Is Adopting an Overseas Puppy Less Risky than Adopting an Older Dog?
Michelle Masters 
Not necessarily, and here's why...
I often hear adopters say they thought adopting a puppy from overseas would be easier than adopting an older dog - assuming that a younger pup is less likely to have behavioural issues or past trauma. The belief is that moulding and training a puppy is simpler than rehabilitating an older dog with pre-existing challenges.
Let me be clear - I am not trying to put anyone off adopting a puppy! But I see so many adopters struggling, and I want to share this information so people can make informed decisions and feel prepared when welcoming an overseas puppy into their home.
No Puppy is a Clean Slate
Every puppy is shaped long before they arrive with you. Genetics, epigenetics, temperament, and early life experiences all influence who they are.
This is true for ALL puppies, but especially important to understand when adopting a Romanian or overseas puppy.
✅ Genetics – A puppy’s DNA determines not just physical traits but also temperament, energy levels, intelligence, sensitivity to stress, as well as predisposition to health conditions. Some dogs are naturally more sociable & resilient, while others may be more anxious or independent.
✅ Epigenetics – This is how a puppy’s environment before birth can switch certain genes on or off. If their mother was living in a stressful environment - on the streets, in a shelter, or struggling to find food - her body may have passed on heightened stress responses to her pups. Before they even take their first breath, puppies may already be predisposed to fear, reactivity, or high arousal levels.
✅ Temperament traits can be defined by not only genetics and epigenetics but also environmental influences, all of which shapes how a dog perceives, interacts with and responds to the world around them.
A dog’s temperament (which is different to their personality) refers to their natural inclinations, things like:
🐕 Sensory awareness & preference
🐕 Energy Level
🐕 Arousal (physiological response to stimuli)
🐕 Sociability
🐕 Adaptability
🐕 Resilience
🐕 Trainability
🐕 Biddability
🐕 Fearfulness
🐕 Protectiveness
🐕 General overall attitude.
Everything we do is laid on top of the foundation of a dog’s temperament – Who they are + how they are + how they learn + how they process & respond to the world around them is their ‘default setting’ if you like.
Whilst we can certainly influence temperament traits through acquired learning, teaching skills, developing coping mechanisms, boosting confidence etc. – who a dog is at a temperament level must always be taken into consideration and may be what they default to if they're struggling.
✅ Early Life Experiences – Everything a puppy experiences from birth until adoption impacts their behaviour. Given that overseas puppies cannot be adopted until at least 4.5 months old, their critical socialisation window has already passed before they arrive. They’ve already formed habits, learned survival skills, and experienced the world in a way that may differ greatly from life in the UK.
That is NOT to say we can’t have any influence over how that puppy is or that they can’t be socialised – but it does mean there is already an awful lot in place before your dog even arrives with you.
What Shapes an Overseas Puppy?
Pre-natal Stress & Early Maternal Influence – Stress experienced by the mother during pregnancy can shape a puppy’s nervous system before they’re even born. If the mother was a street dog or in a stressful environment, this can impact the pup's baseline stress responses.
Cultural & Environmental Learning – Puppies learn both social and survival skills based on their early environment and experiences. A pup on the streets may grow up learning to avoid humans, rely on other dogs, or be hyperaware of movement and sounds.
If a young pup experiences handling that was stressful or frightening, this can shape their comfort level with human contact in the future
If a puppy has experienced or been involved in fights over food, in a shelter perhaps, this can shape their behaviour around food and other resources they deem of value to them.
The point is, these learned experiences don’t just disappear once they arrive in a UK home.
Once again, it’s possible to navigate beyond cultural and environmentally learned experiences when approached in the right way – as natural world dogs, many of them are highly adaptable. (But remember those temperament traits will underpin everything)
The ‘Software vs Hardware’ Analogy
A great way to think about this is like a computer:
💾 Hardware = Genetics, epigenetics, early experiences
📲 Software = Future experiences, training, appropriate socialisation
You can add new software, but you can’t completely rewrite the system.
Two Important Final Points
Transport & Rehoming
It’s super important to be mindful of the significant impact being transported from overseas and rehomed can have on a young dog (puppy or adolescent)
Even though you may have seen your puppy bouncing around with other dogs in the shelter, being fussed by the staff or volunteers there – this is a familiar environment, and these are often interactions with familiar people.
Many puppies cope with being transported & rehomed remarkably well (which again is likely to come back to their temperament) but please bear in mind what this experience is like for them.
They will suddenly be removed from the only life they’ve ever known (doesn’t matter how unpleasant it was, it was still familiar) – transported in a small cage on a bus full of strange dogs for at least 2 days – to arrive in a completely strange environment with strange unfamiliar people reaching for them, restraining them, carrying them into a space full of weird sights, sounds, and smells all around them.
This is such a lot for them to navigate and take on board – the transport & arrival in a new home alone can be an experience that elicits a trauma response – meaning that puppy now feels overwhelmed, unsafe, afraid and unable to cope.
This can present behaviourally as things like:
🔸 Hiding and refusing to come out
🔸 Growling, barking, or lunging at people
🔸 Running away from anyone approaching
🔸 Frantic escape attempts
Understanding any of this might or could happen can greatly minimise any upset or stress for new adopters if it does. This is why it’s important for anyone considering adopting from overseas (whether it's a puppy or an older dog) to do plenty of research so they know what to expect as well as ensure they are well set up for their new arrival, no matter how they might land.
A great mindset to have - Be aware of Everything but Expect Nothing.
Adolescence is just around the corner
One final thing to consider—within just a couple of months, your puppy will be entering adolescence.
This means:
🐶 Physiological, biological, and hormonal changes
🐶 Emerging survival instincts
🐶 Potential increase in fear responses, hypervigilance, or reactivity
It’s a challenging stage for any dog, but even more so for an overseas rescue pup who is still adjusting to their new world.
During adolescence, you may see:
🚩 Reactivity towards people, dogs, or new environments
🚩 Increased barking or ritualised aggressive displays
🚩 Resource guarding
🚩 Hyperarousal or over-excitability
This doesn’t mean anything has gone wrong - it’s just another phase to navigate with patience, structure, and understanding.
Final Thoughts & Tips for Success
Adopting an overseas puppy can be an amazing experience – I did it and it was! There are pro's & cons whether you adopt a puppy or an older dog.
None of what I’ve shared means puppies can’t adapt – But it’s important to be aware that puppies are not clean slates, and understanding what they bring with them is crucial for setting them up for success.
🐾 Take time to get to know your puppy
🐾 Have clear consistent boundaries from the get-go
🐾 Focus on building your relationship first and foremost
🐾 Establishing trust is an important foundation to everything else you will do with your Natural World dogs
🐾 Be kind – that doesn’t mean just showering them with love & giving them everything they want
🐾 Be patient – learning to live in an entirely different world isn’t easy and I guarantee your puppy is doing their best to figure it out
If you’re considering adopting a puppy, do your research, prepare well, and be ready to meet them where they are. ❤️
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Categories: : Adopting an overseas dog, Living with Romanian Rescue Dogs, Understanding Your Romanian Dog
