We have acknowledged in other articles, what usually is required for a Boston Terrier rescued dog to be adopted. We looked at some of the items a rescue looks at to help decide if the prospective owners will provide a loving safe forever home.
Now on the flip side: How can you tell if a rescue is credible? A “safe place” for an “owner released” dog? How can you tell if a rescue is the ability to accomplishment the purpose of your financial support? How can you be assured your donations will be used for the good of the rescue and not an individual?

We do not hear much about how to check out a rescue. What makes a rescue an organization that you can trust to provide a safe place for dogs in need? How can you be sure a rescue is really a legitimate rescue, and not a hoarder, or a dog flipper?
So to be fair and balanced we are providing you with some thoughts that you might want to consider before you donate a lot of money, or surrender a pet. Or adopt a Boston.

Most rescues are motivated by their love of animals and truly are the backbone of all lifesaving from kill shelters in the country today. If not for their dedication, time, perseverance and unselfishness the numbers killed would increase by millions per year.

Here are some questions to ask yourself and your friends.
1.       Do you personally know these people?
2.       Where is their headquarters?
3.       Who is the president of the Rescue?
4.       Can you visit their facility if they have one?
5.       Can you visit their foster homes or adoption events?
6.       Do other friends you trust know of them?
7.       Have your friends donated or adopted from this rescue?
8.       What do your friends think of the rescue now?

Rescue is a passion: When done using appropriate methods; it is exhausting but exhilarating with some heartache thrown in for good measure. And it’s expensive. It costs a great deal to pull from shelters, accept them from owners, and to care for their myriad of issues medically, as well as to provide daily food, care and shelter even training, until adopted. Most rescues are never short on compassion but most are operating on a shoestring budget and continually must receive funding in order to survive.

If you choose to donate to people with rescues you have only seen online and on Facebook proceed with great caution. The popularity of the rescue on Facebook however, does not always correlate with its integrity. Because on the Internet a glib, maudlin, catchy story or appealing presence may not reveal the reality of those we deal with. So the question becomes how can you tell is the rescue asking for funds on the Internet is credible?

Unfortunately for these same reasons some “rescues” have arisen that are not completely ethical and whose main goal is to make money for them. These less than savory rescues have honed social media heart wrenching down to an economic science.

An overriding rule of thumb is to follow the money trail. Ascertain how much they are receiving in cash or goods and exactly how it is all being used. Is it documented? If not – stay clear.

Many will hide behind their cover of a 501 c 3 Federal IRS tax exempt status. The IRS liberally grants the 501 c 3 designation to animal welfare organizations. Just because they bamboozled the IRS into receiving that designation does not mean they are credible. The questions the IRS asks to receive this ability to collect tax free money is not necessarily an indicator or deterrent to those that plan to misuse this status to fraudulently steal your cash. In fact these unsavory rescues are literally banking on that status to gain your instant trust and as a lure since donations are tax deductible to the contributor.

THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE STUPID, THE EVIL, WHO IS WHO?

The main goal of a real and well-intentioned rescue (other than those that state they are a sanctuary) is to take in and then adopt out companion animals. They are in the business of saving lives and it’s a number game. The more they pull – the more they adopt out – the more they save. In order to do this successfully the real rescues need to employ a series of lifesaving procedures. If they are not performing any or few of these strategies they are most likely not saving very many lives.

The significance of the rescue often does not correlate with the amount in funding it receives. Because small hard working rescues don’t have time to do the marketing that makes others so popular, real rescues are too busy saving animal’s lives.

With the above thoughts in mind, avoid rescues that do the following:

CRY ME A RIVER…… (TEARS, SOB, MORE TEARS)

Do they sound have a constant tales of woe? If they are using a constant string of personal tragedies to lure you in then whether they are for real or not. In my mind they are not in a great position to care for animals when they cannot even take care of themselves adequately. Don’t you agree?

OH, POOR ME SOB, SOB

Are they trying to manipulation to tug on your heart and wallet strings? My image becomes of them that they are either desperate and unorganized and overwhelmed and not able to care for the dogs or themselves or they just want to push buttons and get your money.

PLEASE WITH OUT YOU THESE ANIMAS WILL DIE, STARVE, BE PTS, ONLY YOU CAN SAVE THEM

Are they always begging for money because they are themselves near starvation and can barely pay their bills? (They certainly could not take care of a normal or sudden medical problem of the dogs in their care, could they… do they even feed the dogs they have? These would be the thoughts I would be thinking.)

MY AIR CONDITIONER DIED, AND PLEASE DONATE TO HELP GET MY A/C FIXED SO THESE POOR DOGS/CATS WON’T GET SICK… IF ONLY YOU CARED ENOUGH TO HELP ME….

