Not really, just did some shit posting on Threads and stirred up a storm.

Can we dispell the myth of “rescue dogs are all perfect?” Yesterday, while walking at the park – I carry treats in my pocket and wear a hat that says “Can I Pet Your Dog?” so it takes me a lot longer than it should to go 2.5 miles but what the heck – my hat almost blew off. As I was grabbing it, a man and woman were coming towards me with two little dogs on flexi-leads.

Red flag #1 – Flexi-leads. Y’all know how I feel about those things

One dog startled and I said, “did it scare you when I grabbed my hat?” and stopped. I don’t approach dogs at the park, I let them come to me. I ask the owner if the dog can have a treat because I carry beef liver cubes and there’s one dog who’s allergic to beef and a few who just aren’t allowed and I can never remember who’s who so I ask

So I said, “will they take a treat?” The woman said, “one is okay, the other one nips.” I said, ‘Thanks for warning me” and stopped reaching for the treats. She then said, in that voice that no one uses for anything else, “He’s a rescue.”

Red flag #2 – “he’s a rescue”

Now, I have no issue with rescuing dogs, I think it’s a wonderful thing for people who have a clue. I have an issue with people who don’t train their dogs and who think that this dog is going to be forever grateful and an absolute perfection because they deigned to offer it a home.

I said, “oh, how long have you had him?” (Note to self, stop talking after hearing red flag #2) “Oh, we’ve had him for 2 years.” (Note to self – shut up) I said, “don’t fall into the rescue excuse*, work with a trainer on that problem.”

“We don’t know what happened to him before we got him!” (Susan, shut the fuck up!) I said,”well, you really shouldn’t use that as an excuse, you need to get some training.”
Woman told me to have a nice day and walked away. In a huff.

Okay, I should have shut up. But I’m tired of it. I’m tired of the condescending, self righteous, virtue signalling of 99% of people who go to the freakin pound and pay money for a dog and think they’re somehow better than anyone who goes to a breeder and pays money for a dog.

One of my friends rescued a dog, who was vetted by a supposedly reputable rescue. It put her daughter in the ER with a bite to the face that narrowly missed her eye. Thank God, the child is extremely resilient and has suffered no lasting side effects – she still loves dogs. So no, that dog you get from the rescue is no more perfect than the child of Satan who is currently driving me nuts. (Weekends suck, by the way) (Those are Maverick’s words)

So I made a post on Threads, sort of venting about the attitude that people have about rescues. Note, my best friend rescued a Yellow Lab, he was hell on wheels for the first two years and I can’t remember how many classes they took, but I remember we all worked really hard with him and he turned out to be a great dog. It’s not the dog’s fault! But………….if you think you’re getting an angel, think again – you might, you might not. And if you have no dog sense, well, you might just be sending that furry friend right back to where you got him.

Anyway, apparently I’m a horrible person because I don’t realize that trauma can take more than 2 years, that people tell me they’ve rescued for various reasons – none of which make sense to me, I don’t immediately tell people where I got Maverick so I’m not sure why they immediately have to tell me where they got their dog. I’m reading, commenting and laughing.

Sometimes you just gotta shit post.

*the “rescue excuse” allows your dog to do pretty much anything because “he’s a rescue!”