As a teen, expect not to be able to start the rescue for the next 5-10 years minimum, depending on how old you actually are, and how soon you can get your own place and be financially secure.
Now, what you can do as a teen, is start a charity to help dogs, and donate the money to other shelters in the meantime.
You can get the charity registered, and have a good reputation built up by the time you're actually able to open your own rescue.
Make sure to buy your property in a location that either does not limit the breed and number of dogs you can have, or look in to what sort of exceptions might be made for a charity, or see if you need to purchase specific licenses to run such an operation, or if there's any specific regulations you must follow like what kind of cages and fencing you must use or how much land you must provide for the animals. Contact your local town hall to get answers to such questions.
You will probably need to be financially secure to start the shelter, because to care for the dogs properly will require a lot of time, you might not be able to work a real job, and rely only on donations. I would except a start up cost, not including actually purchasing the property, but building the shelter and fitting the property with fencing and cages and other necessities, approx $50,000. minimum. Then the cost of actually caring for the dogs would be something like $3k per dog, per year. Of course, hopefully you can re-home them quickly.
It would also help to start building connections now, like I said earlier about starting the charity, because as a shelter you should spay/neuter all the animals in your care, and some vets will do this super cheap or free for shelters.
You really need to try and work with another rescue as there is no way you can do this responsibly on your own.
It takes a LOT of money and a LOT of experience and knowledge and of course time.
I have been involved in rescue for 20 yrs but I wouldn't have what it takes to run my own. I don't have enough money for neutering / vaccinations / worming etc for every dog that comes in, and that is before the vet tells you that this dog has a problem that is going to cost a couple of thousand to put right before you can rehome it.
Behaviorally, virtually all of them coming in need some work and you have to make sure, as a responsible person that you are not putting out a dog that is going to be a problem, and with the breed you have chosen that is some responsibility.
Your heart is in the right place but there is no way you can manage this on your own. Help out at a rescue / shelter and then you really will be doing the best you can.
Start out small, by adopting one or two unwanted mongrel puppies (more difficult to rehome than pure breeds). Feed and train them for the next 12 years so you gain the experience needed for working with animals. When the pups are older (about 3 or 4), try introducing another young dog to the household, and again when the first two pups are 8 or 9. By the time your first two dogs die, you'll be able to take in two more strays. Two large dogs and two small dogs should be sufficient for someone your age, if you can afford the food and vets' bills and have a parent or sibling willing to help out
Exactly as the other person has said above. But I will ad if you're going to be rescuing dogs you're going to be dealing with alot of dogs with behaviour problems. If you want to be successful in finding homes for them you're going to need to rehabilitate them or break them of their bad habits. Google famous dog trainers and rehabilitators, many have videos on their websites, TV shows or YouTube videos you can watch. Study everything you can and contact a local trainer in your town/city and ask to shadow them (you go with them and watch them work with dogs and they teach you)
Most of the dogs were given up or abandoned for a reason (most likely behaviour issues) so if you want to place them, the problems will have to be corrected. Good luck!
If you want to i hope you know what your doing, you have to be committed, most people would start off by talking to a rescue organization that has already gone through establishing you should too.
Comments
As a teen, expect not to be able to start the rescue for the next 5-10 years minimum, depending on how old you actually are, and how soon you can get your own place and be financially secure.
Now, what you can do as a teen, is start a charity to help dogs, and donate the money to other shelters in the meantime.
You can get the charity registered, and have a good reputation built up by the time you're actually able to open your own rescue.
Make sure to buy your property in a location that either does not limit the breed and number of dogs you can have, or look in to what sort of exceptions might be made for a charity, or see if you need to purchase specific licenses to run such an operation, or if there's any specific regulations you must follow like what kind of cages and fencing you must use or how much land you must provide for the animals. Contact your local town hall to get answers to such questions.
You will probably need to be financially secure to start the shelter, because to care for the dogs properly will require a lot of time, you might not be able to work a real job, and rely only on donations. I would except a start up cost, not including actually purchasing the property, but building the shelter and fitting the property with fencing and cages and other necessities, approx $50,000. minimum. Then the cost of actually caring for the dogs would be something like $3k per dog, per year. Of course, hopefully you can re-home them quickly.
It would also help to start building connections now, like I said earlier about starting the charity, because as a shelter you should spay/neuter all the animals in your care, and some vets will do this super cheap or free for shelters.
You really need to try and work with another rescue as there is no way you can do this responsibly on your own.
It takes a LOT of money and a LOT of experience and knowledge and of course time.
I have been involved in rescue for 20 yrs but I wouldn't have what it takes to run my own. I don't have enough money for neutering / vaccinations / worming etc for every dog that comes in, and that is before the vet tells you that this dog has a problem that is going to cost a couple of thousand to put right before you can rehome it.
Behaviorally, virtually all of them coming in need some work and you have to make sure, as a responsible person that you are not putting out a dog that is going to be a problem, and with the breed you have chosen that is some responsibility.
Your heart is in the right place but there is no way you can manage this on your own. Help out at a rescue / shelter and then you really will be doing the best you can.
Start out small, by adopting one or two unwanted mongrel puppies (more difficult to rehome than pure breeds). Feed and train them for the next 12 years so you gain the experience needed for working with animals. When the pups are older (about 3 or 4), try introducing another young dog to the household, and again when the first two pups are 8 or 9. By the time your first two dogs die, you'll be able to take in two more strays. Two large dogs and two small dogs should be sufficient for someone your age, if you can afford the food and vets' bills and have a parent or sibling willing to help out
Exactly as the other person has said above. But I will ad if you're going to be rescuing dogs you're going to be dealing with alot of dogs with behaviour problems. If you want to be successful in finding homes for them you're going to need to rehabilitate them or break them of their bad habits. Google famous dog trainers and rehabilitators, many have videos on their websites, TV shows or YouTube videos you can watch. Study everything you can and contact a local trainer in your town/city and ask to shadow them (you go with them and watch them work with dogs and they teach you)
Most of the dogs were given up or abandoned for a reason (most likely behaviour issues) so if you want to place them, the problems will have to be corrected. Good luck!
If you want to i hope you know what your doing, you have to be committed, most people would start off by talking to a rescue organization that has already gone through establishing you should too.