Do they discuss their personal tragedies and how it is affecting their ability to care for animals? (Hmnnn everyone has personal tragedies)… A mature person who really cared would re-home any animals with another rescue, and get them to safety first. (They would not even consider taking in a single animal, and would not be in rescue at all until their life was back on track (that is if they were really a rescue to start with.)

Then there is the sob story “they had a break in and are asking for a large sum of money to allegedly replace what was stolen because without it they and the animals are going to starve or be severely harmed.” How do you know that actually happened? Ask for facts – who what where how and double check. For example was a police report filed? Were people really arrested as alleged? Etc. Do not hesitate to call the police to check. You need to be able to ascertain that their sob story facts did in fact occur. If not do NOT give them a penny. This type of story is a RED FLAG and most credible rescues wouldn’t capitalize on it even if true. Would they not have renters or homeowners insurance?

But they look and seem so legitimate. But for some reason they refuse to be transparent and answer questions about anything regarding their rescue?

Ask yourself these questions.

- Do they answer rescue related or specific animals in their care questions posed by others? If no then stay clear.

- Ask for copies of their 990 (IRS tax return) and application to obtain the 501 c 3 status. If they refuse

To give it to you – report them to their state Attorney General’s Office and the IRS.

- Stay clear of rescues that on their Internet presence post few pics of those they claim to have up for adoption or is in foster.

- Avoid them if there are very few if any local people commenting on the pets in their care they have seen, adopted, or fostered.

And here is a big one for me, if I am person interested in donating the last thing I want to see is selfes of people, kids, games, political or cutie signs, local attractions. Unless it is about a dog event the rescue is at or supporting their dogs through… I say it is not about the people it is about the dogs. I would steer clear of those that do have an internet presence but mainly post pics of themselves with the pets.

Rescues usually have pics only of the pets in their care and the only humans in their pics are usually happy adopters. Maybe a special volunteer or favorite vet or vet tech or a group photo of all the volunteers… seldom will you see “in your face human” photos at all.

How tiresome: Steer clear of rescues that have blogs that focus on a myriad of tragedies specifically geared to get you to DONATE NOW, but not to necessarily get the pet in the story adopted. No pet in the story? Then doubly avoid.

Avoid them if they don’t have a clear focus on adopting their pets out. Everything they write and every action they take should have rehoming the pets in their care as a priority (unless they are clearly a stated sanctuary) Always keep in mind the lifesaving worthiness of a rescue is, may be evaluated by how many and how often they take in and then adopt out, as this continual, difficult and expensive process is the ONLY way more can be saved.

NOTE. If the rescue in question saves a few but doesn’t clearly focus their efforts on rehoming the pets so that they can continue to pull and save more, and instead only keeps asking the public to DONATE NOW, avoid at all costs.

Especially avoid rescues that slander those that question their transparency or because they have asked valid questions, as a smokescreen to divert attention away from their lack of being forthright.

This is especially true when the defamation in turn actually may have the effect of then harming more pets because those being slandered are also in animal welfare or rescue. If unsure of motives always ask who has the most to gain financially in the situation?

Just because a rescue has many followers or “likes” on Facebook does not mean they are on the up and up. It may be that they lucked into a gimmick or became associated with a popular Facebook page. It may just mean they understand human psychology, how to play people like a time worn violin, and are fantastic at marketing aimed at kind people’s vulnerable soft spots for animals.

Even when the less than honorable rescue has posts regarding a pet in their care, they insert themselves often into the story and do not focus on information relevant to getting the pet adopted. They discuss and use emotions designed to get the public donate. They also often focus on the “irresponsible public” and use fictionalized details of sometimes even exaggerated abuse that they could not possibly know.

So what do you need to look for?

Does the rescue have a mission statement? It is usually to save as many shelter pets as possible by pulling them from shelters and then adopting them out. That is usually their number one goal – to get them into forever homes. Or they also more rarely accept owner relinquished pets directly or are they sanctuary that does not adopt out. In any event their goals should be clearly stated and then clearly followed.

Questions you might ask.

How many pets do you save/take in over a specified period of time?

How many do you adopt out over a specified period of time?

How many do you euthanize over a specified period of time?

Under what conditions do you euthanize?

Do you kill for space?

How many are currently in your care?

How many foster homes do you have?

What are you hours I can visit? Or is there someone doing the foster care I can visit?

Can you give me names I can contact of those that have adopted from your rescue?

What is your address and phone number?

Do you rescue pets from your local shelter?

Where do the pets come from?

Who is your vet? Do you have any problem with me contacting them?

