Rescue or puppy?

[Lovemusic33]

Sorry, posting again. If you haven’t seen my other threads..I lost my dog almost 2 weeks ago (pts), the house isn’t the same without a dog so we would like to get another. I have been in contact will local rescues but can’t find a suitable dog. The problem being that not many of them are cat friendly and quite a few are not dog friendly. We have a cat who is in the house 75% of the time, we don’t have another dog but I have friends with dogs and would also like to be able to camp with the dog so it’s important they get on with other dogs.
One of the rescues suggested a dog but I didn’t feel it was what I was looking for.

I’m not really keen on going through the puppy stage again but on the other hand it means the dog can be trained to suit our needs. We have puppy training classes near by which we could attend, I’m just not keen on the house training, the chewing etc.. etc..

Also unsure what breed would suit us. It’s just me and 2 teens so will be mainly me looking after it. I walk a lot, we live in the countryside, we have a big garden. Whilst out today I saw a lot of dogs and the ones that caught my eye were springer spaniels, I grew up with a springer and owned when when I was younger so I know they are high energy dogs and can be slightly crazy but they also seem to be obedient and great off the lead.

Now I notice the problem of trying find a puppy, there don’t seem to be as many about due to new breeding rules and the prices seem to have tripled since I last bought one (around £1000 for a puppy), is this purely because of the new rules of micro chipping etc?

So I guess my question is....do we wait for a suitable dog from a rescue or do we buy a puppy?

[Pixel99]

Rescue every time - not that I have rescued a dog before. Just cats.

The right dog is out there for you and your DC and you are the right home for your future DDog.

[Lovemusic33]

Thanks Pixel. I would love to rescue it’s just proving really tricky as most the dogs seem to hate cats or they have behavioural problems (sometimes with other dogs).

[Pixel99]

Sorry I should have added sorry about your loss.

My DC would probably love a kitten (when DCats) are no longer around but I would still choice to give an older cat a home.

You know more about the history and they are ready to give you lots of love (debatable with cats I know) but one of my DCats loves my DD and follows her around the house and waits for her in her room at bedtime. She almost cries when she is with her father - she is lost.

[steppemum]

we fostered form our local rescue. Didn't intend to adopt, and then we were given a springer spaniel

he melted our hearts, and we kept him.
BUT
they told us he was good with cats, he wasn't he chased our cat. But we had a stair gate, cat upstairs, dog down. For months we had to make sure cat could come up and down. Then got rid of stair gate and dog left the cat alone, and cat took to sleeping up on chests of drawers etc where dog couldn't reach. It took a year before they could co-exist, but they got there in the end.

Springers are affectionate, daft and clever and fun to be with. They also require a good hour running off the lead every day, plus another 30 minute walk. I use him as me gym alternative, but otherwise the walking would become a bind.

It is early days, keep looking, all the dogs we fostered would have made nice pets, we didn't have any with massive problems and all were fine with other dogs, I think you have been unlucky so far.

[Pixel99]

Not sure where you live but - www.battersea.org.uk/dogs/abu?filters=true&returnID=15600939244512523216&id=477221

[steppemum]

Oh my goodness - look at those eyes! And he is so thin.
I am tempted to go and get him!
(pity he doesn't like other dogs)

[Lovemusic33]

We are in the SW (quite far from Battersea).

We have used stairgates I the past with dogs but now the stair gates are gone I don’t ever want to see them again. My cat loved our old dog, they used to cuddle up together so I don’t think my cat would accept a dog that’s going to chase it, the cat is very friendly so likes to spend its evenings led with me on the sofa. This is why I’m thinking maybe a puppy would be better as the cat would potentially be bigger than a puppy at first.

[Lovemusic33]

Steppmum you sound like my dd, she falls in love with every dog she sees she wants all of them, it’s so hard to make the right choice. A rescue offered us a scruffy looking collie x a few days ago, I mean he was lovely but looked like the kind of dog that would get matted hair and really stink when he gets wet 🤣, dd keeps begging that I go and get him.

[dudsville]

Rescue every time. We've had so many (never got a puppy actually). We get them in the 2 to 5 year age range. Always had lovely dogs. Just take your time making sure the dog you find it the right one for your family. Of course breed is important, but get the family out to interact with the dog. Most shelters have outside spaces you can spend some time in.

Lots of dogs are great with cats and other animals. Lots of dogs smell more when wet, of course some shed more than others, but if you love them these will be minor inconveniences, akin to when loved ones do things we don't love (farting oh, I'm looking at you!).

