Anyone who adopts a street dog will tell you that it’s not easy. And they’ll usually follow up with “but it’s always worth it!!” Happy Doggo has rehomed over 50 street dogs all over the world, and while 99% have been a success, it’s not an easy process, both for the dog and their new owners.

You often see emotional videos of dogs settling into new homes, going on beautiful walks, or cuddling their new families. But it’s not always like that. We recently spoke to the parents of five of our adopted dogs to discover the reality behind the Instagram, and find out what it’s REALLY like to adopt a street dog.

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The Street Dogs

A quick introduction to the dogs in this article.

Rodney

Rodney came to us as a tiny puppy, malnourished and close to death. We got him healthy and found him the perfect home in Wales. Rodney’s main struggles are: other dogs, people in his house, and some destructive tendencies. His plus points are: a huge capacity for love, crazy levels of intelligence and the ability to get on with his brother.

Moritz

Moritz suffered from two broken hips and we worried he’d never walk again. When he recovered, he went to live with Anna and Robert in London. Moritz struggles with: new situations, humans in his space, and a tendency towards being very nervous. However, he loves other dogs, is growing in confidence, and doesn’t have a bad bone in his body.

Whacker

Whacker was hit by a pickaxe and almost died. When he recovered, he went to live in Scotland with his mum and dad and new baby brother. Whacker’s main plusses are his extreme intelligence, his willingness to learn, and a huge ability to love. However, he finds other dogs, people in his house, and new situations or places challenging.

Lady and Mick Jagger

Lady and Mick Jagger are two older street dogs who went to live with Canadian ex-pat Jamie. Lady had suffered with broken legs and Mick Jagger, we soon found out, had severe kidney issues. Because of their age, Jamie has had to deal with multiple health issues and some dog reactivity.

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The challenges when you adopt a street dog

What are the difficulties in adopting a street dog?

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Fight or flight

Both Whacker and Rodney are “fight” dogs. When a situation is threatening or scary, they turn to threatening behaviour to deal with it. Whacker’s parents said: “When he sees another dog, he’ll start to growl, he’ll lunge. What we then have to do is just get him out of the situation. At that point he’s so over his threshold that nothing else works.”

Moritz however, turns to flight meaning he will run away. Moritz’s mum describes it: “Even just walking down the street, he’ll get a fright even if there’s a rubbish bin out of place. He’s always on extreme hyper alert and anything out of the ordinary freaks him out. We just make sure he’s always on the lead. I’m not sure he’ll ever be off-lead because his reaction in a stressful situation is just to try and run.”

Both of these reactions can be challenging. For fight dogs, they’re a danger to other dogs and people around them as they lash out. For flight dogs like Moritz, they’re a danger to themselves, running the risk of getting lost or running into traffic to get away.

The common theme: the dogs aren’t reacting because they’re bad dogs. Jamie, Lady’s dad, describes it well, “She tends to react in fear. She’ll get quite upset then she’ll get suddenly aggressive and lunge.”

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Street dogs can be destructive

Most street dogs have never been in a house before. It can be a confusing time for them and they see everything as a toy. Including carpets.

When Whacker was first left alone in the house, his parents watched in horror as, via camera, they saw him chewing his way through a wooden bannister. For Rodney, his dad watched him chew up the carpet…

“We’ve recently discovered that Rodney likes the taste of carpet, so much so that we’ve had to redecorate our living room. Rodney didn’t have any boundaries at the beginning as he’d never lived in a house. But we came home to our carpet ripped up, our sofa chewed and Rodney sitting in the middle of it, wagging his tail.”

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Street dogs behave differently towards other dogs

Street dogs have very different ways of reacting to each other than domesticated dogs. Street dogs would never run up to a strange dog to greet them like our domesticated dogs do at the dog park. They navigate each other really carefully and would interpret that behaviour as a threat. For dogs going to areas with lots of dogs, that can be a problem.

Street dogs also have to fight for everything they get for most of their lives, meaning they can see strange dogs as as a risk to their resources.

Even in Thailand, Lady struggles with other dogs walking past her and will bark and snap at them until they’re gone. “Lady has a lot of apprehension around other dogs that she sees.” In the UK, both Whacker and Rodney have issues with dogs, particularly when they’re on a lead.

