Felt Weird

[Guest muttrus]

I don"t know if its my weird way of thinking but while there was a family here along with a friend for a meet and greet I felt more like they were here checking me out.The friend who came for support kept trying to take me away while the other lady was looking more around rather than at the dogs.They seemed to ask more questions about me rather than the dog .

Very neat looking people friendly and what you would expect a family looking for a dog would look like .BUT my gut kept telling me something and the weirdest part was for some reason one of the ladies looked like someone that had been her a year or two ago and I got the same feeling then.

While I have nothing to hide and I allowed them to play with the dogs in the yard and I answered all their questions.The lady said her husband wanted to see for himself and would be here before work the next day he never showed up no phone call no email no message until two days later when the wife text me and said they were interested but don"t know when they will be back! that in self really pee"d me off

BUT I know I must sound rather strange has anyone else felt remotely like this ? :)

[keetamouse]

I don"t know if its my weird way of thinking but while there was a family here along with a friend for a meet and greet I felt more like they were here checking me out.The friend who came for support kept trying to take me away while the other lady was looking more around rather than at the dogs.They seemed to ask more questions about me rather than the dog .

Very neat looking people friendly and what you would expect a family looking for a dog would look like .BUT my gut kept telling me something and the weirdest part was for some reason one of the ladies looked like someone that had been her a year or two ago and I got the same feeling then.

While I have nothing to hide and I allowed them to play with the dogs in the yard and I answered all their questions.The lady said her husband wanted to see for himself and would be here before work the next day he never showed up no phone call no email no message until two days later when the wife text me and said they were interested but don"t know when they will be back! that in self really pee"d me off

BUT I know I must sound rather strange has anyone else felt remotely like this ? :)

This is the reason I NEVER have people coming to my place I always take the dog/s to them, if you can't do this then maybe set up an area where they don't have the opportunity to just wander around.

Maree

CPR

[Guest muttrus]

while the dogs are in my back yard I do meet and greets in the front yard .its all fenced in .No usually I can"t take the dog to them due to me doing puppies and they see them as a litter plus I don"t drive :) normally everything is good and sometimes if the dog is older we go to the park around the corner just this time it was weird of course they weren"t allowed inside or anything but they did ask more questions than most others do .

AHHH well another thing to look back on and learn from I guess .And the fact we are home based carers not having kennels or anything .I even have an outdoor table and chair set up for those such as older people can sit or for paperwork etc

[tdierikx]

Yep - we've had a few like that too... rather disconcerting, isn't it?

T.

[Alkhe]

They can't do random secret checks, it's more likely to be a strange weird person. Which is still disconcerting, but perhaps a bit reassuring :)

[Aphra]

We had one like that a couple of years ago, they asked a lot of questions about how the rescue group was organised and lots of stuff unrelated to the dog they were looking at. We wondered at the time if it was another rescue group having a sticky beak (for what purposes escapes me), but it might just as easily been someone who has taken advice to heart about asking lots of questions and checking out the group they were adopting from.

If you felt odd about them, I'd suggest you just send them a note saying, "thanks for coming, but if you aren't sure then the adoption is clearly not right for you and good luck in finding the right dog".

When we started our group our first criteria was that we wouldn't adopt to anyone we didn't like, and that covers people who made us feel weird as well. :laugh:

They can't do random secret checks, it's more likely to be a strange weird person. Which is still disconcerting, but perhaps a bit reassuring :)

[tdierikx]

For sure, we have had people sent by other rescue groups (and worse, from crazy animal lib type groups) just to have a sticky and give us the runaround... but at what point do you turn around and say "get the hell off my property"? We just treat every person coming to look at dogs in the same way - and hopefully the ones just coming for a sticky beak will report back that we aren't all that bad... lol!

For myself, when I've been interested in the ways that other groups do things, I have approached them openly and honestly about who I am and what I am interested in. For me, it's a way of learning from others where we may be able to do things better with our own rescue... but I'd never do it on the sneak - much better to be up front and honest IMHO - and you may make some great friends in the process.

T.

Edited March 5, 2013 by tdierikx

[Little Gifts]

Trust your gut. They may not be from the RSPCA but if it looks like fish and smells like fish then pull out that wedge of lemon and some tartare sauce because it's definately fishy!

[Steve]

Trust your gut. They may not be from the RSPCA but if it looks like fish and smells like fish then pull out that wedge of lemon and some tartare sauce because it's definately fishy!

Yeah Id agree with that . I doubt its the RSPCA they usually arrive unannounced but are up front about who they are and what they are looking at

but could be someone who has some axe to grind. Some also have expectations of what you do and how you do it which are miles off the mark.

I dont think people have any real idea of what it takes for someone to make themselves available and open their homes for inspection when it suits them.

Edited March 5, 2013 by Steve

[Sheridan]

I have heard of animal rights groups doing this in the US.