[WorriedMutha]

There's a specialist spaniel rescue I just googled under the initials CAESSR. Patch sounded perfect for you. Hasn't lived with cats but seems to ignore them, aged 4 and used to teenagers. He's very active and bored in rescue. Friendly with other dogs to the point of annoying them. Please be patient and the right dog will come up. Don't buy. Rescues are really struggling and you would be homing a dog in need.

[Pixel99]

www.dogstrust.org.uk/rehoming/dogs/dog/filters/~908~medium~~~n~/1221203/dobbie - Doesn't mention cats though

[Lovemusic33]

Thank you, we will keep looking for a rescue, would ideally like to find one closer to home so we can arrange visits before bringing him/her home.

[Hazlenutpie]

Puppy 100%. I want to train my dog from puppyhood, so I know exactly how they're going to turn out.

[Moondancer73]

Rescue every single time. If you are in the SW I'd suggest trying the rescues below -
Dartmoor view
Margaret green
St Giles
Many tears
Gables farm
Just whippets
Starfish dog rescue
K9 focus
SOS Romanian rescue south west
Animals in distress

All south west based and have a wide variety of dogs so more likely to have some that are good with cats. Good luck

[AlpacaP1cnic]

It would be a puppy for me too. Having said that though, I wouldn't discount a young rescue dog but my preference would be for a puppy

[steppemum]

funnily enough, I didn't fall in love with any of the other fosters we had. But they were all nice family dogs. One or two totally ignored the cat, and one or two got over excited/chased.
So it is totally possible to find a rescue that wouldn't chase a cat. Be warned though, we fostered through a local charity that doesn't use any kennels, they just use foster homes. Every single dog that came through our door was apparently fine with cats. Even the ones who chased them. Why? Well the woman who runs the rescue has the boldest baddest cat you have ever met, and any dog who walks through the door immediately has to submit to the death stare of this cat. So she thinks the dog is fine with all cats!

I have to say, while ours did have one or two habits that needed undoing, (in particular I had a long hard job to teach him to walk properly on a lead, he just pulled madly at the beginning) it was WAY easier getting a 3 year old compared to a puppy.

[steppemum]

I meant to say, the reason the foster dogs we had were nice was it just so happened that they were mostly up for re-homing, (family couldn't cope etc) rather than rescued from bad situations. That meant they were less traumatised.

[BackwardsGoing]

Rescue every time, unless you want to contribute to the horror of puppy farms.

Be patient and persistent, the right dog will come along.

[bluebluezoo]

Puppy 100%. I want to train my dog from puppyhood, so I know exactly how they're going to turn out

Do you? You can train them but do you really know what their adult personality will be like? If it’s so easy to tell why do some dogs fail guide/police dog training? By the puppy logic you should be able to tell very young which ones will pass.

Conversely an older dog will be pretty much known, good or bad.

I struggled to get a rescue dog. Found many were fist come first served, simple as that. I’d get there having been invited to meet the dog after passing the check and be told a walk in had come in that morning and reserved it.

Try smaller and breed specific rescues. Look for ones that invite applications then when the dog is ready select the best home from the file.

I ended up with a 6 month old dog. Could see what sort of personality he had by then. We’ve had a few issues with toilet training as he didn’t have that early on but otherwise he fits us well.

[Bigsighall]

Have you tried spaniel aid? Mine is a rescue and is good with cats / kids etc

[fivedogstofeed]

A friend of mine was determined to get a puppy rather than an older dog because they already had a young, nervous cat. A year on and the puppy still chases the cat :(

Meanwhile I've fostered several rescue dogs who have been amazing with cats including a couple who literally didn't even acknowledge our two. Cat friendly rescue dogs do exist, you just may need to wait a bit longer.

[Lovemusic33]

Thank you, I will spend tomorrow checking out the rescues mentioned above. Both my old dogs I got as puppies (one from a breeder and one from rescue) and I found it pretty hard work, almost worse then having a child, the toilet training and crate training and the chewing ☹️. I would rather skip that stage and try and find a dog that has the traits I’m looking for. I’m not keen on adopting a dog from abroad, I just feel like there’s enough dogs in the uk looking for homes so I am avoiding the Romanian dogs and dogs rescued from the meat trade. Would rather have a dog that has been handed in by a family.

[SophyStantonLacy]

We got a puppy because DH was insistent on training it ourselves from the start, and because we have a 3 year old and our local rescue wasn’t interested. Obviously our puppy is adorable and we love him but i still partly wish we had got a rescue dog - older & already able to go back on nice long walks, sleeping through the night & toilet trained...

[Wolfiefan]

There are also Black Retriever X. They foster so have a really good idea of what a dog is like.
Look into breed specific rescues. Maybe contact the breed club for info.

[Hazlenutpie]

Many rescue dogs aren’t toilet trained, or trained at all in fact.