Dogs Trust Reviews

1.6 Rating 83 Reviews
13 %
of reviewers recommend Dogs Trust
1.6
Based on 83 reviews
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Purchased our delightful Hattie from Dogs Trust Kenilworth in November ‘22. At first Dogs Trust was so very helpful and professional, I couldn’t fault them for their backup programme. However in mid March our pup began limping and was in pain. We took her to our local vet who diagnosed a twisted knee and prescribed pain killers. The condition didn’t clear up and a second diagnosis revealed a degenerative bone condition requiring immediate surgery to remove the top of the femur so that a pseudo joint would form. They suggested a hip replacement costing £6000 pounds which we simply could not afford. The vet then advised the cheaper alternative, the pseudo joint route which would have a satisfactory result but not so quickly. £2500, plus almost £1000 pounds initial treatment and x rays. We agreed. It was suggested by the vet that as we had only recently purchased the puppy Dogs Trust might be able to help. We contacted the Dogs Trust and when my wife informed them of the situation they just dropped us like a hot brick. And as the condition was genetic we suggested that they might contact the people who adopted our puppies brothers and sisters and advise them of the condition. You could almost see the icicles forming on the end of the telephone. The person we spoke to at Kenilworth just did not want to know and pretty much ignored the whole situation. We had hoped that considering the fact that we had bought the puppy, who will stay with us whatever happens, only a few months previously and, although we have not yet got the evidence, she must have had the condition when we bought her, we might get some further help from the Trust. Of that we have no chance. Further we would have thought that the other families should be informed of the possibilities that their puppies might be affected would have been a priority, very little chance. Dogs Trust have seriously let us down, we have paid the vets fees and there are more to come with therapy and further follow up examinations. So, if you are thinking of going to Dogs Trust get your dog thoroughly examined and blood tested. Despite the problems we have encountered the dogs and puppies at the Trust still need a loving home, but just be aware. I’m not sure if the Sale of Goods act applies, I really don’t want to go down that path. Our Hattie is home and this is where she stays.
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Posted 1 year ago
Amazing team, we would have lots of homeless dogs if it wasn’t for these guys. The negative reviews seem to be from people not suitable to re-home, people looking for a certain breed only… dogs trust are doing great filtering these people out. Dogs need loved homes regardless of the breed
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Posted 1 year ago
Absolutely disgraceful application process for Dogs Trust to determine whether or not you are 'suitable' or not to rehome one of their dogs. I had a couple of phone calls where we arranged meeting the dog etc, I had an email sent on Friday evening which I didn't pick up till Sunday, as I was about to reply I noticed another email had been sent on Sunday morning stating that I was not suitable without any given reason!! (More like I didn't jump and reply on Friday so you struck me off!) I work from home, have a huge garden which is fully fenced off, I'm active and go for a walk on a morning and jog in the afternoon, all of which the dog would have joined me on. I am very particular on the breed that I would like and unfortunately I cannot find another one to rehome/rescue. I am now going down the process of buying from a breeder, which I did not want to do given that you hear they are crying out for them to be rehomed. What a load of rubbish!!
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Posted 1 year ago
This is our second dog from dogstrust. All the staff that work for dogstrust are brilliant and so caring for the animals in their care The help if you need it is always there and is only a phone call away. The only thing we can say about dogstrust is BRILLIAN BRILLIANT BRILLIANT. Please support them as the do a massive job looking after the animals in their care. Mick and Pippa Cousens
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Posted 1 year ago
Having lost our beloved rescue dog we decided it was time to offer a home to another. The dog was on the website in kennels at Harefield. We received a telephone call telling us that we sound ideal new owners. It was a little further than we have travelled for our previous rescues; we live in Kent, but the dog was in need of the experience and lifestyle we could offer. Went to meet him and he was exactly as we expected. Nervous at first but the handlers were surprised at how well he took to us. We arranged further meets, each time becoming closer to the dog and him to us. We were told we would need 2 more meets and they would arrange a date for us to take him home. Bear in mind the round trip for each visit was over 100 miles and takes 3 hours. On our 7th meet a behaviourist appears, not present at any of our other meets. Next day I get a phone call cancelling our meet for later that day as we are not suitable owners!! No reasons given, phone call did not come from a handler or behaviourist. We are experienced with the breed, adult only home and someone is home all day. Clearly the dictators at Dogs Trust believe that a nervous anxious dog will thrive better in a cage than in a loving home. If you are thinking of rehoming a dog from them, think again. They are highly likely to disappoint you, and much worse , let the poor dog down.