[Aphra]

Maybe NARGA have started a secret shopper program!

[Tweety]

Muttrus, I would be more inclined to trust your gut feeling.

For a fact I know someone who in Sydney (fostering for a well known group) regularly attends "pretend" meet & greets at foster homes of other rescue groups to check them out. I was given a blow by blow account of the people, their homes, the animals, what she felt was wrong, etc.

[Guest muttrus]

If Id known I would have not worn my daggy puppy slobber covered clothes :D

I do hope Im wrong and being silly for if anyone wants to come here they are more than welcome don"t need to be sly about it.My facebook page has everything on it so if you first see it then come here its easy to tell nothing is fake.Sure I have 8 dogs here at the moment but the yard is clean they didn"t bark the lawns are all mowed gardens weeded the dogs have water toys beds etc while I do meet and greets in the front yard as my dogs are out the back .They do sleep out the back which has higher fences a covered deck area lawn gardens etc

I was myself answered all their questions. I pride myself on having no cages just a family home enviroment --as our dogs are vaccinated before coming to me and not from pounds we don"t have a big quarrentine set up .

IF it is true I wonder what they thought?

[Sheilaheel02]

Fortunately, the vast majority of people who come to meet one of our dogs are genuine. Like most groups we ask a lot of questions before arranging a meet and greet, but that doesn't always guarantee an accurate picture of what the people will be like in the flesh so to speak. If references check out they may be allowed to visit the dogs in their foster environment, but we will take them to the adopters home if that is possible too.

The weirdos? I swear, over the years, we've just about had them all! From the truly disturbed ones to the lonely hearts who think that we must want to save them too. Personally, twice I've approached the Law (which was not particularly comforting). One day I'm going to write some of these experiences down. I wish I had kept a journal, but I simply haven't had the time.

My intent is not to freak anyone out, but the work that we do often means that we have a profile in the public domain and should take appropriate precautions wherever possible, whether that be meeting a stranger at their home or in our own.

S

[Sheilaheel02]

For a fact I know someone who in Sydney (fostering for a well known group) regularly attends "pretend" meet & greets at foster homes of other rescue groups to check them out. I was given a blow by blow account of the people, their homes, the animals, what she felt was wrong, etc.

Really? This is wrong in so many ways I'm not sure where to start. Surely, the group to which she belongs does not sanction this kind of behaviour? If she's got extra time on her hands, don't go wasting other peoples, dedicate it towards something more positive.......or simply get a life.

S

[Tweety]

Really? This is wrong in so many ways I'm not sure where to start. Surely, the group to which she belongs does not sanction this kind of behaviour? If she's got extra time on her hands, don't go wasting other peoples, dedicate it towards something more positive.......or simply get a life.

S

My thoughts exactly. I steer clear of trouble makers & people even associated with them. It's very disturbing behaviour & doesn't say much about the person in question.

[Steve]

I have heard of animal rights groups doing this in the US.

They do it here too but its usually breeders or bigger rescue. Either way if its the nutter element it still wouldn't be the RSPCA .

[Steve]

Fortunately, the vast majority of people who come to meet one of our dogs are genuine. Like most groups we ask a lot of questions before arranging a meet and greet, but that doesn't always guarantee an accurate picture of what the people will be like in the flesh so to speak. If references check out they may be allowed to visit the dogs in their foster environment, but we will take them to the adopters home if that is possible too.

The weirdos? I swear, over the years, we've just about had them all! From the truly disturbed ones to the lonely hearts who think that we must want to save them too. Personally, twice I've approached the Law (which was not particularly comforting). One day I'm going to write some of these experiences down. I wish I had kept a journal, but I simply haven't had the time.

My intent is not to freak anyone out, but the work that we do often means that we have a profile in the public domain and should take appropriate precautions wherever possible, whether that be meeting a stranger at their home or in our own.

S

I have kept a journal and mine is going to be good reading too.

[Steve]

For a fact I know someone who in Sydney (fostering for a well known group) regularly attends "pretend" meet & greets at foster homes of other rescue groups to check them out. I was given a blow by blow account of the people, their homes, the animals, what she felt was wrong, etc.

Really? This is wrong in so many ways I'm not sure where to start. Surely, the group to which she belongs does not sanction this kind of behaviour? If she's got extra time on her hands, don't go wasting other peoples, dedicate it towards something more positive.......or simply get a life.

S

fact is that in the dog world there are various motivators which turn people into crazies and there are also examples of where someone has let a stranger into their homes and the douch bags have returned to commit a crime.

[_PL_]

First thing I thought of was someone sent in to have a look. Rescue attracts all sorts. Yes I've felt we were being 'checked out' before. No inclination to do anything except visit the dog immediately which just isn't the way we do things.

Put simply, no matter what you do in life you can't keep having numerous strangers or even 'colleagues' visit your home without getting a nutter, a liar, a gossip or a crook. It's a matter of odds.