How do I get a dog?

[MuffinStrops]

Been looking for a dog for years. Rescues are a waste of time. Either I apply for a dog, and am told they have received enough applications already (why is it on the website then?}, or they can't live with cats, or will only be rehomed to owners with lots of experience of that breed. Or I need six foot high fences. Or all of those . I don't want a puppy. I'm looking for an adult, house trained dog with plenty of years ahead of it.

Watching the Wood Green programme, dogs are being rehomed to people who work, have young children or have no experience of dogs. No questions are asked about fences etc. How can this be?

I am reluctant to try a rescue working with dogs from abroad as there is no opportunity to meet the dog first to see if there is a fit. Also street dogs can have all sorts of issues that aren't immediately apparent.

I am so frustrated!

Puppy threads on MN are the same as relationship threads. They're generally written by the people in the very worst situations who are at the end of their tether. People with easy or fairly easy puppies won't post because they don't need help.

If you don’t want a puppy because of the hard work then I would be very wary of getting a rescue dog. Lots (not all) of them will have issues (hence the requirement for experienced owners or someone at home during the day or no children) and it will be much harder to break the habit in an adult dog. Will you be a first time dog owner?

Your other option would be to re home privately, but that has lots of issues in itself. It’s a lot easier for an individual to lie about why they’re rehoming and you won’t have the option of rescue back up.

This is a helpful thread. We are just starting to think about getting another dog after losing our last one last year.

I’m keen to get a rescue dog as there seem to be so many that need homes but am put off by Dogs Trust / Blue Cross sites which as pp said want you to have a garden like Fort Knox and no other dogs within a 5 mile radius. (I may be exaggerating a little!).

The thing that does bother me is that most of the dogs advertised say no small children. We have small grandchildren (& probably more to come) so I’m reluctant to re-home a dog that can’t be around children.

Some useful ideas here. In a lot of ways I’d love a puppy but it feels wrong when there are so many older dogs who need a home.

@girlmom21

Puppy threads on MN are the same as relationship threads. They're generally written by the people in the very worst situations who are at the end of their tether. People with easy or fairly easy puppies won't post because they don't need help.

That’s true!

@TiredSloth could your dog go in a crate when you go out?

@ABitBesottedWithMyDog

Oh my God! What a gorgeous puppy!

Thank you. She's a tricolour border collie, so very trainable. They do need a bit of room to stretch their legs, but they can very very happy town dogs IME.

Jack Russells are also an excellent suggestion. Intelligent and maybe half-cracked but in a loveable way!

I LOVE BCs!! Again, wary because I’ve heard that they have to have acres of land, live in the country, stimulated and walked all day long, etc. What tips would you give for having one in a town? We have loads of great places to walk very close to us, with no cars.

[quote Cottagepieandpeas]@TiredSloth could your dog go in a crate when you go out?[/quote]
Don't crate a big, old dog who's not crate trained, JFC that's cruel.

Have a look at Trailhound Trust.

Lovely gentle and trainable dogs that are safe with small furries including cats

@CarbonelCat

Lots of the rescues that bring the animal from abroad will let you do a foster to adopt type arrangement if you're worried about getting the right fit.

Look at Paw Help, Pads 4 Pooches, Serbian Street Dogs and lots of Cyprus based pages on social media. I have also seen Spaniel Aid advertising with reasonable expectations.

But see if they have back up if the placement doesn't work out as often people are left high and dry with a dog that isn't a good match.

My mum got her lab on an advert online - can’t remember what it was called but plenty of sites advertised dogs that’s are older than puppies. She was 15 months and the owner was pregnant, she barks a lot in the house so assume that’s why she was rehomed. She’s 7 now and a lovely dog - she is very strong though on the lead

Are you in the uk? Join facebook group border collies uk, border collies rock etc., there are loads of facebook groups for border collies and often there are border collies in these sites that need rehoming. I have a border collie and have had him from a puppy, yes it’s hard work, but we are retired and have the time. Have you tried Valgrays border collie rescue.

I've had both. A rescue lab when it was just DH and I. She was lovely but she didn't slot right in, she was just as much work as my puppy.... in fact, her issues took longer to resolve. Puppy just needed training and time to learn.