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Posted 1 year ago
They have been great for me. Seems like io is just a site to leave nasty reviews for companies :(
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Posted 1 year ago
I think this charity is just run for the money and not to re-home dogs.
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Posted 1 year ago
Have now applied to adopt on 4 occasions and each time have received an automated reply to advise that we have been unsuccessful. Very disappointed and disillusioned with their procedures.
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Posted 1 year ago
Only because I can't give a zero. Happily adopted from them but was chucked out of a training session because my dog coughed and their volunteer 'specialist' said it was kennel cough (confirmed by a VET! that afternoon it wasn't) and they make millions to pay fat cat salaries while being run by extremists.
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Posted 1 year ago
Wow so many bad reviews and totally agree. Have rescued about 13 dogs and always rescued the older ones to give them a good home. Currently have 4 dogs all rescues but zero chance of rescuing again from dogs trust. Every single dog they have is no dog home only !!!!!! No dog wants to be only dog in the home they all want company. Shame in dogs trust they have become worse than the rspca
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Posted 1 year ago
BASILDON DOGS TRUST I am a fully qualified animal behaviourist, so believe l am qualified to comment as such. There are simply no printable words to describe the staff, procedures, policies, strategies and structures at this centre. The attitude of the staff was rude, arrogant, derisory, unhelpful, condescending, unprofessional and judgemental. Their judgements (over every process are based on their own personal value judgments). I have yet to see another “purported professional” Dog Re-homing centre with dogs in such an appalling and tragic state. Unkempt, matted coats - obviously depressed and living in appalling conditions - this is a MULTI MILLION £ ORGANISATION! And dear reader .. that is what it is all about the £££££££££££££ .. The re-homing process makes it impossible for many suitable people to be able to “jump through the many hoops” they put in place. Their knowledge of that dog you may wish to consider is WOEFULLY MISLEADING please be aware of this. My own story started with the inevitable look at their website. I have had the privilege of sharing my life with rescue dogs for over 40 years. I trained as a Psychologist then went on to become an Animal Behaviourist. Following viewing their website l found a pair of 3 year old dogs of a breed (although mixed) l have owned and fully understand their breed traits. I completed the online application form and submitted it. I was contacted within a week. I was offered the opportunity to view the dogs. I drove 100 mile round trip to do so. I was allowed 15 minutes with the dogs who were in a heartbreaking state - (Shitzu) coats matted, neither could see out from overgrown “fringes” - let me tell you dear reader, they were advertised as being “terribly nervous” - this was due in my belief to the way their breed was misunderstood and the treatment they were receiving at this centre. The previous owners had taken both to a professional grooming parlour as l could clearly see a few areas amongst the matted coats that were “professional lines” l was not told that this visit would only last 15 minutes in an outside run - with the overkill of TWO staff present at all times whose attitude towards me was one of derision - may God help new dog owners! I was then told that l must make multiple visits to the centre as “the dogs must get to know you” no dog will “get to know you” in multiple visits (at their appointed times) of 15 minutes, days apart. My heart truly broke for these two beautiful dogs .. I agreed to do 2/3 visits more and could provide a full video viewing of my property and garden. They didn’t wish to see a virtual tour of my home until l had completed many (they didn’t specify the amount of visits required) visits - now l know my home and garden tick all the boxes - they don’t - so, in effect, l could drive up to 1000 miles to see two dogs and then be refused on “some point”. I then took them on in my professional capacity as an animal behaviourist politely at first and latterly assertively. PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING CAREFULLY.. DOGS NEED RESCUING FROM THE DOGS TRUST financial treadmill. To ALL of you dear folks who have tried to work with this rescue .. don’t please feel bad - it is not YOU! They are NOT FIT to be registered as a re-homing centre - l walked away only to see as l turned my head to look back a St Bernard hardly able to turn around in a glass box looking utterly pitiful .. AVOID THE DOGS TRUST! Choose a good local rescue please! THE DOGS TRUST SHOULD BE SHUT DOWN
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Posted 1 year ago
The Dogs Trust don't terminate ANY healthy dog . They accumulate all the psycho dogs that nobody wants and put the others in amongst them to acquire their bad habits like constant barking day and night .
