Dogs and DC's - my experience today.

[valhala]

I went to a fete organised by the Retired Greyhound Trust today. It was held in the same village as the rescue I volunteer for so we had a stall there.

The sun was shining brightly, we saw so many gorgeous dogs, from mutts to Greys, GSDs, a Leonburger and even a very rare Pharoah Hound. Another volunteer's semi deaf, partially blind 15 year old Poodle won a rosette in the non-specific agility competition - though god knows how!

Along with my own children there were loads of others, from boisterous under-10s to tiny babes, teenagers to toddlers.... and everyone had a whale of a time. The children were as respectful as the dogs were well-behaved... which just goes to show that despite comments to the contrary dogs and children, if both are properly brought up and supervised, can mix perfectly.

On top of all this we made nearly £250 for the rescue and met some potential new owners and fosterers, so in all, what a good day!

That last remark made me want to say something which is important to me too - that if anyone here is unable to have a dog permanently but feels they have the time and ability to offer a dog something special nonetheless, please remember that dog rescues aren't only looking for permanent homes. They are also in desperate need of foster homes.

Even if you can't have a dog of your own or another dog at present you may be able to help a rescue dog and enjoy the company of a dog anyway. My own local rescue has several such dogs - some need to learn what a home life is like, some might need a bit of tlc and puppy training, some may be gentle but nervous and in need of bringing out of themselves, or some, like one little mite we have, might need a warm home and love for the little time he has because he is terminally ill. Rescues asking for such help will pay all associated costs/vet bills etc and give you full support and are of course willing and able to take the dog back if you feel that it is not working for you.

I hope that this post will provide food for thought and thanks for reading it.

[girlsyearapart]

good to see a positive post about dogs for once!
dh banned me from the greyhound rescue stalls at any fetes we ever go to as I harp on about rehoming one!
we already have a staffie and two small children..

[TrinityRhino]

we rehomed our first family dog on easter day of this year

we love him to bits

I would love to rehome another but I'm not ready yet

[hatwoman]

nice post valhala - I dare you to put a version of it in AIBU. "AIBU to feel that an awful lots of dogs bring an awful lot of people an awful lot of happiness" gowan, I dare you. (Don't - it'll turn nasty).

I was looking at dd with our dog today and thinking what incredible animals they are. dd finds it a bit hard to make friends and gets anxious about life...and I just looked at her today lying on the floor with him, cuddling him, nose to nose, playing with his ears. Seeing this incredible bond between a person and an animal and knowing how much he's enriched her life is just fantastic. and I was feeling so sad that so many people can;t see past the stupid idiots who don't clear up their dog poo and don't train their dogs.

[valhala]

Hatwoman, I don't dare! I'm already in the mire for my comments on the AIBU post about dogs jumping up on passers-by!

You are SO spot on about kids and dogs. Its very much the same in my family. My DD has similar problems to your own. She has recently rescued a baby pigeon which fell from (well, with, actually) his nest - she feeds him, waters him and the funny little thig follows her about, thinking DD is his mother! The bond there is incredible too and I consider myself lucky for bringing my DC up to respect animals, though god knows she'll cry when he has to be released back to the wild or go to a sanctuary.

The last baby she rescued recently was a hedgehog, which local kids were trying to use as a football. I think this family is rapidly going nuts, so many waifs and strays do we take in!

[ceres]

valhala - sounds like a great day! sounds like you do some fantastic work with your rescue centre.

girlsyearapart - we also have a staffie and when he was younger i really wanted another dog but dh, even though he loves dogs, didn't feel we could cope with adding another canine to the family.

[girlsyearapart]

yep ceres Staffies rule!

I always thought that he would like a doggy companion but thinking back to how hard he was as a pup puts me off.

Still think about all those lovely shoes I lost..

[valhala]

girlsyearapart, it wouldn't be like that if you had a properly matched, older dog from a rescue or the Oldies website....

[nooka]

Hi valhalla, not really on topic, but can you adopt two dogs at once or is that a really bad idea? dh and I both grew up with single family dogs, and are just about to get a puppy (when we find one we like). We know lots of people with two dogs that seem really happy together, and we've adopted pairs of sibling cats - is that doable for dogs? We're looking for medium sized bright and bouncy cross breeds (Lab/Collier/Springer type mixes). Unfortunately where we live there's not that great a supply of dogs (our local rescue currently has 220 cats and about 11 dogs!)

I'd really like to get Greyhounds, but we think we should get puppies so that the cats lick them into shape whilst they are still small

[girlsyearapart]

don't tempt me valhala my dh would never forgive you!