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Original poster

How long did it take you to find a suitable rescue dog once you started looking?

24 replies

Pernickety · 05/10/2012 14:02

I'm feeling impatient. It doesn't help that we're in a poor part of the country, geographically, for rescue centres, so I am losing hope. I'm not sure I can spend a few days every week driving for over an hour to look at the dogs, only to find the one I like is already reserved. Anyway, I'm sure I'm just being impatient, but thought I'd ask how long it took others.

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absolutmum · 05/10/2012 14:11

We were really lucky. We had been keeping an eye on web sites for ages, but when we finally moved house and had the space, it took a day to find our devil dog!
We went to one RSPCA to have a look. We took one dog out, but he wasn't suitable. We were heading home and I decided to phone another branch, further away. They had a Labrador cross puppy. We made an appointment that afternoon and fell for her completely! After an interview and a home visit, we brought her home a week later.
Try phoning ahead perhaps?

mistlethrush · 05/10/2012 14:13

Pernickety - I've been scouring websites across the country... many have a 'reserved' option... Which general part of the country are you in?

Vix07 · 05/10/2012 14:16

It took me a month, but then I was living 4 hrs+ from the nearest rehoming centre. I visited 2 one day, didn't find the one for me but had a good chat about what was suitable as I lived alone etc, then got a call a few weeks later saying just the fellow had come in. I came to meet him a couple of days later & took him home the next day. We have been inseparable ever since so it's definitely worth waiting! Good luck x
Used Dogs Trust btw, they were brilliant

Original poster
Pernickety · 05/10/2012 14:25

Suffolk. The rescue centre I visited today in Norfolk does not put all its dogs on its website, and did not answer my calls or emails before I went to look.

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Original poster
Pernickety · 05/10/2012 14:28

I don't think our 'local' Dogs Trust will contact you like that. I've been to our 'local' Dogstrust but most of the dogs were already reserved.

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Floralnomad · 05/10/2012 15:18

We started looking on a Thursday , went to RSPCA on Friday, 2 local rescues on Saturday and took a 16 week old puppy home from Battersea London on the Sunday . It took me years to get my husband to agree to a dog and there was no way we were giving him time to change his mind again. Having said that I was only prepared to take something suitable not just any dog and we were lucky with our pup , it was a case of being there at the right moment.

TheGOLDCunnyFunt · 05/10/2012 16:22

Months! Started our search late october/early november last year, we brought a greyhound home at the beginning of december, he lasted half an hour before the rescue lady took him back (he thought our 5.5mo DD was prey!), and it wasn't until 29th january this year we met and kept our current greyhound. So it can take a while to find the right one.

Don't lose hope, your dog is out there somewhere :)

LadyTurmoil · 05/10/2012 16:47

Take a look at www.manytears.co.uk, www.streetdogrescue.com, www.siriusdogsanctuary.com. Many Tears are in Wales but foster many dogs in all parts of the country. The other two are in Bulgaria and Cyprus respectively, so pretty difficult to see the dog beforehand but if you did fall in love with one, I'm sure they could tell you a lot about the dog via email etc. They charge £250 from Bulgaria and I think it depends on size of dog from Cyprus (because of airline charges). Have you looked at Hillside Sanctuary in Norfolk, that's another one I've seen via Google. Also www.ravenswoodpetrescue.co.uk (Wishbech). www.dogpages.org.uk have pages for Suffolk area. I would presume that you could register your interest at quite a few places and they would contact you if a suitable dog came into their care. Good luck!

morethanyoubargainfor · 05/10/2012 17:00

Pernickety I am in Suffolk also, we found our first rescue dog on our first visit to wood green. I had seen him on the web but had discounted him for lots of reasons. When I went he was reserved but I enquired about him and the centre called the reserved owners who said they were no longer interested in him as wanted a bitch! So he was reserved for us. Our second rescue took longer to find, as already had two resident dogs and a child. We found her after about 3 months or so of looking. She was in Horsham but the process was done differently, in that we had 2 phone interviews, then a home heck, then another phone interview then we got to meet her and if everything went ok we took her home then. I don't know where about in Suffolk you are but have tried seesaw? I went there yesterday and they had a few dogs, it's not the prettiest of places but they are all about the animals. It is far from shiny and new! Good luck.

Original poster
Pernickety · 09/10/2012 07:58

Thanks everyone. We are pursuing rescues further away that may rehome to us.

