I want a doggy

[trinn]

I have always had a dog, been brought up with them, my first dog was a cocker spaniel she died when I was 18 she was riddled with cancer, along came dog number 2 which I sort of rescued from being bullied by a Jack russell , when me and my husband moved in together we got our 1st dog from the rspca he lived with us for 14 years before we put him to sleep , we then got our 2nd dog who put marley from marley and me to shame one day he saw an opportunity and bolted out the door after searching for him for weeks and phoning the relevant agencies he was never found.

My MIL broached the idea said as everyone is out at work/ school/ college all day she decided I need company she seems to think I'm lonely and bored, now here comes the killer I want a king charles spaniel, my husband wants a golden retriever and my MIL wants a labrador so we are all looking at the breeds we want and can't seem to agree on anything.

I will bring my husband round to my way of thinking

[firstpost]

Well, you know all that in entails and there are so many gorgeous dogs looking for homes :)

Check out some rescue websites and best of luck

[trinn]

I keep looking on the rspca local rescue home site not one dog on there is suitable with children, or suitable with children from 14.

I want a smallish dog not to small as I will be the one walking it and I do not want to experience being dragged around the local park on my front while shouting 'for fucks sake heel' ever again the one that bolted was way too strong for me to walk even with a harness and a nose harness on he was a retriever watch this space

[CMOTDibbler]

I know you say a small dog, but have a look at rescue greyhounds - we've just adopted one, and they need just two short walks a day, and ours is great on the lead and very gentle with ds

[trinn]

I will do cm the dog we had from the rspca was a wonderful dog, when we got him he was very quiet and spent about a week shaking in a corner very unsure of us and what was acceptable we eventually coaxed him out of his shell he was a staffy cross think we coaxed him a little to much because he went totally bonkers and was spoilt rotten.

Another question do you let your dogs up on the settees I myself see nothing wrong with it and love a cuddle but MIL is totally opposed.

[Scuttlebutter]

You seem to want three very different breeds, so think you may need to do a bit more research. Please be aware that Cavs have a host of major health issues.

Have you thought about going up to Discover Dogs at Earls Court? link here Over 200 breeds represented, and lots of agility and obedience displays.

I wouldn't recommend a greyhound for you, after what happened with your second dog. Greyhounds have strong prey drives and can and do escape very very quickly - you need to be very committed to keeping them safe and secure.

[trinn]

I don't want 3 breeds it's 3 of us arguing, the only reason Sam escaped was my son didn't shut the door properly and it blew open hence him running which to this day he cannot forgive himself for.

Earls Court? i'm in Lancashire so thats way too far to travel for us and a dog, a lot of breeds these days come with major health issues as they have been imbred for so long.

Thankyou for the advice

[flowery]

Do you live with your MIL then? Just trying to work out whether she genuinely has any say over what dog you and your husband get and whether or not you let it on your sofas...

[trinn]

MIL lives with me she moved in 3 years ago

[ImperialStateKnickers]

I too am wondering what MIL's opinion has to do with the dog that will live with you?

[ImperialStateKnickers]

Sorry xpost

[ImperialStateKnickers]

So is she out all day at work/school/college?

[lucyellenmum]

"a lot of breeds these days come with major health issues as they have been imbred for so long!" There you are, you have answered your own question - get a crossbreed from a rescue, you are much more likely to have a healthy dog this way.

Cavaliers fall right in that category of a breed that has congenital problems, they are very prone to congestive heart failure. If you do go for one of these, make sure the mother has been screened.

[trinn]

She moved in with me and my DH 3 years ago after divorcing

[trinn]

imperial she and DH are at work,DS is at school and DD is in college and me at home all day

[LadyTurmoil]

I've written about this on different threads but I've noticed that men always seem to want "macho" breeds like Golden Retrievers (I have a friend who was pretty much blackmailed into having a dog and only one husband wanted was a GR). They seem to forget that it's usually the woman who is doing most of the day to day looking after of the dog. My friend's children are 11 and 13 but get their arms wrenched out of their sockets because dog is only 7 months but already very strong and only had 6 wks of puppy training. Also, older daughter pestered and pestered for dog but is already not always willing to take dog out for walks etc. I would go for a slightly older dog, maybe 2 yrs old or older, past the puppy phase, you won't have so many issues with chewing, housetraining etc. Look at rescues as all above have said, you can find all ages there, just take a look at //www.manytears.co.uk. I know that not all recommend them but they are flexible as regards younger children at home, working people etc. If you read some of the other threads you will see that you need patience and perseverance when applying to rescues. Many are run by volunteers so it can take time. I wouldn't get too hung up on breeds although it's good to do some research so you know breeds like collie or springer spaniel are high energy and greyhounds are pretty relaxed, as others have already said. You may also find that UK rescues are full of Staffie/Jack Russell types and not much else. That's why I love some of the "street" dogs that are being rescued by organisations like //www.sos-animals.org.uk/, //www.romaniaanimalaid.co.uk, www.desperategreekies.com/ //www.streetdogrescue.com/ and //www.k-9angels.org/. Dog Watch UK and The Mayflower Sanctuary also work with rescues in Spain and Cyprus respectively and bring dogs over to the UK. You can find all of the above on Facebook as well. There are many more! I'd much rather have rescue mutt than a pedigree which cost so much and are liable to so many inherited diseases. I reckon if a dog has managed to survive on the streets of Romania then they're going to be pretty damn tough! Also, cost of bringing a dog from abroad is usually around £250-300 so not much more than rescues here in UK and a hell of a lot less than you would pay for some pedigree dogs. Good luck in your search (and apologies for length of this post!)

[trinn]

cheers lady I do love rescue dogs I have had a rescue dog and was a mixed breed and brilliant he found his forever home with us and was much loved, I didn't realise that you could get them from abroad, I too love rescue dogs more than a pure breed, I'll have to look into that cheers for the links will look at them as well.

[LadyTurmoil]

[MagratGarlik]

If you are going down the rescue route, I wouldn't get too hung up on breeds. Also, don't be put off by the dogs on the website not being suitable. We adopted our whippet from the rspca having gone to look at a collie x springer (who was reserved by the time we arrived). Our whippet never even made it onto their website and I hated the thought of a whippet when the lovely staff there first suggested him (yikes! was I think my first reaction). We went home, read up on whippets, found out what wonderful dogs they are and went back the next day to meet him. We reserved him that day and visited him a lot of times in the three weeks it took us to get him home.

A year and a half later, we have a whippet and a whippet x greyhound snoring loudly in our living room. I was not going to entertain the idea on first sight.

For us, they are perfect.

Go to a rescue, tell them about you, your lifestyle, your family and let them advise. They may not have a suitable dog straight away, so be prepared to spend a while looking.

[trinn]

I'm not adverse to rescue dogs far from it, I don't go in for breeds hate the modern way of thinking and getting a purist dog I really do think the inter breeding they do is inhuman and inhumane.

All I want at the end of the day is a dog thats all a dog that I can talk to, tell my secrets to, cry on and laugh with thats it.

[LadyTurmoil]

www.dogpages.org.uk/nth-west.htm

[LadyTurmoil]

Nice little Cavi on page 4 (bit further away from you maybe?) www.secondchancerescuekennels.co.uk/page.cfm/home/dogs-for-adoption-page-4