Where should I get a puppy from?

[SamSmalaidh]

Tips for a complete newbie please!

I want to get a dog - something smallish but not a handbag dog. I have a 2 year old so think I probably need a puppy, right?

I am not bothered about pedigree, just want a healthy dog. I don't want to spend £3k on a blue french bulldog however cute they are I also don't think I want to buy a dog off gumtree/facebook - or do I? Any information gratefully received.

the best place to go is to one of the rescue orginisations, dogs trust are very good and will give you lots of advice and back up, or a breed rescue if you have an idea of which breed you would like, the best way to do it is research before you approach anyone, look on google at temprements, general info on breeds, suitability with children, size exercise needs etc, and definitely dont go near gumtree or facebook they are covers for puppy farmed dogs a lot of the time and come with a lot of health and inbred problems many a tear has been shed by people who have unwittingly bought these pups, also think about what is your little one like with dogs is he/she calm with dogs giddy likely to get a bit boisterous

Rescues don't seem to have puppies though, and the RSPCA place won't rehome any dogs with children under 5.

You might think that dogs in rescues are older, have issues etc. but many of them have puppies or younger dogs - all breeds, shapes and sizes. You can look at www.manytears.co.uk for example but there are also many rescues operating in Spain, Cyprus, Greece and Romania. You can look at K9 Angels on FB. You probably already know but puppies are bloody hard work! It will be like having another 2 year old, very lively and mobile, pooing and peeing in the house for a bit until they're housetrained, chewing things, sharp teeth and claws which the 2 year old might not appreciate! Sorry if I'm telling you stuff you already know but I looked after a puppy for a week and it was non-stop action! Good luck in your search.

the RSPCA dont seem to want to rehome any animal be it cat or dog they place a lot of conditions on doing so, dogs trust will rehome to familys with children, it depends where you live, as they have centers in different places, if near london it might be worth contacting battersea dogs home, foal farm in kent is one i know from personal experience having adopted my georgous border collie who lived for 17 years from there as a four month old pup, the midlands birmingham dogs home, many tears in wales is an amazing orginisation, maybe think about a slightly older pup say six months old as it wont be at the stage where you have to house train it from scratch but stiil its a pup still and you might find more choice and if a crossbreed you will get an idea of final size

Your last post just popped up as I entered mine! I know that there are rescues who will take into consideration the fact that you have a young child and will be able to match you with a suitable dog, who will fit into your lifestyle rather than just choosing it by breed only. RSPCA seem to be filled to bursting with staffie types or bigger dogs so I would look further afield. Depending on where you live, you can look at www.dogpages.co.uk which will give you links to rescues in your area.

Yes, happy to think about an older puppy but just thought an older dog might struggle to adjust to a 2 year old (although he is quite calm and reliable around dogs, but still noisy/annoying!).

funnily enough a pup around six months would probably be ok with a two year old as being a bit bigger would be able to get away from your son if he got too boisterous wheras a tiny 8 week old pup wouldnt, well ive got to go bed now cos of work good luck in your hunt

Many Tears Animal Rescue always have pups, rehome across the country and consider people with children.

Impawtant Pups (you can find them on FB) specialise in rehoming puppies and young dogs and will consider families with children.

A lot of the sighthound charities seem to be getting lurcher pups in at the moment.

An older staffie would be a good breed with a two year old, they're considered to be the most patient breed with small children, so I would not rule them out on breed alone and as said above there are plenty in rescue, don't let this put you off, they are the most over bred in the country. There are more in rescue because there are more of in total. They're not bad dogs, quite the opposite actually.

Toddlers are scared of my 12 week old puppy - they can't cope at all with his enthusiastic greetings and his mouthing. They squeal and try to move away and that makes him even more excited, he's having to stay on the lead round small children (mine are older).

He is a bit of a hooligan, but not massively unusual as puppies go...I'd recommend going with an older one as well, over 6 months should get you past the mouthing and teething stages, or an adult that's already good with young children.

I recently got a 2yo Staffie from the blue cross, despite having 3 dc, including a 2yo & 4yo.

I didn't think I'd be eligible, but it only took a few weeks before the right dog found us.

The benefit of an older dog is less poo in the house, and a lot of training had been done, as she was obviously a family dog before, but the family had sadly broken down.

Staffies are amazing with children. Like lap dogs, but bomb proof.

I've heard that manytears are not against puppy farming and take on breeding bitches that cannot be used anymore and don't do anything about the farm they've come from. You could try Horse and Hound forum's All about dogs section. Some of the members run their own rescue and are very flexible with rehoming.

"manytears are not against puppy farming"

I think it's more that they recognise it happens, and would rather the dogs went to them for rehoming than ended up culled as 'past their sell by date'.

Many Tears might not "do anything" publicly because they don't want to discourage puppy farmers from handing over their bitches after they've used them.

Other groups of rescue often publicly ignore certain atrocities but have behind the scenes "splinter groups" doing a lot to campaign for change. The rescues themselves keep a safe distance from this work, so as not to alienate themselves from the owners of the dogs they are trying to help.

Gritting your teeth and keeping your mouth shut must be incredibly hard for the rescuers, but sadly it is necessary if they want to help as many dogs as they are able to.

The only thing I would have against MTAR is that they now charge adopters for behavioural consults and I believe this should be free to people who have adopted from them to help ensure that the home does not break down because of easily fixed issues.

WRT staffies, my dd was 18 months old when we got our first rescue staffy, he was 2 and a half.

Older staffies are really good with young children IME.

Staffy puppy's however are a bit bonkers!

Puppies are soo much work, do you think that with a 2 year old you might be better off with a slightly older dog?

We always had older dogs, we have a 7 month old puppy at the moment, we had him since he was 3 months old, he was supposed to be a short term foster and he is bloody hard work.

He's adorable....but it's not easy!

My "short term" foster puppy was only here for two weeks. That was in July and he's currently sleeping on my sofa. He's also bloody hard work. He is an evil genius puppy.

He bit my Dad and drew blood on our last walk It was mine and my Dad's fault. Evil genius puppy was running around with a dead seagull in his mouth. My Dad grabbed him by his collar (which he hates, but had a mouthful of seagull and could not retaliate without dropping his booty, which he did not want to do) and I got him to "Swap" the bird for some chopped ham. He immediately ran back to the dead bird so my Dad grabbed his collar again, upon which pup turned and snapped. I then put my arm out to stop him going back to the bird a third time and he went for me also, he must have thought I was going for his collar too. At this point Devil Dog decided he must intervene before pup injured someone and chased him off away from us and the bird.

I really should have warned my Dad that pup hates his collar being handled and I should have done more work with him on this issue prior to this incident but we've managing fine using houselines, slip leads, treats and lures and everyone in our house knows not to touch his collar, he often doesn't wear one at all in the house to prevent the temptation to grab it when he won't do as he is told.

Rescue centres if you're not bothered about a particular breed.

If you are, then the best thing is to get the contact numbers of the breed club secretaries from the KC website. Ring the ones for the breed you're interested in & they'll give you contact numbers for breeders with puppies due or planned. Even if they have nothing at the moment you'll be on the breed grapevine & it's the best way to find a healthy puppy from a reliable breeder. You'll possibly get passed along through lots to find what you're looking for. Most will have a waiting list.

With a 2yo I would get a slightly older dog who has gone through teething and hopefully also learned that fingers are not suitable things to chew - puppies have needle sharp teeth - I remember being frightened of our puppy we got when I was 5 because she hadn't learned not to bite fingers.