have that pup. I in no way would even consider adopting a pup right now. There is so much unknown with my rescue that the thought is to get to know him so that any potiental adopter has the full picture rather than adopting him out quickly only to be possibly returned. Ut saddens me that because of this situation you deem me not a good candidate to adopt another.

pumagirl

@swbaggies
You are correct. He was not offered to me on a trial basis, I rescued him from another foster that was not working out.

swbaggies

Thought so....

BulliesofNC

@pumagirl - I'm sure you love your dogs and your heart is in the right place for helping them. If it wasn't I'm sure you wouldn't be looking into rescuing a Bull Terrier. Sadly, I've seen so much corruption over the past few years within Rescue Groups like RCBTR located in SC that I often feel terrible for the Bull Terriers involved. I guess to me the people that are provided the opportunity to foster for Rescue Groups probably need more screening than the people looking to adopt a dog. Obviously if they don;t have the time and facilities to foster a Bull Terrier regardless what kind of dog he or she may be than maybe they shouldn't be involved with it to begin with. I mention this only because it's saddening to hear about the Bull Terrier you currently have now that apparently needed to be rescued from the previous "foster" home. That's a slap in the face for the actual rescue group that permitted the person to provide foster care.

In regard to the mention of the "trail bases" for the Bull Terrier you currently have it was only brought up because you mentioned that you picked him up with the intent to foster him with the option of claiming him. The aspect of it being a trial bases falls true to the fact that he is being analyzed by you for the possibility of ownership or continued pursuit to find anther home if you decide you do not want him. I'm confident you can understand to some they might consider this to be a test run or adoption by a trail bases as mentioned earlier.

Again, there's nothing more disappointing than seeing a rescue Bull Terrier returned because the owner decided the dog was just too much for them and they no longer had the desire to train the dog and devote towards molding the dog into a well behaved and loyal companion. Sometimes when it's noticed that there have been other opportunities to raise a rescue Bull Terrier but the individual just didn't like that particular one it sends out a message that the person may not be as dedicated to raising any Bull Terrier if it doesn't live up to their expectations.

I'm by no means trying to make you feel bad or be mean to you. I'm only feeling bad for the poor Bull Terrier you just rescued and wondering why he doesn't warrant a place in your heart for rehabilitation, training, and devotion.