Want to rehome a dog - have I thought of everything?

[Besom]

Been thinking about this a lot recently. I've never owned a dog myself but grew up with them.

Our working patterns mean that dog would only be home alone for 2 hours in the day.

DH could walk morning and me in the afternoon.

Have nearly 5 yo and a cat, so dog would need to have been tested with these.

House and garden none too big so dog would have to be small to medium sized.

We can afford insurance and food.

Have good friend who llives locally with her own dog and we have discussed reciprocal holiday arrangements and she can also walk if we were ever out for longer. This means dog would need to be Ok with other dogs.

Anything else?

Dog can sleep in spare room.

Ok...so I'm laughing at your last line My dog was going to sleep where I told him. He sleeps on my bed

Have you considered what qualities you are looking for in a dog? They are all so different in temperament and you could be quite disappointed if you want to do swimming in a river with a water-phobic dog, etc.

Why don't you look around a few rescues, and see what you see?

Yes, I've looked online but we will go to shelters.

For various reasons it probably won't be until the new year but I'm champing at the bit now we've decided. I never knew it was possible to have such strong dog broodiness.

dog broodiness! It is definitely a real thing. I have it and we got really close to bringing a pup into our family (returned to breeder by previous owners) but then we were told they wanted experiened dog owners so it all fell apart. I think I am now obesessed by the idea of a dog. I am definitely dog broody. It's like a physical longing to bring a dog into our lives. I just applied for a dog in a rescue - one of a litter of 6 pups) and now have the agonising wait to find out if we are worthy! It's like waiting for a baby to be born!!!! . Ridiculous

I totally have dog broodiness. Can't wait until we can get out of rented accommodation.

I would go to a reputable rescue, definitely not a shelter/pound, you won't know anything about the dog you are taking on, and that's obviously not a good thing because of your 5yo and cat.

Oh fingers crossed for you WTF!

TheGOLDCunnyFunt - how do you know if somewhere is a pound and not a rescue? We have dogstrust not too far away and will be going there first. But there is also one nearby which I am not sure about now you draw that distinction.

I obviously wouldn't take one that I was not sure was good with kids and cats. I guess you need to try to be a bit clinical about it and ask all the questions.

Can I recommend Many Tears Rescue.

They turned us down for quite a few dogs before they eventually let us take my lovely lab/ collie X and she's just perfect for us.

They always have loads of dogs of all ages/ breeds available.

Dogs trust is ok, they will do home checks, and match you up with a suitable dog. In a nutshell, shelters/pounds just show you the dogs, you pick one and take it home there and then. No homecheck or nothing. The dog won't have been assessed to see how it is with dogs, cats or children. If you turn up to a place and this is what they do, then walk away. Some pounds do advertise themselves as rescues though. If you'd like to say where roughly in the country you are (obviously you don't have to :o) I'm pretty sure an MNer will come along and point you in the direction of a good rescue aswell as dogs trust :)

A decent rescue will home check you. They will interview you either before or during the home check and the interview is not just a quick chat about dogs they will ask a lot of questions or they should ask a lot of questions.

They're not there to judge you and there are no wrong answers, so be completely honest with them. It is important they know these things so they can match you with the right dog, for instance it's no good giving you a dog who is great with toddlers and older children but finds newborns distressing if you are planning on extending your family.

They should let you know that they plan on having follow up contact with you after the adoption.

You need to ask if they take the dog back should the home break down for any reason and what support they offer for training/behaviour consults. If they don't take the dog back at any point even ten years down the line and they have no support in place then walk away.

The Dogs trust have an excellent reputation for their rehoming policies.

Thank you for excellent advice.

We are in Scotland - central belt, borders, fife are within reach

2cats - wow Many Tears have a lot of dogs on thier website, but most are far from me . Do you know if they consider you if you have to travel far to get them?

I would be up for it but dh may well think I had lost the plot if I told him we are all driving to Llannelli

We're in London and all four of us did the trip there and back in one day. It was a mission, but we stopped for a swim half way there, which kept the kids sane.

What I found with other rescues was that they wouldn't consider us because our children were both under 5 at the time. They were also funny about doing home visits if ou were outside their 'catchment'. We didn't have any of those troubles with Many Tears. They were ace.

dont be fooled by small dog needing small garden. not true for exmaple with a jack russell, pehraps a whippet, who like to lie around but some dogs whatever their size, need a good run around.

We are one week into a 2 week trial with a rescue dog, have had a home check and our local fosterer has phoned a couple of times this week to see how we are getting on.

It looks like you have thought everything through you just need to go find your doggy.

Ours is a staffy x lab and she is from SSBTR, they have loads of dogs needing a new home :)

I have no garden. I have a small, paved yard. I also have a high energy terrier and a very high energy lurcher/kangeroo puppy.

We manage with regular off lead walks.

No garden is not necessarily an obstacle so long as other plans are put into place. I live opposite a park and have a beach close by so all of my dogs exercise needs are easily met without the need for a garden.

Our dog doesn't exercise in the garden (unless I really cannot be arsed to walk him in which case we play mad tennis ball games).

Good luck with your search.

Thanks again.

I used to go on holiday to Wales a child so could perhaps make a weekend of it!

Claimed - I have looked at SSBTR and it's good to hear they are as good as they sound on the website.

Yes plan would be garden only really used for toilet. There are plenty of green spaces around us and beach not very far.