If I wanted a staffie I'd be fine. It's so sad how many of these dogs are in rescue. I do like them and even walked a lovely boy but he was too strong. I do need my mother to be happy with our dog as she is the person who will look after it if we go away where we can't take the dog and the boy I walked was going to be too strong for her (he knocked me over!). I'd still consider one crossed with somethig small or a littler female but the ones I saw were all large boys.

We'd really love a lurcher. I will keep looking....

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Original poster
Pernickety · 09/10/2012 07:59

Oh, if anyone knows of rescues where they will home check anywhere in the country and will let you reserve a dog from seeign it online, let me know.

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mistlethrush · 09/10/2012 08:03

Pernickety - ManyTears appear to homecheck throughout the country and you get that after you've looked on their website and submitted a form about a specific dog. I believe, once you've submitted your form on the particular dog it becomes reserved, you have a home check quite quickly and then have ideally 3 days to go and see the dog unless you have school age children in which case it includes the following weekend - they want to see everyone that is going to be in the household seeing the dog (from their blurb).

kitsmummy · 09/10/2012 10:50

Pernickety - I'd second exactly what mistlethrush says about Many Tears. We've just got a puppy from them and they were great. They will home check wherever you're based in the country.

LadyTurmoil · 09/10/2012 15:41

Some lovely ones on here www.dorsetdogrescue.com/dogsneedinghomes.htm don't know if they'd rehome to Suffolk but maybe...

LadyTurmoil · 09/10/2012 15:41

Kitsmummy : which puppy was it?

Grockle · 09/10/2012 16:20

We decided to get a dog on a Monday (we'd discussed it for months & months). I visited the dog in her foster home on the Wednesday and she plonked herself on my feet & stayed there til I had to leave. She came to live with us the following week. It was much quicker than we anticipated! She is the perfect dog for us.

mistlethrush · 09/10/2012 16:21

All the puppies I was looking at on manytears have now gone :( But we can't take one until our old lady can't go on any longer - won't be long Sad

Scuttlebutter · 09/10/2012 20:01

If you're after a lurcher, what about Lurcher Link?

Original poster
Pernickety · 10/10/2012 07:48

Thank you everyone. There are indeed some lovely dogs on that Dorset rescue. I have now added Many Tears and Lurcher Link to my bookmarks as part of my daily search.

I'm waiting for a homecheck from a rescue who have a lovely dog I have fallen in love with. I'm thinking about her all the time and it's really painful to think that someone else might get her!

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higgle · 10/10/2012 16:38

Our dog chose us! His sad and ancient staffie eyes looked out from the Many Tears website and we had no powers of resistance. He had been there for ages and no one else wanted him.

ssssh · 10/10/2012 21:31

We got our 5 month old lurcher from Leeds Dogs' Trust - there were several lurcher types but not all suitable for small children. There seem to be plenty in this area as sadly there are still people who think hare coursing is sport and they seem to breed lurchers pretty freely. Since I've had my dog two people have asked to buy him and one told me I'd ruin him if I had him castrated!

mistlethrush · 10/10/2012 22:10

ssssh I'm struggling to find one that will be OK on its own and with a 7yo ds - would like a younger rather than older dog - partly due to ds...

bochead · 11/10/2012 16:27

It took me 12 months, and no I didn't regret waiting that long. 6 months to properly research the breeds I was interested in and select my chosen top 3 rescues. Another 6 months for "my" companion to arrive - I'd have been happy to wait up to 2 years.

My last dog lived till he was 18 - a long time if you make the wrong selection! (my relationship with the dog outlasted several with humans in that time lol!). Obviously I'm hoping our current mutt will be with us just as long, so the wait for her against her potential lifespan seems a good trade off, as my ASD lad will tell you she's perfect for our family Grin.

Some of the rescues that foster seem to "share" homecheckers so you may not need to go through that part of the process more than once to get on the books of several child-friendly ones, especially if you choose those that stock similar breeds eg lurcher link & scruples whippet rescue.

I think of it like ttc - you may take a while, or it may happen first time but it's always worth the effort of doing it properly Wink

LAK11 · 11/10/2012 20:39

www.alldogsmatter.co.uk/?new-adm-branch,1495

Newly opened branch of a London charity. We got our dog from them - less than a week from seeing him on website to actually having him on 2 week trial.

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