How much did you receive in contributions for said specified period of time?

How else do you get funding?

Exactly how were the goods and money used?

Where may I get a copy of your 990? * see note on 501 c 3

If not a 501 c 3 why not?

How many employees do you have? Volunteers? Fosters?

How do your market you pets?

Do you have adoption events?

Do you have a website?

Are there current pics of the pets?

Do you have an up to date Rescue Groups, Petfinder or AdoptaPet account and listings?

Do you have applications to volunteer, foster and adopt?

So many questions! It would not be fair to ask anyone to answer all of these at one time, but these are valid questions to ask. If you so desired to, and in some cases directed towards different people in the organization. And there should not be any problem getting answers.

If the rescue has an Internet presence they liberally use photos of the pets in their care. Photos are the number one way to get a pet adopted as well as receive donations for that particular pet in need:

They post photos of all those in their care. That includes those they take into their facility or foster homes

They post photos of all those adopted

Beware:

Sometimes a less than honorable rescue will save a few animals and post a few pics of the small amount they are actually taking care of or have in vet care. They use this lure to get the good hearted public to donate more to them with claims of their saving many more than are shown or identified.

If they refuse to show photos of all those they say they have saved or have continual excuses for not putting them up. DON’T give them a penny. (The photos of those still in the shelter that the rescue claims they will be pulling don’t count) The photos should be at their location and that should be made obvious. Photos should be recent and kept updated.

A legitimate rescue has a description of each pet in their care they are trying to rehome and any background of the pet that is known. Also the needs of the pet and what type of home he or she would be well suited for.

Avoid those that insert their own emotion into the description geared to manipulate for more donations. For example, discussing how they “cried hysterically” or every other tear jerking ploy or phrase that is not relevant to getting the pet adopted.

A legitimate and credible rescue focuses ONLY on marketing their pets, medical care, adoption events, securing volunteers and fosters. In addition to what should constitute a majority of their posts is featuring the pets they have in their care, these are the only other elements they concentrate on. The individual rescuers DON’T focus on themselves, they don’t have cutesy irrelevant stories or post long tear stricken stories about the ones they had to euthanize.

A valid rescue has up to date working links to their applications for fosters, volunteers and adopters. This is a must for credible rescues that exist to save animals by getting them rehomed. If a rescue does not have any type of these applications easily available or the link continually says “page not available” then avoid.

A valid rescue is known and respected by its LOCAL community. They often support local businesses in a symbiotic relationship. Don’t hesitate to inquire around. In addition they do not trash other local rescues so as to make sure only they are donated to instead. (Inquiring into a rescues claims or transparency is NOT trashing them. Making up slanderous lies is).

A legitimate rescue with many resources and plentiful of funding does not send stray dogs on their property to a high kill shelter!

Ask them.

Do you ever euthanize a dog and do you ever abort puppies?

Where do you get your dogs from?

Are you a home based rescue or foster based?

Do you have a vet check the animals before they go up for adoption?

How long do you keep dogs?

How do you raise funds?

Where do you go for adoption events?

What do I have to do regarding adoptions?

If you have a problem foster, is there someone we could go to for training?

If there is a problem do you provide funding for surgery or other higher costs maintenance like special foods or medications?

Are you a 501c3? Can I check on your 501c3 before I consider working with you or adopting from you?

If something happens "down the road" will you be able to help me re-home my adopted dog or will your rescue take her back?

What is the process for getting the dog to see a vet if it gets sick while in my care as a foster? What if there is an emergency in the middle of the night and I can't get a hold of anyone at the rescue? Can I take it to the closest emergency vet and will the rescue pick up the bill?

There a many many legitimate Rescues and the will always need our help anyway we can provide it for them.

But there are many, many worthless, unsafe, and criminal fraudulent “rescues” also. I personally have no interest in providing them any help in their many times unlawful, selfish cruel hoaxes either.

Related Articles you might like:
The Rescue World: Responsible Selection of a Boston for Your Family
Fostering: First the Basics, so you would like to foster a rescued dog
THEY ARE COMING TO CHECK US OUT!
Verifying a Good Rescue: What are some things to look for?

Hey people we need to talk!

Why do so many children get bitten by dogs every year?  Perhaps because too many grown up people just do not understand  us dogs? or  maybe even worse, they don't understand kids either? I don't know but did you know this?

Millions of people – most of them children – are bitten by dogs every year in the United States.   

I think we need to look at this. It is bad enough when the human kids bite each other. But I think we are getting a bad rap!!!!  We dogs keep getting blamed and it an't fair, nope, not fair at all!!!