My pup is a year old now. I couldn't sleep the night before we collected him because of the horror stories I read on mumsnet. I'm ashamed to say I was so influenced I felt physically sick the whole night.

All the things I was worried about either didn't happen or were so much easier to deal with than threads on here have you believe. Just make sure you find a good training school and do your homework.

The number one thing though is to find a good breeder. We were on the list for 18 months before our puppy was born. We met mum and dad (and are still in contact with both owners) and were 100% confident mum was the right age and wouldn't be knocking out litter after litter. We also knew out puppy would live in the breeder's home (rather than a kennel) before he was old enough to leave.

As I say... not a quick option.

Ps we have an 8 and 10 DC hence not being able to rescue. I'm amazed any dog gets rescued tbh as no one seems suitable!

our rescue did need training, but a young adult dog can be more easy to train than a puppy.

I do not want a puppy. Just not interested in doing the puppy stuff.
I'd love a young adult dog.
We're going to foster again for the local rescue and see if the right dog comes along.

Any good rescue will insist on high fences for the dog’s safety.

Serbia’s Forgotten Paws offer a foster-to-adopt scheme, so you can try out the dog before adopting. But you need to be within 3 hours of London to adopt from them. And you will need an inescapable garden space.

I LOVE BCs!! Again, wary because I’ve heard that they have to have acres of land, live in the country, stimulated and walked all day long, etc. What tips would you give for having one in a town? We have loads of great places to walk very close to us, with no cars.

They will need two solid walks/runs a day when older, and if yiu can spare some time throwing balls and whatnot for them down the garden frequently through the day, you'll have a happy dog. You have nearby car-free places to walk? Happy collie.

They do need a lot of stimulation. They also need to "work," but this can take the form of agility training/ dance training (when older) or obedience. They have a strong innate herding instinct that won't ever be shaken but they can be trained out of nipping, at least.

You have to put in the time with brain games, so in addition to the usual IQ toys (which a collie makes short work of tbh), hiding things under blankets, spreading treats through the garden, teaching them the names of objects. Collies have the ability to learn hundreds of words. My best dog, I'm not joking, learnt to spell as well. There was no talking about F O O D or W A L K I E S without unleashing a frenzy.

A slightly less high energy option IME is the beautiful rough collie- intelligent, love training, but don't need quite as much exercise and indeed some of them like to be lazy. They are really expensive now, though. My BC puppy cost about £600, while rough collie pups are going for quadruple, pentuple that.

They do need someone around or they will mope or get destructive, but that's all dogs.

They don't tend to like boarding and will likely roundly ignore you if you dare go away for a few days. The collie hump is a thing. If you offend them, you'll know all about it.

I'm completely in love with the breed. I suppose my only warning would be that it's harder to have other types of dog after having collies. One of my siblings went from collie to lab, and while he loves her, I think he finds it hard that she's frankly just not as clever. (Trying to phrase that without offending any labby owners (beautiful dogs).)

I adopted 2 dogs from spain for the same reason . There are ones that foster in the uk so you can get reports one the dogs and see them . A new leash for life is one . Just make sure you research the breed .

The best rescue I ever had was a lurcher .

We were in this place 5 years ago.
We had children and a cat and there seemed no chance with rescues.
I also didn't want a bull breed or a greyhound.
We got a puppy.
She was born in March, came to us in May, and we were able to spend a lot of the summer outside, which made toilet training easier.
She is the perfect dog now but she did wake me up at 5 am for about 9 months!

@girlmom21 that’s why I said could
It was a thought, not an instruction.

Have a look at ‘save a Spanish spot’ they are street dogs but live in foster homes so they can see how they are with kids, cats, children etc. They will give you lots of info about the dogs and have some in the uk you can visit. They are mainly Dalmatians and Dalmatian crosses.

[quote Cottagepieandpeas]**@girlmom21* that’s why I said could*
It was a thought, not an instruction.[/quote]
A cruel thought.

I would like a rescue dog in the next few years, the research I've done so far it seems it won't happen for us. Our garden fence can only be 1m due to very strict planning stipulations. Weather garden backs onto a stream and woodland area. It's sad because we can tick every other box.

I don't know what autocorrect did there!

Just came back to the thread.
Our puppy was fine. We got him at 11 weeks and he was fully toilet trained within a few weeks and slept through the night in his crate from the first week. He is a Westie.