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!

@SpiderinaWingMirror

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.

Wow!

@ABitBesottedWithMyDog

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).)

Quite prepared to do all of that. I love their cleverness. No other dog is the same. Did you get yours from a breeder?

I got mine from a farmer who breeds them on the side in Buckinghamshire. The pup and her litter mates was advertised on gumtree of all places; his tech-savvy friend posts the ads.

Another thing to consider, OP, is contacting breeders and people who show dogs. Have a look on the kennel club website - it'll have the details of all registered breeders in your area.

They sell on dogs who are too old to breed or show but still have plenty of life in them to pet homes.

Contact foster based rescues who tend to match much better ,
apply to foster.

As someone said above try fostering, get involved with the charities. I have three rescues ( one was found on the road and two from shelters) Most charities are full with dogs, swamped with work and are usually running it with half man power. Here is Ireland ( which is the capital of Europe for back street breeding of dogs) charities are received 100 calls a day to give up their dogs. I always say that having a dog is like having a child, be it a rescue or a puppy, they require alot of hard work to train, discipline, make sure when you go away they are looked after and vet bills. My three rescues are all very different . All required different work but it has been worth it. And once the charities get to know you they will realise that you are a good fit for the dog

I think it's a bit amazing you haven't even been to visit the rescue centres and yet now talking about taking dogs from ads or goodness knows where. I have had two bcs. Super dogs but very very hard work and I don't think from your opening post you sound flexible enough to deal with all the issues that might come up. It's not just walking. Many are highly stimulated by traffic and can pull mightily or spin or even try and chase cars. Others can be sound phobic and be very hypersensitive to urban sounds. I live in a suburban area but it would be challenging in a very busy urban area with either of my dogs. I think some of this thread is very naive and the thought of getting a farm bred dog to the city when you don't sound too compromising sounds like a recipe for another poor dog potentially ending up in rescue. Bcs are not necessarily that interested in children which can be disappointing for them. They also herd and can have behaviours that crop up from this if not trained walked and stimulated enough. I am not knocking them as a breed as I adore them but it breaks my heart how many end up in rescue as they are working dogs with traits that people really need to be aware of and know will fit with their lives. I feel like this thread can easily turn into an advertising thread for puppies. Understand about puppy farms and the internet and Gumtree. Read about how dogs are stolen to breed from for people who just want to buy a quick commodity online or through the internet. Visit rescues properly don't just apply for pictures online. It's not tinder. And if you go done the breeder route read up on what makes a good breeder and don't support puppy farms and backyard breeders even unwittingly. Dogs trust has a scheme to help people tell the better breeders. I'd look that up if going that route as a puppy farmed dog may have more health issues and be less socialised as well as the cruelty that lies behind so much of that.

I have visited rescues in the past. We have moved and with lockdown I have been looking online.
I accept what you say about BCs and that’s why I have been nervous about getting one.

Hadtocomment

pretty much all the rescues are only doing online applications. Very few of them are back to taking in person visitors without an appointment to view a dog.

Also, many good rescues use fosters and not kennels. Much better adopting form a foster not a kennel as the fosterer can give you details of how the dog is in the home.
None of those allow visits, you apply and they match you or you apply and then inquire about specific dogs.

Gumtree is certainly a dodgy site but not everyone on there is dodgy IYSWIM. You have to use your common sense, make sure you view the parents, and carefully look at the condition of the dogs you see. You should also certainly get a sense that the seller is testing you.

From experience, I wouldn't personally get an ex-show/ex-breeding dog to adopt midlife again, as they may have been kept in kennels and only socialised much with other dogs. This can make home life with humans a bit of a challenge.

It's become extremely difficult to adopt from rescue centres. My local one hasn't been able to do home inspections since 2020.

Fences are a must
A new nervous dog is prime for leaping a fence, or chasing something out of the garden so not sure why that seems unreasonable

I've got 2 dogs, one wouldn't jump a 3ft fence out of laziness, the other seems perfectly happy with low fences but a whiff of a fox and he suddenly can scale them.

