With BratNav's thread being a final straw, DH and I are actually talking about...

[ShinyHappyPeopleHoldingHands]

...getting a dog!

We are going to spend the few months between now and our long-awaited house move dicussing it and deciding if it's a goer.. and me starting a thread on here is part of that..

I have wanted a dog for ages; could never have imagined living most of my adult life so far without one.. but since having DS2 (various SNs) it has just seemed a ridiculous idea, especially coupled with our lack of space.

New house will be slightly bigger (will have a dining room) as well as a downstairs extension of bedroom and bathroom for DS. Decentish size garden. Small park directly behind. We were thinking that with the extra room, we might be able to keep DS and the dog apart most of the time.. and only give him fully supervised contact for a little while at a time (unless he undergoes some major self-control issues in next months years.. he is hyperactive; loves animals but is not gentle with them).

Dog would then have run of the whole downtairs when DS in bed/at school/at respite care etc.

We can't afford to buy a pedigree from a breeder.. and not fussed about pedigree anyway although ADORE lab. types. Have no experience with house training/training of pups, but thought that if we did get a puppy, he/she would never have known any other life but one that includes DS so she may be more accomodating of him! Also, rescue dogs often having "emotional issues" (due to previous experiences) which under normal circumstances would be fine (would love to give a home to a needy dog; DH and I both grew up in families that had rescue dogs) but with DS perhaps not a good idea.

How long do puppies take to house train? If we get a mongrel pup, what are our chances of being able to ascertain what size/kind of dog it will grow into?

Bit worried about vet fees too.. (we are not well off;live on disability benefits for the foreseeable future unfortunately; although not forever)

Lots of downsides.. we've always known this, but I've still continued to crave a dog, and DH has admitted that he has often thought of it as well. This is the first time he's wanted to discuss it.. DS is so high maintenance.. are we mad?

DS1 (15) and DD (9) would be over the moon with joy. Daren't breathe a word at this stage; they'd be gutted if it fell through.

Can you help us discuss/consider this? Are we mad to consider it?

Everytime I go to FioFio's house I think, well Fio does it! (She has two lovely collie-types, a sort of female-equivalent to DS2.. and 2 others DC) But Fio has much more space.. and her SN DD is probably a fair bit less hassle than DS1...

Hmmmmmm

(Didn't mean Fio's dogs were the equivalent of my SN child.. .. I meant she has the dogs, an SN child and 2 other children..)

Shut up Shiny.. no one is looking at this thread anyway!

I got a pup in April as I'd had rescues before and wouldn't trust a rescue with my dd while she's little (2.8now) so I think in your situation a puppy would be a good idea. For house training get a dog crate, as their bed is in it they aren't supposed to want to foul it, my pup did occaisionally for the first month, but would whine when he did, he never pooed in the house, he did have the odd wee, generally when he was excited or I didn't open the door quickly enough! The crate also gives your dog a cosy den to get away from the children etc and somewhere safe to put it when you go out. I would do as we do and get one spring or early summer so you don't have to stand around in the cold/dark/wet when you're house training them. My sister was on benefit for a while when she had her dog and she got help through her vets via the Blue Cross, this is only for accidents and illness, not routine vaccinations, worming fleas etc, and I think you pay a sort of excess, you could see if any of the vets near you do this.
Regardng a mongrel you'll see the mum, you might be able to see the dad, and if they know what the crosses are you can get an idea of what the dog will be like. lots of lab/springer/collie crosses available round here (Somerset). You might find puppies in your local rescue centre too, it could be worth phoning around.
I'll try and cover other things for you!
What about walking - a park is handy for a good run about but its nice to be able to take them for a good walk too. And find out about local training classes, I did one and it was really helpful. Holidays are worth considering too, we usually take ours with us, camping or cottages in the UK, but it can be expensive if you'd need kennels.
And will the dog have company most of the time? I work part time and my dog usually comes to work with me, ut we've had to arrange alternative care for him (with relatives) when we've had the odd long day out, but this will get easier as he gets older.
I would go for it if I were you, but I would never want to be without a dog.

Thanks LittleB.

Holidays are pretty no-go for us really, due to needs of DS2.

And yes, would be planning to take dog for actual walks as well as runs in the park - that's one of the reasons I want one. When we looked after my mum's in the past, I loved getting away from everyone and taking her out for walks

Yes, the local PDSA do a service like you describe, but, as you say, there's still the vaccinations fees. How much are they these days? Spaying/neuturing too to consider although I think PDSA does that if memory serves. you just have to give a donation for treatment there.

Oh and how much for worming/flea treatments? Can't they just be bought from the pet shop?

Yes dog would have company vast majority of the time.

Thanks so much for you input.. got to log off in a minute but will be back tomorrow with more queries for you no doubt and any input from anyone else.

Really want a dog but don't want to rush into it and make wrong decision.

Don't completely rule out a rescue dog until you have had a look, we got a rescue lab from local dogs home a year and a half ago.
She puts up with extremely boisterous 2 1/2 year old very tolerantly (in fact adores the attention off him...and the odd biscuit!) Have never once regretted getting her and love her more every day.
She was only in the dogs home because a couple split up and both went to flats, she has no apparant emotional issues and is an absolute joy. Also had all vaccinations etc done.
Good luck, I will be interested to see what decision you come to. nice to see you're thinking it all through properly instead of just rushing in, too many abandoned dogs around because of people doing that.

How about contacting Guide Dogs for the Blind re rehoming a failed guide dog or retired one?

