Advice on how to get a rescue dog

[kid]

I am still in the early stages of grief after my much loved 7 month old puppy died.

I was ready for a dog, but he was cruelly taken from us and I think getting a rescue dog would help my family deal with the loss.

I don't intend getting a dog for a few months as we have booked a holiday and wouldn't want a new dog to go to a boarding home when they should be settling in and bonding with us.

My question is, how much time does it take to arrange or buy a rescue dog?

I am thinking of a cocker spaniel or similar size. Moby was a springer x cocker (liver and white) and a new dog could not look like him, too sad at the moment. It would also need to already be neutered as I couldn't stand going through the risk of losing another dog that way. I also don't want a young puppy, was thinking about a year old.

am I being too fussy, is it too soon to start looking fir a rescue dog? (3 months before we intend to get him/her and so soon after losing our pup)
tia for any advice

oh kid i was on your other thread . i recently have tried to adopt a rescue dog , but we were refused as they had no pups and my dc's were too young we have now bought a pup . the pound told me that they could not hand us an adult dog because the dogs were strays & the pound had no history of their dogs therefore could not take the responsibility of giving me a dog in case they hurt my little one (4yrs) . If your children are older you should have no problem . x

My DCs are 8 and 11.
I work so am worried I would be refused on those grounds but can arrange for dog to not be left alone for more than 4 hours. I could just buy a dog but I'd like to rescue a dog.

I trained moby from scratch, he was 7 weeks old when we got him and I was still attending puppy classes with him (next week was due to be our last one) He was fantastic, so obedient and loved me the most in our house. I've never been so close to a dog in my life!

Anyway, 3 months is a long way off but I don't know the process at all as moby was the first dog I had bought. I always had a dog when I was growing up and I feel like I need a dog now.

when you are ready and your holiday is over, start looking. go the rescue centre as often as you can, and one day you will find your dog.

My parents lost their dog last summer, and there was a dog-shaped gap in their lives. About 2-3 weeks after Sam passed away they started looking. on the 2nd or 3rd day of going to the shelter they found their dog. They were approved, and noe Socks is a big part of their lives. The whole process took about 3 weeks inc a home visit.

We looked at the rescue places but as we have young children there werent many that were suitable, and we didnt want a staff pup (place is sull of them), so we have gone to a private seller to get our dogs.

I read your thread about Moby and cried, i really do feel for you and your family.

poor moby

well our first dog (before dc's) was a rescue dog & he was lovely , he died 2 years ago & my ds was heartbroken & still is until last week we booked a new pup . cant collect our new pup until another 2weeks as he's only 6wks old today .
how you go about adopting a dog is you go visit your local pound & pick a dog you would like then fill out an application form . the pound might want to visit your house just to make sure it is suitable for a dog (eg= walled gardens etc) then its usually 2-5 days wait until you find out if you are successful , they will phone you & arrange a collection date .

As long as they won't hold my tears against me.
When I had to phone Moby's insurance I was sobbing down the phone, the poor man didn't know what to say. Maybe I phoned too soon, the day after he died, but I knew it had to be done.

I'm not 100% sure on which type of dog to get. I considered a cocker as it would be similar to moby but not identical. We were really enjoying our weekend walks in the forest as moby was suddenly perfect at recall. I figured that a cocker would have a similar energy level to moby, maybe slightly less as he was a but of a loon (in the nicest possible way)
I am so glad he had such a wonderful life with us, so sad it was cut so short. Still keep hearing the vets phonecall in my head, I think that moment will live with me forever. How I got home from work that day I don't know. It was only a few hours later that I realised I had taken my to work so I had to go back out to get it with DH

they wont hold it against you. There were a quite a few people there when i went looking or a dog after losing their beloved pet

Thanks for the suggestions. I have looked online at Battersea but don't want a staff. Nothing against them but there are so many around here that are used as status dogs.

my daughters arent keen on staffs, neither am i. and we wanted a bigger dog. so have gone for labradoodles

what area are you in?

Ah, so you're in London I take it?

In that case you might like to approach Wood Green Animal Shelter (in N22) and/or Foal Farm, Biggin Hill in Kent (both have websites). You could do a lot worse than calling Gladys at ProDogsDirect in South London (Catford/Lewisham iirr). Gladys is one of my contacts, a lovely, friendly and helpful lady who will do her best to help. She and her fosterers generally have scores of dogs in need of homes (and I've just realised that they too have a website, here

Time-wise, it depends on when/if there is a suitable dog and on the rescue's policy. Some will merely require a home check then let you have the dog if it's successful, others will want you to spend some time with the dog at the rescue first of all.

Two things I must add;

1. Go with an open mind as to what you want. When I lost my older, small/medium collie cross girl, whom I'd had since she was 8, I went looking for a similar girl, just a little younger.

I didn't find one. Instead, the perfect dog, the one just right for me was a whacking great long haired, honey coloured 9 yo German Shepherd boy. You see, you never can tell! It's not about breed, sex, colour, it's about who you fall in love with and who needs you.... which brings me on to my next point...