I've also fostered small dogs that can jump far higher than you think and get through small gaps in fencing. It seems reasonable that when a dog is unknown the garden had to be secure

Locally there are lots of lost foreign rescue dogs, and it seems suspicious these are the rescues that don't home check or insist on fences.

My 3 puppies have all been a dream. The latest even came house trained from the breeder

My rescue however has always been trouble. I do love him but he’s been such hard work undoing all of the mistakes the previous owner made.

If you are set on a rescue have you tried some of the smaller ones? Black retriever x always seems to advertise their dogs honestly. I personally would never get an overseas dog as I don’t agree with the process but if you did go down that road make sure it’s one in the UK you can meet first

We've got a BC. We had dogs as kids but not adults, mine was a BC but it was my parents dog not mine though I did do a lot of the looking after. According to the MN massive noone should get a BC as their first dog. We live in London so hardly a rural location.

Yes she needs a lot of walks and stimulation and ideally at least one adult at home but do I regret her? No way! She's funny, loyal, quirky, affectionate and we love her so much. She has brought us so much pleasure she's worth all the hard work.

We have a foster from Romania at the moment, due to be advertised next week. I've been surprised how easy she is, house trained, lovely temperament and just wants food, sleep and fuss! However, she absolutely hates cats so won't be housed in a house with cats. The foster process brings our any issues with the dog so the best fit can be found.
Www. Onepawatatimedogrescue.co.uk they rescue dogs from the meat trade in China too. They're very open minded and could be a good option?

Ive been looking and most rescues wont rehome if you already have a dog !

@MuffinStrops

Border collie rescue are a nightmare, they wouldn't accept us despite me not working and having 1/3 acre fully fenced and walking distance to the country park which let to open fields because it was technically 120m inside the city boundary, yes we could see the boundary sign! I've had multiple collies, experienced owner could afford training. I got a puppy off of sheep farmer, runt of the litter but fine as a pet (though £££ on orthopaedic surgery!)

@thereisonlyoneofme

Ive been looking and most rescues wont rehome if you already have a dog !

That's really interesting, because I keep finding adverts that say - will only rehome alongside another dog as they need to learn from another dog!

They aren't impossible to have, BCs in towns, but they do need a lot of mental stimulation.

We have a cockerpoo -from a puppy - she's adorable. They puppy stuff wasn't that bad. She's a bright thing, and gets 2 to 3 decent off lead walks a day - a lot of play.

We've had rescues before - and they puppy has less issues than the rescues......

@tiredsloth Have you considered getting her a friend? The people I know with greyhounds have them in pairs - one with another greyhound and another with a lurcher. They get really lonely.

@SunnySideDownBriefly the rescue never mentioned about loneliness and I went up there to meet her 4 times before bringing her home. It makes complete sense though, she is glued to my side at home. I went out for an hour last night and came home to a pack of bagels ripped open and eaten and my toaster (which had been plugged in) on the floor and the back door wide open. I don’t have space or money for a second dog so don’t know where to go from here. Thank you for the suggestion though.

I was once turned down by a rescue because I don’t have children “so there’s a very strong chance you’ll have a baby in the near future”. When I said there was no chance, I was told I wasn’t being realistic.

So I went off and bought a dog from a great breeder. Had her for 13 very happy years.

Haven't RTFT past the first couple of pages. However, OP, if you are still reading replies - this is my experience/advice:

I got my present rescue dog a couple of years before Covid so things were definitely easier then but I quickly discovered, while looking, that you absolutely have to register with suitable rescues (several) so you are on their radar. That isn't enough in itself, you need to scrutinise their dogs for adoption online daily and reserve one as soon as it looks a possibility so you can go and meet it. Speed is important here (especially now dogs are in so much more demand). Going to meet it does not commit you - you are just going to see if it might be "the one". Don't assume that because you have registered with the rescue they will be looking out for a dog that fits you and will call you- they won't, they don't have time. You need to be proactive and even if there isn't one on offer online that fits your needs, ring them up at least once a week so they know you are still keen to find a dog and might keep you in mind. I registered with the nearest RSPCA (about 10 miles away) and Battersea Dogs Home. They were both really helpful but I ended up with my lovely dog because of I followed the above plan successfully. I had been slightly interested in a similar dog that I'd seen on a drop in visit (pre-Covid when you could do that) at Battersea but not been sure about it. It was dropped off the available list as it had health problems that they were sorting out and then reappeared on the list again so I called in to reserve it. They then told me that they'd taken it off again for more treatment (it was sorted out later and found a home quickly, fortunately), so I said I'd like to see the other dog of similar breed that had just appeared on the available list. They reserved her for 2 or 3 days' time (when I could get up to them), I went to meet her and she was great - definitely the right dog this time. She came home with me on the top of a double-decker bus (I was an experienced dog owner and they had seen pictures of my flat and garden, plus I am quite old so they must have judged I was trustworthy without an actual house check, especially as I live on the outer edge of London so a bit difficult to arrange - I don't think they skip the housecheck on everyone). RSPCA were equally helpful and I did go to meet 2 dogs there (on one visit) but they just did not click with me somehow. It turns out that both rescues have more dogs than are featured on their website, so definitely worth doing. RSPCA had LOADS and you could ask to walk any ones you were interested in - they have large grounds with enclosed areas and a field and lots of staff around and volunteer dog walkers so plenty of people to give you first hand accounts of the nature of the dog you are interested in. Battersea also knew their dogs very well and had spent a lot of time and money on making sure they were fit and as happy as possible (being in a rescue). The dog I adopted had had expensive medical treatment to get her healthy (she arrived in a state) and to make sure she had no long-term/serious medical problems - they had also found she was very miserable being in a kennel and so it was arranged that she went home with a staff member every night so she didn't have to stay in one overnight. They said I was never to board her in kennels (no problem as I have never done this with my dogs - mine is home-boarded with a very good local dog sitter/walker).

I honestly wouldn't have a puppy ever again (had a very well behaved one when I was 11 but I had the energy then). My previous dog to current one was also an adult overseas "rescue" (my Greek neighbour dumped her and I took her in) - she was an independent dog but she did adapt to my idea of good dog behaviour and was a boon companion for the remaining 11 years of her life.

@mrsjoyfulprizeforraffiawork that's exactly my experience. The constant checking and messaging every day for about three months. It was lie Russian roulette :). The disappointment when the dog you fell in love with online had all ready been booked. Most shelters had waiting lists a mile long that all ready have their home checks etc done i discovered. But when you are picked it happens so quickly. We were home checked in the morning and told at lunch time that we got him, then drove a 6 hour round trip to collect him. He was severely abused before and my god its been hard work with him getting hime to where he is now. And we are both very experienced dog owners so i think that we were picked for a reason . We just collected our third rescue at the weekend from the same shelter as before, it was easier this time as they knew us, plus she was an old 11 year old JR that one really wanted so they were delighted we could give her a home. Am like you could never go back to the puppy stage again :)

We have a 6 year old Romanian rescue dog, he did come with emotional baggage and it did take a behaviourist to help sort him. And we still don't trust him off lead if we aren't at home, because he is normally fine with other dogs but just occasionally he comes across one he reacts badly to. But he doesn't seem to mind being on lead, as he's a breed that plods along with the herds of sheep as a flock guard. (Photo hopefully attached). Our old border collie has just had to be put to sleep and we are fostering a border collie from Spain with a view to adoption if all goes well. The rescue organisation has said we can foster as long as it takes, to make up our mind whether he's the dog for us or whether it isn't going to work. If it doesn't work they will re home him to make sure he gets the home he deserves. He's very nervous but coming out of his shell day by day, and it's lovely to see.
I think it's swings and roundabouts between a pup and an adult rescue, they both need a lot of work. I remember we had to do a lot of training with our old BC to stop her nipping the back of our legs (she was farm bred). BCs are wonderful but so intelligent so you do need to stay one step ahead of them...