Retired Working Dogs charity says adoption of old farm dogs declining

Bruce: Ready for a home and located in Hastings.

By Sally Wenley of RNZ

It is often a sad decision for farming families to retire their loyal huntaway or heading dog after years of mustering and yard work.

A charity called Retired Working Dogs said it has rehomed about 18,000 farming canines over the last decade, but a decline in the number of people adopting them this year means they will soon have to stop accepting them from farms.

The president, Marie-Claire Andrews, said there was a consistent supply of working dogs, but finding their forever homes was getting harder.

“We consistently have several hundred dogs, but the challenge we’ve got is our foster homes are full, and we’ve slowed down over the last few months, being actually able to re-home them.

“I think that’s probably cost-of-living increases for people and a bit of stress on the home front.”

Andrews said taking on a dog was a big commitment, and she was pleased people saw it that way, but it was probably going to have to close its doors for new canines as it is just about at full capacity.

She said it was gut-wrenching, but the only other option for older working dogs, if there aren’t enough people wanting to adopt them, was euthanasia.

Andrews said it’s understandable farmers can’t keep old dogs when they also have a number of younger dogs doing the farm work as well.

“We have lots of different breeds of working dogs, with Huntaways being New Zealand’s classic,” she said.

Smudge is ready for a home.

“We’ve also got Collies and beardies and heading dogs.

“There’s also pig dogs, which are a mix of different breeds.”

Andrews described them as “not your handbag dogs that you can fit in your pocket”, but medium-sized and needing regular exercise.

Lydia is ready for a home and located in Masterton.

“But I adopted a pig dog four years ago, and I live in a tiny house,” she said.

“There’s plenty of room for him, and he fits in just nicely.

“The amazing thing about them is that they are beautifully trained - the ones we have that are retiring.

Jug: Ready for a home and located in Morrinsville.

“If I could, I would have about 20 more!”

She said they were intelligent, obedient dogs and not difficult to handle.

“Some of the dogs are younger, as they just weren’t interested in chasing sheep,” she said.

Andrews said all dogs were paired up with their “right” retirement home, and, if it doesn’t work out, the charity will take them back on.

She said, if needed, the farm dogs were house-trained before being rehomed, and they were all supplied with bedding and food.

- RNZ