1. Staffies.

Yes they're a status dog... for SOME people. For others Staffies are amazingly loyal cuddle monsters. I see more of these in rescue than anything else and know that more than any others they die for want of homes. Yet they're wonderful dogs in the right hands. Have a peek at my profile if you don't believe me, at my ex-foster girl relaxing in her new home.

i know staffies can be wonderful dogs, as have met loads of them. but we didnt want people to recoil away from us when out on walks.

i did fall in love at the RSPCA shelter with a gorgeous white GSD. gorgeous boy, 9yr old, with a beautiful temperment. But we couldnt have him as we had kids, and they didnt know what he would be like with children. he was wonderful.

there were a lot of bulldogs as well.

rspca rehoming

We got our first dog from the RSPCA we were looking for a lab type dog, but came away with a 6mth old bitch cross lurcher. We have just got another rescue dog a 6yr old bull cross lurcher from Lurcher link.(cuddle monster)

As Vall said I think it's the dog you fall for not the breed or colour.

I think that as long as someone can come in at let the dog out then it should be fine.

Good luck

Also, Kid, there are rescues out there which will rehome way out of their area, even country-wide. German Shepherd Rescue, for example, have foster dogs in all counties. If do have a breed in mind I may be able to suggest a rescue which may be of help albeit not a local one to you (though I confess I don't personally know any Spaniel ones, but I bet one/some of my contacts will be able to advise on that).

I am rather sad as I know of an adorable medium sized tri-coloured smooth collie cross boy (have met and played with him as have DDs) who is pretty much perfect and very affectionate and fun and who is seeking an only-dog home, but he's near Ely, Cambs and the rescue are loathe to rehome further than an hour from their base due to the difficulty in being able to reach the dog should the owner need help, given that there's only the 2 of them running the rescue (plus they're particular on who does their homechecks, preferring someone whom they know to do them). Happy to try to twist the rescue owners armput in a word for you if you'd like me to though?

Hi! We got our dog from the RSPCA.

He was 16 weeks old and is a cocker spaniel cross (not sure what lol)

We first spoke on the phone, they asked what we wanted, our family set up etc etc and looked for a dog.
3 days later they phoned about a spaniel puppy that was at some kennels about 20 miles away. (a privately owned kennels that also 'fostered' RSPCA dogs)

We went to meet him and fell in love!
A lady from the RSPCA came to look at our house/meet us/check garden is safe etc. She also asked about DS (just his age really he was 11 months).

She gave us the ok and we went and collected him the same day!!

That was nearly 2 years ago and its been great.

I definitely wouldn't get a dog this side of my holiday. Moby was all set to go to a boarding house. We had met and walked our dogs together for 2 1/2 hours. I really don't want to get a dog and have to leave him (or her) with a stranger or in kennels.

Out of interest vallhala, how old is the dog, is he neutered and lastly, do you have any photos?

I am quite nervous about getting a new dog, I feel guilty to be replacing moby even though I know he can never be replaced. God, I miss him so much

Jack is 8, but a very sprightly, energetic 8, and as a cross would, god-willing, have a long time ahead of him. He is neutered.

Pictures can be found here Scroll to "Poplar Farm Rescue Kennels - Dogs At A Glance", and collie Jack is the first one on that thread. For some reason I can't get my pc to link directly to the page.

The 13 yo in the last picture is a visitor to and helper at the rescue - that was her first time of meeting Jack.

And you won't be replacing Moby... I know that that's impossible. You'll be filling a gap in your home and a hole in your heart, please don't beat yourself up and feel guilty.

Just trying to load the link for a peek at jack, but I know I couldn't rehome him due to his age. I'd idealy want a 1-2 yr old so I can be sure of many happy years together. I wish I could re-home loads of dogs but that's just not possible.

I am feeling lots of different emotions regarding moby which are all normal. I am currently sad/angry that he died. Come on grieving process, let's get all the stages over with, I've suffered enough already

Thank you for your help and suggestions.
I have been looking through the dogs looking for a home on your links. I'm not ready to make a decision plus I was DH and DC to help make the decision as we have suffered a terrible loss and all of our hearts need mending.

If anyone does happen to come across a medium, nuetered dog around 1-2 yo and suitable to live with kids (8+) then plese do give me a shout.
Thank you

Val, I've just clicked on your link. How tragic that some of these dogs are 2 years old and have never even been walked . Some lovely dogs there.

Kid, I know you are not ready yet, but there is a lovely 3 year old cocker bitch called Toffee on the site Val linked to. Can be rehomed with children too.

The site Pro Dogs Direct is really good Vallhala - please pass this on to your contacts. Its really user friendly and well set out. So many of these dogs would make good pets. Our old dog was a rescue dog but it took months to find a suitable dog and even then, it was a bit of a gamble (which happily paid off ). I am not in UK and nearly all the dogs in shelters/rescues within 50 kms of me had dogs which were not suitable as family pets and/or couldn't be rehomed with children.

We looked at Skunk (old dog) within a day of his details going onto the website and were lucky to get him. I still often check on the website of our local shelter which has a no PTS policy and find that dogs which were there 6 years ago when I was first looking for a dog, are still there

I thought I'd just add that on the 'Many Tears' rescue site there are lots of fabulous dogs. Lots of them are ex-breeding dogs so they like you to already have a dog in residence but they also have many puppies at the moment. There are two 10 week old labs which were unsold by their breeder and a lovely lab-boxer cross (I've had both these breeds and this is an unbeatable mix imho).

Good luck.