We'd like a dog. Where do we start?

[Goingtobeawesome]

It won't be for a good few months if not a year but I'd love to get advice and to make sure I get everything right.

He or she would be our first dog together though I lived with two as a teenager.

We have two cats and two Guinea pigs already. Plus some fish and a snail.

They would be my dog ad I'd be home all day. Was dog or job!

We'd like a Labrador retriever.

We've considered the local rescue place as we have for our late Guinea pigs and current cat from them but DH is concerned about not knowing the full history so would the dog be safe with the children. They are 11-15.

Any advice? Thank you.

Gave you the FB group links, as they are usually a lot more up to date than websites (lack of time/volunteers etc). It enables you to see what other adopters think, if they have positive experiences etc.

Smaller rescues usually have most dogs in foster, so can be assessed in usual family environments. Look to see what the rescue's reaction is to any problems - do they offer backup? Do they recommend behaviourists? Do they take the dog back/help to rehome with changes in circumstances when that makes it necessary.

If you see a dog you like and it's far away, you can usually get homechecked anyway, there is a national network of voluntary homecheckers and rescue should be flexible about this and rehoming out of area, as long as you can visit once. If dog's abroad, you can always offer to foster before making a long-term commitment.

Good luck!

Thank you. I've been crazily busy so no time to look yet but will once DH gets home. Thanks again.

I couldn't see a lot of the pages and none I could see were quite right but thank you.
This is hard.
It seems if we want a puppy we are looking at buying from a private breeder which isn't what I wanted to do.

Try Labrador rescue southeast and central, our rescue lab came from them. They have puppies from time to time. Good luck

Thank you. I'll look now.

Heck. I love one already . They have three for adoption.

Sorry some of the links didn't work (don't know why) but you can search the names on FB and find them. But, honestly, you can't expect to find the perfect fit after one look. It can take a few months of looking, keeping up to date with quite a few FB groups or websites, before you find "your" dog

Said pages not available. I'm not on Facebook, can I still search via the name?

I've been looking a while. I know it's highly unlikely to take one search.

Sorry if I sounded a bot snippy! You should be able to find most through Google but there are a few who only have FB groups, as it's free, much esker to update, load photos than websites etc.

How about this 18mth old sweetie Rolo?

Just for contrast my lab is from show stock and is a mahoosive beast at 42kg. He was the runt but never stopped growing! A massive deep chest. He is walked for 2 hours a day and eats next to nothing yet stays this weight. Vet is happy with his weight and he's not a barrel. Just a solid boy. Echo a good insurance policy is a must. He's only a year old and has massive issues with digestive system which wasn't helped with a bad reaction to metacam. Pet plan do life cover which has been a godsend.
That said I would agree you need to be careful when walking. He can take me off my feet if I'm taken unawares so I walk him on a gentle leader type headcollar.
That said he is an angel with my toddler and his temperament is the best of any dog I've had. (Apart from his obsession of sock pinching)
I've attached a pic so you can see the difference between working and show. There's a years difference between pics btw.
Good luck

DH likes Rolo .

Wow Womble! That's a big change.

he's lovely isn't he? Full post from FB by a lady called Alison Fielding.

"NOT CAT TESTED

PLEASE SHARE Rollo is looking for his Forever Home.

Rollo is a 18 month old Golden Retriever, he needs a home to call his own.

Great with all humans and other dogs, he is still young and can be bouncy. NOT cat tested

He is now Neutered, Vaccinated etc and ready to travel to the UK for his forever Sofa 🐶👍😍

Home Checks and Adoption fees apply. He has full UK rescue back up

I keep forgetting we have two cats .

Aaah, but he's young enough to learn and you can request that they test him. He's with Action Aid for Animals

I couldn't find him. There was a lovely black and white dog needing a foster home on Friday but I feel it would upset my youngest to have to let them go.

Websites aren't always v well updated. He was still available a couple of days ago. Are you on FB?

Search Alison Fielding (living in Wendover) or join the FB group

Sorry, posted too soon. I'll attach a pic with the FB group name

I'm not on Facebook and would rather not be. I'll search again.

I've emailed the Labrador rescue people. Waiting to hear 🐶

He's still available .

www.manytearsrescue.org/display_mtar_dog.php?id=16614

He's lovely!

I've lost my heart to the Labrador I've messaged about.

Oops, she's lovely.

We've sent the application form, last night, but haven't heard back yet.