Could you offer a new home to a pedigree dog?

Although all of the various rescue and rehoming centres within the UK are generally full to bursting with a range of dogs of all shapes and sizes that need a good home, finding a pedigree dog at a shelter is a relatively rare occurrence. With the exception of some pedigree breeds that seem to come up for rehoming much more commonly than others, such as the Staffordshire Bull Terrier and the Greyhound, generally, pedigree dogs rarely make it across the threshold of a rehoming centre. This is not to say that pedigree dogs of all types of breeds rarely find themselves in need of a sympathetic new home, but simply that you may need to look for your prospective pedigree rescue dog in different places.

Why not just buy a pedigree dog?

For many people who have fallen in love with a particular pedigree breed of dog, buying a puppy or young dog of that breed is the obvious solution, and there is a lot to be said for getting a dog when young and while its history is known. However, buying a pedigree dog of any breed is expensive, and puppies of popular breeds regularly change hands for £1,000 or even a lot more. Rehoming an adult dog is one way to potentially find the breed you want, while dramatically reducing the initial financial outlay.Also, while many people are big fans of a specific breed, many of us feel that it is somewhat irresponsible to promote the commercial breeding of puppies while so many dogs in the UK are poorly cared for or without a home. Rehoming an adult dog of any type, including a purebred pet, can provide the perfect solution to a personal moral quandary.

Do your research

Just as you would when seeking to get a new puppy or buy a pedigree dog of any age, it is important to undertake a significant amount of research about the breed first. You will need to identify things like their temperaments, care requirements, exercise needs, and if they might be prone to any breed-specific or genetically inherited health problems. If you are considering taking on an older dog that has already firmly established their personality or has an unknown history, the amount of research you will need to undertake for any specific dog will also increase exponentially.

What do you mean by ‘pedigree?’

When considering rehoming a pedigree dog, firstly you should address the question of what exactly you mean by the term ‘pedigree.’ Would you be perfectly happy with a dog whose appearance indicates that they are fully or at least mainly pure bred, or would you only be happy with a dog whose ancestry could be traced back to their dam and sire and prior generations? Does ‘pedigree’ to you mean that the dog must come with formal breed paperwork and be entered onto the relevant breed registry? Deciding upon these factors can help to either narrow down or widen your search, and may make things easier or harder for you to find the perfect pet depending on your requirements.

Even rescued pedigree dogs can be costly

On of the most common reasons for seeking to rescue or re-home a pedigree dog is to try to reduce the cost of the initial purchase, which can be a significant amount of money. However, you will probably find it very hard to find even an adult pedigree dog that is being given away free. Adopting a dog from a rehoming shelter generally requires a donation to the shelter to offset some of the costs incurred by providing the interim care they gave to the dog, and to go some way towards proving to the shelter that you are committed and able to provide financially for your new dog. Breed-specific rescues operate in much the same way, and you should budget a bare minimum of around £200 to be able to offer as a donation or fee to adopt your future pet.

Where to find pedigree dogs that need rehoming

As mentioned, generally, pet shelters and rehoming centres do not handle many pedigree dogs. Pedigree dogs that require rehoming are often dealt with by their initial owners by word of mouth advertising, and pedigree dogs that do get taken in by shelters are often the most easy to re-home to prospective new owners. So it is fair to say that even if your local shelters do sometimes house pedigree dogs, they are unlikely to hang around there for long!

• Register your interest with your local shelters, and ask if they might be able to contact you if anything comes up, and check back with them regularly.
• Contact breeders of the types of dogs that you are interested in. The professional dog breeding community generally has a very effective grapevine of information and knowledge, and may well be the first to hear about any pedigree dogs in the region that need a new home. Also, most responsible breeders will tell the owners of the puppies that they sell that if in the future, the new owner is no longer willing or able to care for their dog, the breeder will take the dog back. So if you can make a network with some sympathetic breeders in your area, you may even find that one of them will contact you directly about an adult dog that needs a new home.
• Most breed-specific organisations and trusts will actively help to find homes for dogs of their breed that need a new owner, and some breed societies even operate a rescue and rehoming register. Many local mainstream dog shelters and rescue centres will also contact breed-specific organisations for help with rehoming pedigree dogs, and some societies will even provide the interim care or foster home required for a pedigree dog awaiting rehoming; another reason why pedigree dogs of some breeds are not often seen in dogs homes.
• Put the word out to other dog lovers and pet care professionals- grooming salons, vets, dog walkers and other dog owners that you are in the market for a new dog of a certain breed. They might just come up trumps!
• Browse the pet adoption section here at Pets4homes, as online advertisements can often be one of the most effective ways of connecting prospective pet owners with their new potential pets. Good luck!