To think this is nudge we need to get a dog

[t3rr3gl35]

Back story: We would love to have a dog. We have a fairly large house and grounds and decided early last year that we would investigate adopting a rescue dog. We were approved as prospective adoptees, but decided the timing wasn't right (we are renovating the house and the work isn't due to finish until mid 2015).

Yesterday, I was home alone when somebody tried to enter the house. Luckily, I scared them off and no harm was done. My DH's immediate reaction was that a dog would have been an effective deterrent, and this was backed up by the police officer who attended. So, am I being unreasonable to think that we should go ahead and find a dog, given that it will be a large breed rescue and there will be considerable disruption for 8-9 months yet? I'm a bit worried that it's a knee jerk reaction and that a rescue dog (which might be traumatised in any case), will be further damaged by many changes of different workmen over the next few months.

[Nohootingchickenssleeping]

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/the_doghouse/2214645-Help-a-Lovely-but-heavily-pregnant-Lurcher-turned-up-at-my-door-today I've been following this and then following the story of these little guys on FB. Adorable.

I think if you speak to rescue centres (in my experience, smaller rescues are more tolerant of circumstances) and explain your situation they can hopefully find the right dog for you.

[Winterfable]

I think a dog is a great deterrent. Ours is an English Pointer and boy can he growl and bark if he hears anyone approaching the house which sounds a bit like yours, quite large and a bit isolated. We were broken in to a few years ago and the police said that a dog is the best thing you can have, even better than alarm as in theory they don't get as far as actually breaking in.

I wouldn't worry about your builders etc, hopefully you will be well matched with a dog happy with noise and bustle if you have a family anyway.

[blanklook]

"We have a fairly large house and grounds"
In that case, at least two dogs

[Bulbasaur]

Just adopt carefully. Sometimes rescue dogs that are protective can be aggressive in other areas, other times rescue dogs could be afraid of people and run and hide before barking.

Honestly, if you want a guard dog, get a puppy from a reputable breeder where you know the parent temperaments, the health history, and all the important stuff for that sort of dog. Rescue dogs are unfortunately not good dogs for this role.

But... if you're just looking for a dog that will bark when someone comes to the door and be a companion, adopt a way! Rescue dogs make lovely companions.

[ExitPursuedByABear]

It was a break in that finally convinced DH that we should have a dog.

Go on. You know you want too.

[t3rr3gl35]

Thank you for replying so quickly. We have been approved by a reputable large breed rescue and had our home visit earlier this year, which went well. We have discussed with them at length exactly what we can offer a dog, and what we couldn't live with - t3kitty doesn't need to end up as a Scooby snack, for instance, so we think we will be well matched.

I think we will sleep on it tonight (I couldn't sleep last night), and make our decision in the morning. As it stands at the moment, we could well be anticipating the patter of 4 large paws fairly soon.

[t3rr3gl35]

Should just add that we don't want a guard dog, and are both experienced past owners of the breed that we are looking at.

[OldLadyKnows]

Does it have to be a large breed? My first rescue dog was a mongrel terrier, which we rehomed when he was about 16 weeks old, who grew to about 12" at the shoulder. He had a brilliant bark. My second was a shorthaired mongrel bitch, aged about 18 months, found running loose, our attempts to find her owner came to nowt so we took her in. She was a similar size to the dog, but sounded like the Hound of the Baskervilles. Between the pair of them they were excellent doorbells! I never had to put them to the test as burglar deterents, fortunately. (And neither traumatised by previous experiences, btw.)

My current canine is a rescue Border Collie bitch, she's useless as a doorbell/deterrent, but her partial deafness may account for that... :( She came to us aged 3 years, having failed sheepdog training, and never having lived indoors. Now 14, she's a fantastic family pet, very tolerant of dgs (5), but still terrified of cats. (We think she was bullied by feral farmcats.)

[ExitPursuedByABear]

Ours isn't a guard dog. But he does a good job of pretending to be one.

