Offering a rescue dog a home is extremely commendable and it can be immensely rewarding experience, but only consider giving a home to a rescue dog only if you are prepared to put in extra work.
Do not consider rehoming a dog if you have a busy life style, or very young children, as these dogs often need special care. Find out as much as you can about the dog, as this may help you to settle it in. If you are getting a dog without a confirmed case history, for the dog's sake as well as your own make sure you can take it back if it does not fit into your household.
Rescue societies come in all shapes and sizes and with a variety of policies. Some rescue groups have no facilities to keep dogs; they make referrals from the current owners to potential adopters. Others such as the Dogs Trust and Battersea have enormous resources and large kennel facilities.
All try to help owners find new homes for their dogs, give advice for solving problems, maintain a list of available dogs, and screen potential owners. Most rescue societies are anxious to place dogs in good "permanent" homes.
Rescue dogs should always be spayed or neutered, vaccinated, and at least relatively healthy before rehoming.
Good rescuers try to match each applicant with an appropriate dog. They should know if a particular dog likes children, can get along with other pets, needs lots of exercise, plays rough, is easy to train, is afraid of adults, jumps fences and so on. They cannot make a good match if they don't ask questions about the type of home the adopter will provide. So be prepared to be put through the mill, and asked the following type of questions:
Why do you want this breed?
What sort of accomodation do you live in?
Do you have enough time and patience for a dog?
Do you have a fenced garden?
Do you plan to walk the dog every day? (Neapolitan's still need exercise albeit not as much as other breeds)
Will the dog live indoors or outside?
Do you have children? How old?
Do you have other pets?
Most rescue dogs have had at least one home and sometimes more. They may come with behavioural baggage and some problems from the fact that they may have been rejected at least once by their previous owners. Some will have been in kennels or the rescue centre for some considerable time. This will have an effect on them, especially those that are normally used to family life and constant attention. The dog may have been put in a rescue centre because of behavioural problems, which could include aggression, toileting, excessive barking, destructive tendencies etc.
Many of these dogs have been uprooted from a loving family by some misfortune, and some have been abused or neglected and need lots of patience and TLC, to get past the trauma in their short lives.
The initial adjustment can sometimes be difficult as the dog may need to learn to trust again or even for the first time. Separation anxiety, fear of noises, and attempts to run away are common. But once past the first few months, when the dog learns to depend on the kindness of his new owners, then the bond is forged.
The Neapolitan needs little grooming, average training, and only moderate exercise but still require a lot of personal time and care. Do not consider this breed if you work full time or there is no-one one at home for more than a few hours a day.
Do not choose a Neapolitan if your budget is tight, choose a small-to-medium dog that needs little grooming and minimal training and less food!
The Neapolitan rescue is not the right dog for you if you are an inexperienced dog owner, have children or elderly people in your home.
You need to be committed to six months of steady, patient, consistent training and years of daily walks.
Be prepared to walk the dog at least twice a day and to clean up his/her waste.
Remember the bigger the dog the likelyhood of bigger vet bills, pet health insurance (at least one covering vet bills) is essential, if you cant afford pet insurance, you certainly wont be able to afford the vet bills!
There may not be any background or information on the dog, or even the dog's original name or age, a crossbreed could be crossed with anything... Many will have been found wandering the streets cold and hungry. Whatever the case there are a few principles and rules you should adhere to:
Do your homework on this breed: Look at your work and time commitments.
Never buy on impulse or because you feel sorry for a frightened and timid dog.
Discuss what you want in a dog... check the breed requirements and possible problems, then discuss the positive and negatives of the breed with specialised breeders and the rescue staff. Don't expect to walk into a rescue centre and walk out with a dog. They will need to check your suitability to own a dog including your home, garden, and work commitments. In many cases they will pay a home visit and will require you to complete a long questionnaire.
Once you have decided that you are going to re-home a dog then prepare the home and garden well before the arrival.
Remember your new dog will be ‘stressed', worried and uncertain of you, your family and the new surroundings/environment. He/she must have time to adjust. By taking on a rescued dog, you will be taking on his/her past too, and this could be an unhappy past.
If you are considering taking a dog into your life, think long hard and seriously about the commitment that dog ownership entails.
The last thing a rescue dog needs is to end up back at the rescue centre because their new owners decide they can't cope!!