getting a dog. heart says yes. head says no. kids say please please please.

[ernesttheBavarian]

I always had dogs as a child until I left home. Loved them mafly of course. German shepherds and mongrel mostly labrador.

Id always put off getting a dog because of tge work and having babies meant I didnt want another to care for.

Anyway youngest of my 4 dc now 5. They would all love to have a dog.

Yesterday visited a friend who had a lab similar to my mongrel and I am really tempted.

But. I start work PT next week so will be out 2.5 days. Plus we go away often. Usually every school holidays. Sometimes it could come but not every time.

Am torn.

Do I go with heart and kids?
How on earth do I decide on the best breed and where and how do I get a dog

I wouldn't need a local teenager - I've got 2 of those at home already! I'd need someone who could come about 11ish I suppose. Later than that and I just wait for my older 2 to return and do it. I would ideally like a sitter that coukd also take it for the holidays instead of Kennels.

Need to sort out the allergy issue with ds3 first.

We go away most school holidays and most of the time we drive. If going to the uk we take the tunnel and I know you can definitely take pets on it. I guess from that respect living here is a big advantage. The only time we fly is if coming to uk for only a few days. Otherwise we drive every where.

Ernest I don't know how far you are from Munich, but there is a fb group called Parents in Munich (ex-pat thing), and some of the people on there are setting up a dog exchange service for holidays - makes sense as very few of them have local family. Would be an option if you are not too far out of the city. Though they all seem to have very small dogs. I guess if you get the right dog it should be possible for it to be left til 1pm for your own teens to walk? (They could then also charge neighbours for walking their dogs at the same time, if you get a dog that is good with other dogs, and make some money out of it themselves )

Just to add you could always contact a breed's club (e.g. labrador club etc). They often help with rehoming dogs who haven't spent time in rescues and who don't have the terribly sad stories (not saying that all dogs in rescues do of course!).

In any case, if you are getting a dog, get a breed that's easy to train. Our first dog was a dachshund, which, looking back now, was a huge mistake. They're incredibly stubborn.

Do your research and visit some breeders, even if you're going for an older dog/rescue dog. They can give you invaluable information about the characteristics.

I think Magnolia is right to point out the many years of commitment that you take on when you get a dog. However much the kids want it, when they have the dog and it's not a novelty any more, they will lose interest, not because they're horrible but just because they get used to having it around and won't necessarily want to spend every waking moment with it. So, the main chore of feeding, walking, vets appointments, arrangements for holidays etc will fall to the adults in the house.

Re. travel to UK with dogs - rescues travel all the way from Greece, Spain, Bulgaria, France etc with dogs so it's certainly possible with rest stops etc. My brother takes 3 dogs on the ferry (usually overnight one), so they walk/feed dogs and then they stay in the car for 6 hours asleep. He just has to go to the vets in France 48hrs beforehand to get them checked and (I think) a worm treatment done. Saw loads of people with dogs in cars when we were driving back recently.

Ernest hope you get some more info on allergies, it is manageable, certainly depends on the dog. I've got eczema and allergies, some dogs set me off and others are fine - and it doesn't necessarily depend on long haired versus short haired, it's usually more when they lick me! Bichon doesn't do anything to me but Shih Tzu does! And, even if I react to the dog on the first meeting, I find that if I spend a few days, then I desensitise and can cope. Came up in rashes first time dog licked me on holiday this summer (Basset Fauve) but was fine after that and it visited us daily from the neighbour's house!

Mr Tumbles I'm sure they'd be able to rehome to Germany if that's what you wanted... I think fostering is a great idea, it helps the dog and the rescue and gives you a "try before you buy" period of time. Good luck again.

www.actionaidforanimals.com/ Working primarily in Croatia now, have regular dog transports to the UK, sure they could work out a way of getting to Germany if you needed

www.desperategreekies.com/ Bring dogs from Greece overland

Most rescues have a "where there's a will, there's a way" attitude as they really want to find homes for the dogs.

Croatia sounds good - we go there ourselves every couple of years, "this end" of Croatia isn't far - 5 hours drive - and is a regular holiday destination for Germans. Croatia is very long and thin though so "the other" end of Croatia is a very long drive...

Anyway DH is being negative about the dog idea now, so it is going to be a long term plan I think - he was positive about the idea some time ago, but has recently been looking on the negative side, in terms of costs and things we won't be able to do (or rather will need to do differently - with young children we are limited anyway, and a dog will add another factor and sometimes another cost, but I don't think will actually make anything impossible that isn't already!).

There are what look like some lovely dogs on the rescue sites (I also found myself wishing we could get a UK rescue dog after stumbling on an "adopt an oldie" rescue page in the UK - would be happy to adopt a 7 year old or so dog... but can't find anything like that here, it does look as though only the "hard cases" end up needing re-homing via a rescue.

I am vaguely wondering if we could visit that rescue in Bulgaria one day and come home with a dog who we have met in person, as they do say they welcome visitors... Think its going to need to go back on the back burner for a while though... DC3 possibly too little anyway :(

If you are in Bavaria - look at the greater Swiss mountain dog - amazing family dog - though maybe too big for you.

You could have you on tested for a dog allergy - we had our son tested, we were pretty sure he was not allergic, but as he was asthmatic wanted to make sure. What I do know he is allergic too is grasses which of course end up in dogs coat - but it is the same for horses and he is a keen rider - we manage with anti-histimines. We also restrict ddog in the house - he is not allowed in bedrooms.

There are also dogs that are less allergenic - like poodles, Portuguese Water Dogs .....there are others , basically non shedding breeds.