[CleaninQueen]

It is. Dogs are fab, they're not psychos but they're good protectors. We've only owned large breeds and absolutely adore them.

[CleaninQueen]

Argh meant to say ours aren't psychos. Both of our are large and have v deep, loud growls and barks

[insanityscratching]

We've only got a small dog but he barks and growls like a big dog, enough to make delivery people wary when they knock anyway (they generally laugh and smile though when they see he's 9 inches tall and part poodle )

[Bulbasaur]

I've had large and small breeds. Both are good and will turn out fantastic if you train them correctly, even as adopted adults (ie: not letting your chihuahua call the shots).

Personally, I like large dogs. But I could be easily persuaded to get a small one if I found a friendly little guy at the shelter.

[TallulahTwinkletoes]

Does any dog act as a deterrent tho?

We have a soppy loveable Rottweiler. They were bred for herding large animals but it's in their nature to guard. Nothing gets past him and he would do a very good job of protecting the house if needs be. He pounces around and barks. Looks scary to the unsuspecting but quite often he's wearing a princess tiara courtesy of DD

[t3rr3gl35]

You're all so kind, thank you. Yes to Bulbasaur - I have had large and not so large breeds over the years and could be persuaded to get a little lap dog....8 stone of dog sitting in my lap has proved trying in the past.

We both want the breed we have picked, it's the only breed my DH has owned and they have been my favourite's over the years - the Volvo's of the dog world. Solid. Safe. Reliable.

CleaninQueen - the most psychopathic dog I ever knew was a Westie. The blooming owner didn't teach it to be a dog, it suffered from small man syndrome and called the shots in the house. I'll never forget the little brute grabbing my hand, and dangling in the air from said hand as I yelped and tried to pull away. Didn't cause any damage other than bruising, so can laugh about it now.

[Winterfable]

I think they do, if there is a road with 15 houses in and half them have either burglar alarms or dogs (or both) I would imagine most burglars would take the easier option and go for the houses with neither.

Of course if they are determined to get into your house then nothing would prevent it I suspect if they stake the house out - horrible thought.

[TallulahTwinkletoes]

Will you tell us what the breed is please?

[Winterfable]

Think they do act as a deterrent I mean.

[Winterfable]

Must be a Labrador if they are the Volvo of the dog world although they aren't that big particularly.

[TallulahTwinkletoes]

I'm not sure Labradors are solid tho

[kittykathat]

Get a rescue dog thats suxh a nice thing

[t3rr3gl35]

TallulaTwinkletoes - GSD. Probably should have said earlier but didn't think it was important.

When we first thought about it a couple of years ago, we considered buying Rhodesian Ridgeback pup, then we fell back to GSD's as we have both had them in the past. DH was brought up with them and I've had 4 over the years.

We then considered that there are so many out there looking for homes, often through no fault of their own, and it's so difficult to find reputable breeders (our vets warned us against buying from any of the local breeders due to hip dysplasia - the local breeders like the exaggerated sloping back), so we decided that, as we have no children and only the cat and livestock to consider, a fully grown chap/chapess in need of some (fairly strict) TLC would be the perfect choice.

Our main concern has always been the disruption possibly stressing a dog while the work goes on at our house, and that is the only reason that we have delayed so far.

[toboldlygo]

The presence and/or degree of sloping back has nothing to do with hip dysplasia - apologies if I've misinterpreted your statement as you've obviously researched and sought opinions. Vets can be pretty crap at this sort of thing though!

I have dogs with zero guarding instinct (Siberian huskies). They don't even bark when someone knocks at the door, yet I still get couriers hovering the other side of the front gate unwilling to come right up to the door due to the grinning wolves silently watching from the window.

[TallulahTwinkletoes]

Definitely solid, safe and reliable. More of a vw with the German connotations

Agree about hips. Obviously unaware of your local breeders but mil will have to put her gsd down within two weeks as he has severer issues with his hips and epilepsy.

[CleaninQueen]

We had a puppy and house work going on and a move taking place. He coped fine, I was stressed however the dog just slept through most of it.