They’ve Been Rescued Once – Let’s Not Fail Them Again
- nicky733
- Aug 19
- 6 min read
Updated: Aug 24
Let’s not misunderstand; even the most careful dog owner can find themselves in a missing dog scenario. S*** happens. This is not an attack on rescue organisations. The subject of their regulation is emotive and will be tackled in a future post. It's about ensuring all dogs stay safe.
However, a large proportion of dogs that go missing, and especially those that need expert trapping, are recently rescued dogs. They’re rescued and adopted by loving, dedicated people.
But it’s not enough.
The Most Avoidable Search :Rescue Dogs and Risky Handovers
I recently had a lovely chance encounter with a woman and her gorgeous Romanians. The most recent was handed over to her in a service station, with nothing more than an ill-fitting collar and a frayed lead. Luckily, she had the sense and experience to know dogs like this need extra security.
It’s time we all - rescue organisations, fosterers, and adopters all prioritised safety before trust and freedom. Many already do, and some others claim to. But too many rescue dogs end up lost and terrified because adopters aren’t given, or advised to get, the secure equipment and safeguards they need to keep the dogs safe in their new homes. It’s even common to read of dogs bolting before they’ve got through the front door for the first time.These are very largely avoidable. A lot of the fantastic search and rescue stories we marvel at on Facebook do feature recent rescue dogs. Luckily, their previous lives often equip them for life on the run, so they have survival skills, but the whole thing is deeply traumatic for dogs, owners and search and rescue teams.
Rescue Dogs Are High Flight Risk
They’re deeply fearful, maybe traumatised and hyper-alert.
They don't yet have a bond with their new humans.
They may never have been walked on a lead before or even lived in a home
Noise, people, dogs, sudden movement — everything is unfamiliar.
The Common Mistakes
Single flimsy collar or harness — no backup.
Lead attached to collar (not to harness or human’s waist)
Mere seconds where the dog is unsecured during a handover or arrving at home.
No secure handover protocol (e.g. handed over in open places such as service stations, garden not secured, dog walked on day one, door or gate left open).
Off-lead too soon, sometimes within hours or days of adoption. Understanding of rescue dog behaviour is not understood.
What Should Be Done – Safe Paws Rescue Dog Handover Safety Protocol
✅ Adequate security pre-screening of the potential home and garden and advice/discussion on settling in a fearful dog safely and securely.
✅ Dog NEVER detached from a person or vehicle/crate during the transport and arrival process. This rule should be maintained until the dog has recall and is bonded to the new owner. For some, a short time, for some, always.
✅ Escape-proof harness, possibly martingale collar.
✅ Double ended lead on waist belt or 2 leads, one on the collar, one on the harness
✅ GPS tracker (encouraged for all dogs!)
✅ NO off-lead walks until full recall is established — if ever
✅ Safe decompression time — follow and adapt the 3-3-3 rule: 3 days overwhelm - stay home. 3 weeks settling, exploring and trusting, 3 months to bond and feel at home.
✅ Always carry high value treats
✅ ID tags on always, and microchip checked and registered
✅ Know who to contact in your area and what to do, in case your dog goes missing.
✅ Ensure anyone caring for the dog outside the home has an equally secure environment and follows your rules.
The Role of Rescue Organisations
Many of the foreign rescue organisations talk about home checks on their websites. And we know many follow through. This is NOT meant to be an attack on them.
Very few talk about collars, harnesses, leads and getting them home safely on day one. While recognising that budget can be tricky, there are things that don’t cost, such as advice and education, or which just MUST be sorted, such as the right equipment. Owning a dog has costs. These are some of the most important. There’s always second hand, or appealing for help.
They must educate adopters and take responsibility for safe transitions.
Provide/advise upon the right harness etc. Include the cost in the adoption fee or insist they are purchased before handover.
Insist on a “safety first” policy: there will be no handover without equipment and proof of a safe environment in place.
🐩 Quizzy’s Way – What we learned from adopting our nervous girl.
Quizzy is my beautiful, pure-souled, damaged, ex-breeding girl. I had long discussions with the rescue organisation to assess our suitability for her. We had a thorough home-check via video call. I had to place some wire mesh over a gate to make sure her head wouldn’t get stuck. I decided a baby gate by the front door would be a good plan as well.
We had a meet and greet to ensure my other dog and she would get along. They did! Quizzy had a secure harness with 3 sets of straps, the third going round her waist, therefore too narrow for her to back out of. We paid the foster carer for this, but that was our choice. It had been donated. She was attached to her foster carer then placed carefully in a crate in my car.
Once home, we carried the crate to the back garden (previously checked on a video call by the foster carer) before opening it. Quizzy was left to explore her new garden and home. After a few days we gently offered the harness; Quizzy LOVES walks so she happily let us put it on. We use a 2-ended lead attached to her harness and to our waist belt before leaving the house. If travelling by car, she is clipped onto a seatbelt/crate before being detached from our waist.
We still do this 18 months on, because she’s an especially jumpy, scared dog, and we know if she got loose it would be nigh on impossible to retrieve her. Most dogs aren’t this acute in their fear, of course, and will be able to go off lead at some point. We often visit secure dog fields to give our girl a real run. She knows a way no different from her 2-metre lead attached to me. She’s as happy a dog as any with her traumatic past can be. She knows she’s safe, I think, even if her instinct is still to be nervous and cautious.
A friend and expert dog trapper has also given this advice.
"A slip lead used correctly i.e. with a stop either side of the ring is fine ,as long as the dog isn't a chewer - I prefer to use a martingale collar so you can adjust the 'choke element' to make a secure collar rather than choke the dog. You can then use a chain lead if you need to in case of chewing. I use a waist belt or wrist strap to avoid dropping the lead. I also use a biothane long line that can then become a trail line."
Above: chain linking collar, lead and harness, and wrist strap ensuring lead can't be dropped
The key point is to avoid the dog escaping from the harness or collar and to ensure they are NEVER 'unattached' until you're certain they are no longer a flight risk.
Freedom Doesn’t Have to Mean Off-Lead
Safety allows trust to grow.
There is no rush.
Dogs can live a very happy life not going off the lead on every walk!
Better a cautious dog who stays alive than a ‘free spirit’ lost forever. Quizzy loves her walks and I let her wander and sniff on her longer lead, oblivious to the fact she’s attached to me.
Use secure fields for running free. https://britishdogfields.com/ to find those near you. Our local favourite one sponsors our Pawcards. https://www.oakpaddock.co.uk/
📚 Resources
Harness recommendations: Quizzy wears: Ruffwear Webmaster, around £79 https://tinyurl.com/yees6p2k. A cheaper versions are to be found on Amazon; we have tried this Hunter Vario one at around £25 and it's good. https://tinyurl.com/3mtdn8cc
Dog safety belts or waist leads – Hands free leads are widely available on Amazon and Pets at Home, among others. I usually replace the bungee lead with a 2m, adjustable double -ended lead to give Quizzy more freedom. We also use car safety belts to attach to the dog’s harnesses or crates in the car so that Quizzy i never detached from somebody or something.
Lost Dog Recovery UK South: interesting for case studies of lost (often) rescue dogs from a leading SAR team.
💬 Final Thought
If you’ve taken the time to rescue a dog, thank you. But don’t stop at love. Back it up with safety. Because the moment a scared dog is lost, it’s too late to wish you’d been more cautious.
Let’s make safe handovers standard. Let’s not fail them a second time.
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