I have a question about starting up a rescue, and I thought this would be the perfect place to ask.

DH and I are trying to figure out how much room a dog rescue would need. We've got 8 acres, 2-3 of which are in the front around the house, but we've got 3 pretty decent sized pastures out back. He's been debating about starting up a business in the furthest pasture from the house, so most of that is out of the question.

I've got an idea of a building that would be needed, but the part that has me somewhat stumped is the size of run area that would be needed. I guess I should say, before I go too much further, that I'm hoping to have it a lab and rotti rescue and start off with up to 5 dogs. We do have a "puddle" in the back section that DH wants to have his business if/when he starts it, and would be no good to him. I'm wondering how wise it would be to have that "puddle" as a swimming hole for the dogs in the rescue (by puddle I'm talking about 40-80ft around and deepest point is about 6-7ft). Of course it would be fenced off separately for the dogs safety.

As for the funding of the rescue, I'm planning on having another business within the rescue so that the business will absorb some costs and open me up to having access to more government grants.

I know there's other things that I should be thinking about for it as well, so any and all advice/ideas/suggestions are very much appreciated.

My family has operated a private rescues for 50 years. Its a lot of work and people take advantage of you by dumping their unwanted at your door step constantly.
Other than all that it is rewarding. I have no advice sine I see you are in <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Canada</st1:place></st1:country-region>. Just wanted to say good luck and thanks for having such a kind heart.

Thanks Makwa.

I've actually saved an English Bulldog from a byb a couple years ago and found it extremely rewarding, especially when I found her forever home. It was a lot of hardwork, and lots of vet visits and operations (the home I got her from had poked her eye and she needed it removed, then had to have an inverted eyelid dealt with) but the best part of all of it was knowing that I'd given her back her health and got her a really good home where she is going to be loved for being herself and not to pop out pups 2-3 times a year (I did have her spayed as well).

Maybe you should contact a successful rescue in <?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" /><st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Canada</st1:place></st1:country-region> and ask them for some guidance they maybe great to have as mentors. Glad you were there for that poor dog. Yes it is rewarding. Both my sister and I burned out six years ago, the economy was starting to get bad but not so much that everyone noticed and it was headline news.

People were being layed off and losing there homes and we became a dumping spot. We had 40 large mostly black dogs. My sister took on a second job because of the expenses, we are private, it was hard and it was sad. We had to turn to law enforcement to keep people from dumping and they in turn, just shot the dogs. We have two no kill shelters but they couldn’t help because they were full and had a backlog. We ended up with a lot of APBT because of Katrina and that is when we switched to APBT exclusively. I will take on another breed occasionally or foster for one of the two shelters but for the most part we only have one or two rescues at a time these days. I would have to say the rescues have much more obedience under their belt when they leave our shelter now and people are starting to learn about that and like it. It seems to be a good sell.

well good luck.

If will be mostly you and your family, I recommend reading lots of books on dogs and get as much experience with dogs as you can. Dogs in rescue sometimes have quirks even if they are good dogs and need training. I have learned ALOT about dogs by fostering, no two dog is the same, especially if you get different breeds and mixes.

I have had to learn how to deal wtih dog aggression, possessive aggressive, training untrained 3 year old adults, house training, dealing with health issues, etc.

It is one thing if you are fostering ONE dog and have a rescue to ask for help, it is another if you bring in 3+ dogs at once and you are the only ressource.

Making good contacts with a vet and pet store is great too. The rescues I work with use vets where they get discounts. They also have ties with trainers so foster dogs can start training with their foster parents at a discount. Finally, they get rebates on foods at certain stores who also allow them to hold fundraisers such as nail clippings at their ste.

Develop an adoption plan - what steps do you want to implement. Questionnaire? Home visits? Meeting all members of the family?

Develop a good adoption contract - for example, what if a dog you adopt out bites someone in the family? Even if you said it was a possibility or even if it was an exited happy bite, they could come back and sue you (unfortunately reality).

How will you evaluate dogs before accepting them in the program? Will you be doing this?

I've been doing more research, and I've found a course that I'm going to take (dog training). There are different courses you can take at the end of the training for rescue and adoptions, which I'm planning on taking as well.

I have talked to one humane society near me, and they're excited (possibly because they're overrun with dogs at the moment). They've given me a few little tips, and I've also offered to foster for them after Christmas. I've got a really good vet that I'm going to be talking to in the next couple days. I've done a little bit more research on a low cost, or possibly a free spay/neuter clinic for residents in my area and found that there isn't one. I'm hoping that I can get a couple vets that are in the area on board with that and get something started up relatively soon.

I'm not sure yet what I'm going to do about legalities like being sued if a dog bites someone that it's adopted out to, but I plan on consulting a lawyer about that. As for the adoption process, I have been reading what the humane society's have been doing and plan on taking a little from each one and incorporating it. Any other dogs in the household would have to have a meet and greet as well as all family members. People that rent would have to provide written permission from their landlords. One idea that I came upon that I really liked was a "trial period" where the dog lives with the family and if everything is going good then the dog will be officially adopted. I'm hoping to get information from a vet about the best way to evaluate the dogs.

I do have good connections with the store I buy Samantha's food at, and they've said that they'd be able to help me out with rebates on bulk amounts. I am planning on expanding my resources with that though.

So far the majority of all of the work will be on myself, but DH will be helping when he's home. I've also talked to a few friends that are willing to help out as well from kennel cleaning to donating food and office work/book keeping.

I'm hoping I'm on the right track with this. I really appreciate all the help you've given me.