The majority of these bites, if not all, are preventable. How much do your really know about dog bites?
Now if we could get a little cooperation we could prevent a bunch of trouble of those hairless human kids.  So I brought in a few friends to help me..

Children shouldn't run up to strange dogs!

Never approach the dog head on but from the side as the dog looks at this as a challenge!

• Only allow children strangers to pet your dogs on there sides or back.
• If a child is swinging  their arms or kicking screaming, this can aggravate a dog.  Walk away, or ask the parents to pick their child up!
• Never allow a child to remove food from a dog or try to play why their eating or a bone!
• Some human kids toys look just like dog toys and that can start a tussle over a toy.
•  A ball  a child can use is safer so teach kids to play with a dog with a toy,  not food.
• If your dog has an abusive issue seek out a trainer before allowing a child to use a toy to play!(oh and how about a trainer for the kid too?)
• Teach your child. Do not run this makes you look like pray! If a bite was to happen to ball up on the ground head into knees put there hands over the back of there necks to keep the neck safe and face! If they cant ball up lay on there belly face pushed into the ground and hands over the back of neck!

Dogs are not sitting stools,bouncing toys, punching bags, pulling hair rag dolls, teething rings etc.... Gee whiz the awful things you humans are putting out there like your proud of it... I almost cry every time I watch YouTube.....

Dog Bite Emergencies

If you are bitten by a dog, here is a checklist of things you should do:

o    If the dog's owner is present, request proof of rabies vaccination, and get the owner's name and contact information.

o    Clean bite wound with soap and water as soon as possible.

o    Consult your doctor immediately or go to the emergency room if it's after office hours.

o    Contact the dog's veterinarian to check vaccination records.

Fear Biting
HEY GUYS WE ARE HERE TO TELL YOU WHY SOME OF US GET WHAT YOU GUYS CALL AGGRESSIVE... SOME TIMES THAT JUST MIGHT DEPENDING ON WHAT SIDE OF THE PICTURES YOUR TALKING ABOUT.

NOW first you need to remember we are dogs, and we have thousands of years of love for humans but we are not human we are dogs... so there are some dog behaviors that are normal for dogs that would not be acceptable for humans..

We think we are just totally misunderstood at times...For instance FEAR Biting...

This is a separate problem, caused by a fearful and submissive dog that feels cornered. It indicates an extremely poor temperament and possible abuse.(This is probably not a safe dog to have around children either!)  To deal with a fear-biter (evidenced by a dog that bites/threatens to bite but has its ears laid back along its head rather than facing forward), first you have to deal with the insecurity and temperament of the dog. This kind of dog has no self-confidence at all, hence its ready alarm at normally innocuous situations.
You need to build up its confidence: pay close attention to understand exactly what sets it off (some are afraid of men, men with beards, people holding something in their hand, small children, etc) and for now, remove that from its environment. Do some training or other work with it to build up its confidence (the training in this case becomes a vehicle for praising the dog). Then work slowly on its fear.  You should really enlist professional help to deal with a fear biter unless you are experienced with dogs. This kind of dog takes lots of patience and careful reading and may never become trustworthy. If you cannot resolve its problems, consider having it destroyed; don't pass it along to someone else to become a problem for that person.

 

Biting:   It is natural for young puppies to bite and chew on people; however DON'T let them do this.

If your dog is a puppy, yelp pitifully when it chomps on you, and replace your hand with a chew toy; praise heartily when the chew toy is used instead. If it persists, stand up and stop playing with it. It is no fun for the puppy if you stop interacting with it, and it will learn to stop chewing on you fairly quickly.

With older puppies and dogs, say "NO BITE" sternly and withdraw your hand.
If the dog goes through a cycle where it seems to be infuriated by your correction and returns ever more aggressively to chew on you, call a timeout and put the dog where it can't get to you, preferably its crate. When it calms down, let it back and be prepared to interrupt the cycle if it starts again.

Never put up with a puppy biting or mouthing you. When they are adult, the problem will be far more severe. Teach your dog that people have higher status than she does. Do not allow the dog to be on the couch or bed or in other places where humans sit or sleep. Do not let your dog stand up and put her front paws on your shoulders. (And teach your kids respect for us dogs !!!)

Do not let your dog jump up on people jump up on people at all. If the dog is going to jump up, ask her to sit or to lie down. When you come to a doorway, ask the dog to sit; then you go first and the dog follows. You should be the one to initiate playtime and decide when it will end.

Avoid any games like 'tug-of-war' that may encourage your dog to be possessive about a toy. Practice having your dog come to you and 'drop' or 'give' whatever she is carrying. Any game of fetch should end with the dog giving the toy back to you, so that you 'win.'  This would be very important if children are around..