When we were kids my cousins had a retired guide dog. He was superb temperament wise and by the nature of his previous life was well used to many different situations.

I agree with not ruling out rescues. the majority of the time they have been dumped by their previous owners for no good reason, and definitely not the dogs fault, some of the common excuses are the owner is having baby/owner moving house/owned moving abroad/house has been newly decorated/new furniture/new carpet/want a younger dog etc etc etc!

there is a list of lab rescues here: www.animalrescuers.co.uk/html/labretriever.html

and a list of all-dog rescues here: www.animalrescuers.co.uk/html/dogs.html

You should also check out your local SPCA, dog pounds and private dog rescues in case they get any labs/lab types in.

Most rescues should be able to tell you which dog's would be suitable for your family.

We have a Labradoodle puppy who is just over 17 weeks. She has been an absolute joy so far, fantastic temperament. I have recently found out that there is a dedicated rescue site here, they sometimes have puppies.

Hi Shiny... just seen your other thread.

I think you should ring a couple of local rescue places and talk to them. I have always adopted older dogs and have never found that they have any difficulty adapting to the new situation. However, you may find that they are reluctant to home a dog with you because you have children (even without any additional issues). We certainly had trouble finding a place that would let us re-home a dog with a 4 and 6 year old.

Obviously you need to look for quite a placid type of dog (lab would be good) that would put up with ds2 being less-than-gentle with it. Maggie would put up with any amount of heavy-handedness from kids (a toddler grabbed her by the ear on a beach once and all she did was whine and sit very still till he let go), but old Bobby would've happily nipped his hand! With your asthma you'd be better off with a dog that didn't moult too much, like a poodle or a terrier (though that would entail clipping costs... and terriers might be a bit too combative for your needs). We have also found that dogs with slightly longer hair are, paradoxically, better (allergy-wise) than very short-coated dogs. (DH is mostly OK with dogs but very allergic to cats, and he finds that dogs with very short coats set him sneezing a bit too.)

Alternatively, get a mongrel puppy. Mongrels are far more hardy than pedigrees anyway so likely to incur fewer vets' fees, and just as beautiful. The housetraining won't be any more of an issue with a puppy than with an older rehomed dog (at least potentially - depends a bit on the history of the dog you're rehoming). You'll get an idea of size from the mum (and hopefully they'll also know what the dad was).

PDSA and Blue Cross are good for vets fees (or get pet insurance if you can afford it) and I think they also cover neutering. Vaccinations (iirc) are around £40/year.

Go for it...!

Have a look on this site for lots of info and pics of dogs for rehoming. (But prepare to fall in love about 300 times a day if you look at it for too long!)

I noticed in Sainsbury's the other day you can get puppy house training mats. It says you put the puppy on the mat as soon as it has eaten and hopefully it will associate the mat with doing a wee or poo. If it does it somewhere else you immediately pick the puppy up and put it on the mat.

Sounds good in theory - I have no idea, personally1

I've seen the training mats, just a posh version of paper training, much easier just to train them to go outside, although they might be handy for lining the crate, can't see whats wrong with newspaper and an old blanket though!
For the first vaccinations you need two lots two weeks apart, your vets will also do a health check, I think these came to about £50, and the annual ones are about £30 round here but it depends on your vets.
Always get your wormer from the vets or online vet pharmacists, they are stronger and better than the ones from pet shops, important to worm them properly with children around. Wormer will cost around £5-£10 per time, depending on what they use and the type of dog, needs doing every month when its a puppy, less often when older, do mine every three months now he's grown up.
Flea&Tick treatment is up to you and it depends where you live and how many cats or ticks there are in your area. We have lots of cats and ticks around us so I do a spot-on Frontline flea treatment every 3 mths when I work, I'd rather prevent fleas than have to get rid of them! The cost of this depend on the size of the dog, mines a medium dog (17kg) so its about £5 per time.
The treatments can all vary alot though!
I don't know how old your children are but I would think very carefully about homing an adult rescue if they are young and with your DS with SEN, unless you are 100% sure of its past. I used to be a dog warden so I've dealt with lots of strays and rescues and owned 2 myself, but people will lie about a dog to get the rescue centre to take it on (some will turn tricky dogs down if are almost full as they are harder to home). My first rescue was supposed to be a very well behaved collie from a good family, but she had a lot of hangups and had obviously been badly treated, it took a long while to gain her trust, and with hard work she became a wonderful dog, but it took time and would've been tricky with children. You can get pups from rescue centres but you'd want to get a young one to make sure you could socialise it well.
If I was in your position I would go for a mongrel puppy. When you're thinking of getting one ask around friends and your local vets to see if they know of any litters coming up, I'd use ads as a last resort.
Good luck, you must be excited!

Agree with LittleB about the mats. We use them for our slightly incontinent elderly dog, but with a puppy it's best to train it to go outside from day 1. Depending how big your dog is, you could think of getting a 'dog flap' for your back door, so he can just take himself outside for a pee when he needs to go. We had one in one house we lived in and it worked a treat (except that Bobby was too scared to use it... spent hours coaxing him through with treats, but to no avail... but was great with the other dogs). Better for smaller dogs though, otherwise DS2 will be using it as an escape hatch!

Thanks for all the info. And thanks Fio, I will probably be asking you re your friend's contact, unless the right dog just falls into our laps at the right time via some other means!

Yes I am excited. I think we're going to do this.. but we do need to wait until we're in the new house.