Where can i get a mutt?

[seeker]

I want a lovely scruffy mongrel puppy. Trouble is, the NCL won;t even do a home visit for us because we live on a boat. Despite ticking every other box possible. We had the same problem with Cats Protection - they wouldn;t even come and visit either despite the fact that our previous cat had died of old age at 18 - he hadn;t gone to a watery grave!

We don't want a pedigree - we want a puppy like William Brown's Jumble. Sort of Border Terrier size, i think.And we want it to come from a family and to have been handled and loved from birth.

Do such pups exist in these days of responsible dog ownership? I don;t want them to - apart from just one for us!

Any ideas?

have a look at the many tears website, I dont know what the criteria are though. prepare to fall in love a million times. I have a gorgeous border terrier, chosen for many reasons but dh's main one being that she looks like a dog an old man could take donw the pub.

Where are you usually moored?

I'll bet a pound to a pinch of the proverbial that Vallhala will sniff this thread out and be able to put you in touch with suitable independent rescues, who often use common sense as opposed to purely a tick list.

Oh, i do hope so! We're in Kent. And we have a fabulous home waiting for the right pup - I've been waiting til ds turns 10 so he can take a proper part in looking after it!

(does have to be a Heinz57 though)

good luck OP. friends of our lived on a narrowboat for a few years and the people we met were lovely. i think its a lovely lifestyle for a dog

by NCL do you mean Dogs Trust formerly NCDL?

Sorry - typed too fast. NCDL. Where everyone in our area (EXCEPT US) gets their dogs!

We have a dog just like you describe (pic on profile, the white one). She came from a friend of my brother's and we visited her regularly from a week old. She's wonderful. She's a real dog, just like in the Just William stories - interested in everything, into everything, follows us everywhere, incredibly fun and such a character. My mum says she looks like "what-a-mess" and people often tell us she's just like a cartoon or storybook dog. She's down on her records as a Jack Russell/spaniel cross but that's being a bit kind really. Her Dad is a pure JRT/spaniel cross but mum was a rescue dog of JRT and other fairly indeterminate breeds so she's a bit of a heinz 57. All the pups went to friends of the lady's (there were two left out of seven and she kept those) so they weren't advertised anywhere - you just had to be in the know. I know this isn't much help but if you really can't get rescue you could put the feelers out to friends of friends etc.

Yes, I know having a litter of pups isn't responsible (and another time I would go for rescue) but circumstances were such for me at the time that she was exceptionally special and it was one of this litter I wanted, not just any dog.

When we took her for her first vaccines the vet said "wow! I bet you had to go a long way to get her!", to which I said, "well 3 miles" , so terrier type mongrel pups are obviously not that common.

Having said that, I've seen loads of adorable dogs on some of the rescue sites very much similar to her, and in the future, having read so much on here, that's where I'd look. It's just getting one to accept you (we tried to go to rescue for our first dog but our youngest was under 5 and everyone we contacted said no), but I think they do exist.

Sorry, none of that is any help whatsoever, but good luck. :)

Oh musicposy - she's lovely! One of our cats is called Poppy.

Will have to start putting feeleers out. The only littler of "mixed" puppies I've heard about recently are rottweiler/mastiffs! Not quite what we had in mind.........

manytearsrescue.webs.com/dogslookingforhomes.htm

Def Many Tears, they've got some terrier type mutts on at the moment (Jess and Pushti are particularly lovely!). MT is in Wales, but when you contact Sylvie she may be able to get your chosen mutt moved closer to you.

Our Mutt is from MT (Pic on profile) but has grown quite a bit bigger than we expected! She is bloody gorgeous tho' and the best thing we ever did.

(We we turned down by Dogs Trust as we are a Mil family, but MT asked the right questions and realised that not all soldiers dump dogs when posted overseas etc. They look into ALL circumstances rather than give a stupid, blanket, NO)

I was just looking at Jess a minute ago!

I like Cash as well.

Yes yes MT. My heart belongs to Jex the pointer on there - unfortunately my DH says a flat no to a 3rd dog.

I hope you find the perfect pup. I have gone misty eyed at the thought of William Brown's Jumble, I loved those books as a child.

Cash is lovely.

get off cash he's mine. (see thread about a week ago about how much I love cash) I cant believe he is still there.

Cash, Jess, and Lipson.....

Ooh, I can never look at the many tears website without wanting to bring them all home! I know 2 dogs is the top DH will agree to though -he only agreed to Poppy because I'd been through an awful time and caught him at a weak moment! In the future it is definitely something I will do.

I love Tropi, she looks gorgeous!

well, I sent off a form about Jess this morning. i'll let you know what happens.

Now to convince DP...............................

wow saeeker, keep us updated, which one is jess, I cant remember and I cant risk looking again

What a gorgous puppy - I will cross my fingers for you! I am very relieved to see that the beautiful Bruno has been reserved. I spent the weekend convincing myself that it wouldn't be too crazy adopting collie no.3 even though collie no.2 is only 5 months old. Dh, on the other hand, holds differing, possibly more sensible, views on the matter....

Have a look at Wiccaweys. They are predominately collies, but do have other dogs sometimes too. They currently have a very nice Tibetan terrier! I know categorically that they'll rehome to people on a boat as I know people who have had collies from them that actually live on boats. :)

I must make my reservations about boat-dwelling dog owners clear...

... there ain't no way I'm doing the bloody homecheck!

:o

Good luck seeker.