At mealtimes, prepare the dog's food, but do not give it right away. When the family has finished eating, make the dog sit and wait until you place the dish down and say "ok."  For any of these exercises to help, they must be used consistently, and the whole family needs to be involved. Owners need to  be prepared to work at it for the rest of the dog's life. Once a dog has learned to defer to people, there are additional exercises which can be used. These are designed to 'desensitize' the dog to the situation in which it has shown aggression (for example, at feeding time or during grooming). These exercises can be very effective if done correctly.

Also be aware that older dogs when they have a puppy bothering them will first growl to tell the pup to go away when it doesn't it will nip at the pup, until it stops the behavior... well the dogs see the young kids as pups and tries to tell the kid to leave him alone And what do humans think.... they scream the dog bit my child..... well if the child was not in the dogs face that would not happen...

NOW LETS PLAY SAFE   and enjoy each others company.....

You might like to read more from these links
Directory of Certified Applied Animal Behaviorists - www.animalbehavior.org
American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior - www.avsabonline.org/avsabonline/

The saga of Bentley:

We fostered Bentley a little over a year ago,  we were foster failures 3 months later. He was estimated to be 8-10 years old. We knew when we adopted him that his hearing and eye sight were not great, but now, by our observation...he probably has lost about 98-99% of his eye sight and close to that much of his hearing.

He is so sweet and such a delight and has always been so spunky, so it is sooo sad now to watch him bump into everything and be so unaware of where he is. But he still has his spunky spells...love it! We keep a very close eye on him. We have had a deaf Rescued Boston before, but this is the first time we will have had a blind one (and deaf at the same time).  Bentley still has lots of joy and love in him.

He has wobbly legs. He falls down sometimes, but he doesn't seem to notice his shakiness nor his near-deafness. We go for 1/2 mile long walks every day.  We always follow the same path. Stopping at this one house to visit his sighted friend who some times is able to join us on our walks.. A very pleasant time for both humans and dogs..

He is  full of personality and determination. I bet he will adjust and not let this get him down for long!  If he doesn't notice we won't tell him. Oh, undoubtedly Bentley will have truckloads of love and joy to give for the rest of his life. he is a determined dog and he is not letting this get him down so far...it is just so tough watching him.  
I thoroughly understand and empathize with others of you that have a blind and or deaf dog and how difficult it is to watch your baby bump into things a...It's not easy by no means.  We watch his eye pressure isn't too high. Sometime glaucoma comes along with the cataracts. Glaucoma is painful but can be controlled with drops.. We almost forgot to add we are checking out to see if he could very well be a candidate for cataract surgery.

We humans, have trained ourselves not to move things about in his environment. He almost knows where things are. We did close off  the dangerous places that he might wander into. and are teaching Bentley a word that means "stop", if he is going to run into something. My friend just used "Wait", which her dog knew already.

 
We did other things to, like putting foam padding on things that were sharp or quite dangerous!  We are even using use smell too. Essential oil wiped on certain things warns him they are there.. And we also a mat by the back door and front door,  each one with a different texture. He will know where he is because he feels it!
NOTE another positive side affect for even us humans.... when the storms knocked out the electricity a couple days back we discovered we too were able to keep from running into walls and doors etc while we searched for our flashlights and the batteries we should have already had in them. (I know! I know what your fur-friends out there are thinking "dumb humans")

Because we read that when they are blind & deaf there is a tendency to withdraw and live in their own world. So we are also looking at taking him on more car rides and visits to the park and the dog food stores and our groomer.  We think by having the same routines for each visit and same words he will soon learn where we are going...

We realized blindness isn't the end of the world for the dog -they live in the moment without regret.  They adapt to blindness well, when the owner has a positive attitude and does not let dog feel the her own sadness. Blind dogs see with their hearts (they love more deeply because they rely on their seeing-eye person, and they are more sensitive to the emotions of their owner even to the point of telepathy).

Blind dogs rely first on their sense of smell, then hearing, then touch, then sight. It's the opposite with people. Our sense of sight is the most important sense for us. This is why we feel so terrible for the dog. We imagine what it would be like for us. So, knowing what I know now, that blind and even blind/deaf dogs do very well, that they compensate for the loss of vision and hearing and go about exploring there new world just fine. It takes a little while till they figure it out, but they do well mapping their surroundings.

We want to stay positive and encourage  Bentley to learn new things, especially talk to him and use words to describe what he can't see. Like "step" and "careful". We want Bentley to  trust that we will help him.

It should not be too hard for him to adjust to living as a blind dog. It will be harder for us humans.