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Posted 1 year ago
I have worked for this apparent charity for 14 years, And gave my all .. sponsor dogs!!!! Live like any other dog in Kennels. 23.5 hours a day, afraid, frustrated and suppressed. Please don't give to the sponsor dog appeals!! it is Purley a money Making scheme to line the pockets of the five figure salaries of the disgraceful management team along with their free houses. To give to the dogs at dogs trust please buy treats, bedding or toys..Not MONEY
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Posted 1 year ago
Very disappointed in Dog trust. They are discrimination, I am black and my friends are Asian. We have applied for a dog at least 10times, we have house and not work so many hours per week. We have never been selected for adapted a dog for a company . We love animals.
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Posted 1 year ago
Upset and very disappointed. We are so sad and disappointed with Dogs Trust. I sent in an application for a small sweet border collie, and felt we ticked all the boxes. We sadly said goodbye to our courageous border collie just over a year ago, so felt now was the time for another companion. We are 2 adults who live in a rural setting with a quiet home, and have experience with collies. The sweet collie has been on their site for some time, and although she is being fostered at the moment, that is not the same as having a forever home is it. I received a generic email from them just stating we were not suitable. I wish I could contact them to say "please reconsider our application, as we just don't understand what we did or didn't put on our application, for them to just say no thank you. I have supported Dogs Trust for 10+ years with membership and Christmas donations etc... I am not bitter as I believe in what Dogs Trust do, but we just cannot understand how any of their dogs get rehomed, because its all very black and white to them with their questionnaire, and therefore we all miss out. I appreciate that they are very busy, but there are 19 dogs at Ilfracombe, and we just wanted one specific little border collie. I would love to hear from Dogs Trust to just see if we could come to some alternative response.
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Posted 1 year ago
Worked there for 12 years,big bullying culture from management and other carers,bitchy,big work load put on you,had so much to do in 9 hours and the dogs didn’t get much of my time,management and others that worked there made my life hell,dreaded going into there everyday,that place gave me PTSD
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Posted 2 years ago
We previously rehomed a dog from Dogs Trust (Basildon) 7 years ago as a companion to our westie & had no issues with service provided. So when we lost our westie recently we went back to the Dogs Trust to find a friend for our remaining dog. What a mistake!!! there are now so many restrictions in place about the type of home the dogs can go to that it is now impossible for us to adopt another dog from there. We are an all adult family of 4 but many dogs can only go to a home with one or two people. We also have 4 cats & none of the dogs can go to a home with cats even though they have never actually lived with a cat. Apparently the way they test to see if a dog can live with a cat is to rub the scent of a cat on a piece of material then introduce to the dog to see how it reacts, as is only natural the dog thinks it's a toy & wants to play with it, so shakes it, verdict can't live with a cat, this is ridiculous the only way to test if a dog is cat friendly is for it to meet a living cat. Staff at centre not particularly helpful when we enquired about a number of dogs we saw on web site that were not at the site, gave negative feedback about dogs to discourage us from adopting. Altogether a waste of time. As someone who sponsors 3 dogs I'm considering withdrawing my sponsorship, it's only because I care about the dogs that I continue paying
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Posted 2 years ago
I'm only putting this comment as I have this afternoon seen soneone at a store trying to get people to sponsor a dog for £2.30 a week (why not say a tenner a month!) I discussed with this representative of the Dogs Trust that I had been thinking about adopting a dog (a small one) but each dog advert said you must have a garden with 6 foot fence and when I said I lived in a flat but there were lots of green areas around my property he bluntly told me as I didn't have a garden they would'nt allow me to adopt Shame really as not everyone lives in a house with a large garden and a high fence and as such any wee dog I would happy to take is losing out as are many more!
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Posted 2 years ago
Shocking service and will never support the Dogs trust again. Total waste of time and hope.
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Posted 2 years ago
I can't adopt in the UK for toffee. I want a senior but every charity i email doesn't respond. I've now found a dog from Romania on Facebook groups for a fee of 400 passport and travel. Shocking charities over here don't respond especially as they need homes so desperately. Obviously not desperately enough.
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Posted 2 years ago
Dogs Trust is rated 1.6 based on 83 reviews