Given the circumstances, under which many rescues are obtained, there is no guarantee of any rescue being a pure-bred. Whether a dog is a rescue or not, it should be noted that the existence of registration papers does not ever absolutely guarantee that a dog is pure-bred. Shelters, pounds, puppy mills which have shut down or are no longer interested in a breed or which have dumped their older breeding stock, strays found wondering the streets, or from individuals who cannot or no longer desire to care for a dog. Rarely are rescues puppies. While some rescues are younger dogs they are more likely to be six, seven years or older.
Rescues are also more likely to be males than females.
A short coat length is a temporary condition. Also, one should not expect a housebroken dog. Depending on where the Bichon was rescued, maybe the Bichon was never trained. In other instances, the Bichon may have been given-up because of difficulties in housebreaking. People who have made homes for rescues have realized an extraordinary amount of affection from the rescue which they have attributed to the dog's awareness that someone really does care for them.