Smile is his name and He is in Croatia, don't know if he's at the right "end" or not! another picture

Smile is a Setter cross unless I'm missing something? Tugs at the heart strings with the 3rd October deadline and he is gorgeous, but a setter would be bigger than we intended, and DH (who is German) thinks not knowing the other half of his mix (or more likely having lots of breeds in the mix) will make a dog hard to insure (he did some online research this morning into things like registering and insuring dogs - they have to be registered to an address just as people here have to be, which costs 30 euro a year, but 1000the if your dog is classed as a fighting breed!)

I will show him Smile when he gets home though, and see what he says...

The insurance here is almost always less expensive for cross breeds. I wonder whether a vet would be able to give you a certificate which indicated that there's no 'fighting breed' in there?

If you look at this album, there are all sizes, all in Croatia and transport could be arranged via Action Aid for Animals (or you could foster) www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=550304191695408&set=a.550300745029086.1073741860.388001557925673&type=1&theater

Thanks Lady and mistle - sadly I don't think Smile is for us :( But we are giving very serious thought to a couple of the adult dogs from Action Aid for Animals. I'll update you if anything comes of it! :)

Omg how cute is smile. I don't know anything about german pet insurance. We are away until next week. Then we'll talk. If for example we could take smile how would we actually get him? Abd how to I find out all the ins and outs of dog ownership in Germany?

Ernest I think the best thing you can do is contact Action Aid, explain your situation and where you are, as they'll need to do a home check. Or you can join the FB group and contact them that way www.facebook.com/groups/actionaidforanimalscroatia/

Ernst pm me if you want me to shate what dh has found out. He errs on the pessimistic side so aleaus tells me worst case scenario, although for a moment he almost talked me into a Rhodesian Ridgeback from the Reim rescue! Still think he might be lovely but so expensive to keep! He says 41euro a month for "top of the line" insurance for a mix breed, plus 62 a month liability insurance (legally compulsory in most states but not Bayern).

*6 not 62!!!!

Is that Haftpflichtversicherung? And just general or especially for dogs? My old vet (for cat) tolde not to bother with insurance. Wonder if just for cats? Font know anything about it.

7n Brighton I reckon every other person has a dog but in Germany it's pretty unusual. I only know 1 person with a dog back home.

www.agila.de/

Haftpflichtschutz

Dog specific, probably the same thing. DH says you can pay half that if you are willing to pay a massive excess and have lots of things excluded. That particular company won't even insure dogs born before 2005, according to the website - though it might in practice, and I assume it does if its a rolling contract set up before then!

The liability insurance is in case the dog destroys property or bites another dog or somebody, the same thing most people have on their household insurance for kids

Agree dog ownership is much less common here - also most dogs are pure breeds, or look to be... we are in the country side, but the only dog owners I know have a pure breed Golden Retreiver, Jack Russell, Dachshund, some kind of live colour pointer (massive) that looks pure bred, one person with a chihuahua and another tiny dog the breed of which I have forgotten, another with one chihuahua, and finally one family with a German Shepherd. Only person with more than 1 dog is an ex-pat, and I don't know anybody with a mix breed. Due to many sociable children I do know quite a lot of people... I think pet ownership, esp dogs, is taken very seriously here - I actually know almost as many people with horses as dogs, and its not a well off area particularly...

Don't do it. I did and regret it big time. I'm now lumbered with the mutt for the next 10 years or so

If you decide to go for it and you want:

• a pedigree dog, start by researching the breed. Find out what their common health problems are and expect any responsible breeder to know about them and to have taken steps to screen them out in his selection of the parents (the breeder should show you paperwork on this, no ifs or buts). Visit someone with the breed (most breeders will be happy to do this) and see a number of dogs 'in the flesh' to make sure they fit in with what you want. Choose a breeder who breeds for temperament and suitability as a family pet. The breeder should have very few litters a year and should keep the puppies in the house in an environment similar to your home, e.g. young children around. You should be able to see the mum and get information on the father. If the breeder starts giving you excuses on any of this, walk away, plenty more breeders out there.

• if you decide the rescue route find a reputable rescue. Ideally you want a pup or young dog with a known history that has been kept with a foster family with similar circumstances as your own, e.g. young children. You should be able to visit the dog more than once to ensure he/she is suitable (as well as the rescue vetting you and your home). The rescue should give you details of their behaviourist who you can contact in case of trouble and be very clear on their policy for taking dogs back if things don't work out. If the dog has any issues already be very sure you understand what they are and what is involved in resolving them in terms of time, money and effort.

This may be unpopular but I think that these foreign import rescues are a horrible idea. If the countries they rehome from are anything like Greece which I am familiar with, all their are doing is enabling the locals to breed even more dogs. Such countries need education, neutering programmes and help to teach people how to train their dogs. They do not need their dog population rehomed to make more room for more puppies. In addition dogs that come from such rescues have unknown backgrounds and are rarely suitable for family or novice dog owners. Finally many of these rescues operate as drop off points rather than proper rescue organisations that provide back-up support and can take dogs back if things don't work out.

ernest providing your DS doesn't have an allergy... Have a look at this website: www.tiervermittlung.de/

They have links to dogs in both shelters and foster homes all over Germany, puppies through to older dogs. You can search by your Postleitzahl and by criteria like beginner suitable and good with children. The charity Paroshunde have dogs on there - they are a Vereine - that's who we are looking at getting a rescue dog through now, they seem very good and meet Booboo's criteria above :) except that a lot of them are rescued from abroad - but not offered for adoption until they've been assessed in foster care here.