However, Moritz is completely different: “He’s much better with dogs than he is with people. He’s very good at saying hello and he’s not even vaguely aggressive. It’s humans he’s more scared of than dogs.”

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They can come with health issues

When you adopt a street dog, you don’t know their background. Not just what’s happened to them in their past, but also what’s happened with their health. Although we do lots of checks before they leave Thailand, there can always be issues that crop up.

Like Mick Jagger who was adopted by Jamie. Not long after Jamie adopted Mick, they discovered that Mick has kidney problems that will drastically affect his life span. Jamie has had to adapt Mick’s diet and lifestyle, get him to take medication, and adapt his own thinking to the fact he might lose his dog really soon.

It’s something that can happen with any dog, but health issues are more likely with street dogs, especially if they’re older.

“I knew when I adopted two older dogs that there would be health issues. Lady’s health issues were very apparent on the surface, she’d been hit by a car and left by the side of the road. Mick has some kidney dysfunction. The biggest worry I have is that my time with them won’t be long. My goal is to make sure whatever time they have left is perfect.”

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The positives of adopting a street dog

Owning a street dog isn’t all challenges though. These dogs can be really unique and provide experiences that you just don’t get with domesticated dogs.

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They can be really loving

People often say that rescued dogs know they’ve been rescued as they’re so grateful. And that does seem to be true. Every “dog parent” of Happy Doggo dogs says one thing “they’re SO loving”.

“Rodney is the most loving dog ever. He just always wants a cuddle. He always wants validation in a way. He gives the best cuddles, when you get home from work he’s so excited, it’s so cute.”

Of course there are the odd exceptions but street dogs seem to really bond with their people and become velcro-dog-like. If you’re not keen on dogs sitting on your knee, trying to sleep under your covers and following you to the loo, this could be seen as a negative.

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Street dogs have smarts

Unlike domesticated dogs, street dogs have had to fend for themselves their whole lives. That means they’re great problem solvers - and are often really (really!) smart.

That’s amazing for training because they pick up what you want really easily. And because they’re food motivated, you might think you’re training a little genius. But it can also mean they get into things other dogs won’t.

“I don’t know how Whacker managed it but one time we went out and he managed to break through a baby gate to go and be with Cooper. We struggle to open it but Whacker not only opened it with his teeth, he closed it behind him.”

“Originally I wasn’t convinced as to how smart Moritz was. But now I’m convinced he’s smarter than our current dog. We’ve never had any discipline issues.”

However, Jamie might disagree: “I like to think my dogs are very beautiful. I haven’t been able to identify high levels of intelligence…yet!”

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They're strong-willed

Don’t expect a docile, sweet dog if you get a street dog. While they can be absolute angels, they’re not always used to being told what to do and you might have some struggles, especially at the start.

While they’re easy to train, they’ll often only do things when they want to or in a way they want to do them. However, it does make for a dog with a strong personality and one that will bring you lots of fun.

“We expected Rodney to settle in like Khabib. He’s really smart but he’s stubborn as well. If he wants to do something, he’ll do it. Rodney already had a lot of his behaviours ingrained in him.”

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Adopted street dogs can make wonderful pets

When we asked all the dog parents if they’d change their decision to adopt a street dog, they all said a resounding “no!” These dogs get a grip on your heart and all the challenges you go through together often make the bond you have with them stronger.

Teaching them how to blend into family life, how to behave in a house, and how to cope with other dogs builds a partnership and makes you love them even more.

“The best decision I ever made was to adopt Lady and Mick.”

“We’d never ever change our decision. Whacker is such a loving dog and thinking he lived on the streets is mental.”

“I absolutely love Rodney, he’s my boy and he’s staying with us.”

“Moritz is an absolute angel, the sweetest, softest dog I’ve ever met.”

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Owning a street dog isn’t simple. But it’s clear that these adopters think it’s worth it. Just don’t adopt a street dog and expect your life to be easy. These adopters didn't...

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Are you interested in adopting a street dog? Check out our Adoptable Dogs.