So I was going to wait.....

[Gonzo33]

but I just can't.

After contacting a breeder a few weeks ago they now have 4 week old boxer puppies that I am going to see today. So excited!!!! Must remember buy with head not with heart.

Hope all your gorgeous bundles of fur are doing well.

Me xx

That's exciting. Sounds as if heart is already fully engaged!

Arf. Waiting never works. I am 'waiting' until after our holidays to start fostering Greyhounds. There is no-one coming this Saturady afternoon to check my house and meet resident pets in order to decide which dog I can take. Nope. No-one at all. Not just because they are two dogs overfull and need extra help and I am a big softy. I wouldn't do that. I'd be sensible and wait, I would

Good luck with choosing a pup. There is a thread somwhere on what to expect a responsible breeder to ask and what you should be asking them. Have a look for it if you haven't already. Make sure you take of lots of pics. I love puppies.

I was meant to wait until Sept to rehome a pooch - but am on the verge or a homecheck............ now owrried that I have rushed!

Dooin, I understand completely. After saying repeatedly to our foster co-ordinator, "No, we can't foster any more ATM, we have a holiday booked" the local track closed and nearly fifty greys suddenly needed a home - so that went out the window, and a certain blonde foster grey arrived who to everyone's surprise is still here eighteen months later.

have you thought about boxer rescue? there are some lovely dogs looking for a new home

www.ukboxerdogs.co.uk/rescue.html

i like jake

www.thames-valley-boxer-rescue.org/14_Jake.html

Rescues are always the better choice. But after finding out that dd1 has dedicated a whole chapter in her 'free project' book to why people should rescue and not buy, which apparently upset quite a few children, who went home and demanded that their parents adopt a dog immediately to stop them all being 'murdered for nothing, when they didn't ask to be bred and they have done nothing wrong' and 'If we don't take responsibility for all these unwanted and abused dogs who will? The backyard breeders and people who buy from them certainly don't' I have decided that I maybe rant a bit too much about rescue dogs (is that possible?)

You can get puppies in rescue if you are willing to wait. Older dogs are the best imo. Once they have gotten past the annoying nipping stage.

Dooin -I bet the other parents in your DDs class lurved you

None of the parents have mentioned anything yet, but the teacher has asked me if I could tell dd1 to stop telling her classmates that dogs are being murdered en masse because there aren't enough people to love them, because she is upsetting them.

Jake is only 13 months so still young. he is gorgeous.

at dooin.

how old is dd1? as they were doing a project where this came up i dont think its fair to ask your dd to not talk about a subject which is factually true but others may not want to hear

dd may have been upset if someone had done a project on how great it was to buy their puppy from the local paper but if that was another child's project they should equally be allowed to talk about it. would they be asked to not talk about it?

teacher should use it to open up a discussion on how we can all have different viewpoints blah blah

of course once project is done and dusted might be a good idea for dd to not tell all the other kids on a daily basis how many dogs are being killed every day in the uk

She is almost 8. I haven't read the book yet, just heard bits about it from her teacher. It sounds like most of it is either paraphrased or directly copied from things she has overheard me say.

Chick, I don't live in the UK at the moment, I live overseas. Unfortunately I live in a Country where strays are pts not re-homed. Hence why I have to get a puppy. When we eventually move back to UK (couple of years) we will re-home as well.

Dooin, your DD has actually raised a very serious and important point. It sounds as though what she's written is factually correct - I'd be very worried if either you (unlikely!) or the teacher stopped her. I truly believe children can and should understand more about how we relate to animals in all sorts of ways, whether that is food, companions, experiments, etc. Doesn't mean you have to go round with propoganda, or make them watch vivisection films, but questions can and should be honestly answered, which sounds as though you've done. If it makes even one family stop and consider before buying a pup from a dodgy source she's done well and should be very proud.

dooin, dont make your dd stop talking about it.

my girls all know that tom is with the labradoodle to find him a home better suited to his needs. and they talk about it. they know we didnt dump him, and we choose somewhere where he wouldnt be killed as some 'rescues' do.

we didnt get our dogs from rescues, because at the time we were discussing dogs, this litter was imminent.

i think once my children are older, our next dog would be a rescue. and maybe if the labradoole trust dont hold it against me, i would like to be a fosterer for them as well. but thats a long way off.

Oh I'm not going to make her stop. I quizzed her to make sure she actually understood what she was saying because most of what the teacher told me about was word for word what I say regularly to DH and to dd1 herself when she asks about rescues.

She understands as much as she needs to.

According to her there is not even that much in her book about rescue because her book is about pet dogs, not rescue, but how can you write a book about pet dogs without saying where you should get your pet dog? She said after she read her chapter some of the kids in her class asked her why the dogs are killed, so she told them.