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.

2/3 dogs have been rehomed and the other doesn't like cats.

Gutted. Happy for the doggies of course.

Today we are going t batteries dogs home as we've seen a dog and she is definitely meant to be with us. She's a four year old Labrador retriever. Looks like one I grew up with and even has the same name. I really hope we are allowed to meet her as a minimum.

going to Battersea dogs and cats home..

Oh brilliant! Best wishes for a successful visit

When we got there she had been reserved and probably rehomed. Happy for her. Sad for us.

Not many dogs available to view as they have kennel cough and all the ones we liked don't like cats.

Still heard from the rescue place nor the breeder we emailed.

Sorry to hear it was a wasted journey. You'll have to follow up your email to the rescue with a phone call if possible. They're usually so stretched for volunteers that they won't have time/resources to go through emails. It sounds mad as they're obviously missing out on potential adopters, but I think that's what happens on a day-to-day basis, just through lack of time.

Can you call to arrange a visit? At least check if the dog is still available...

The rescue place say on their site it's all volunteers so it will take time. They had three dogs showing as available but when I clicked on the photos a few days ago the one we wanted has gone, the second has gone and the third can't live with cats.

It wasn't really a wasted journey as we got out of the house, bought something in the shop, they got the admission fee, had a detour from DS1 and it's made us realise that for the sake of our two cats it might be better if we got a small puppy. GirlCat already thinks she is a dog and BoyCat might cope better if something new coming in is the same size as him.

If we are meant to have a dog I'm sure it will happen 🐶

Many tears have a 5 month lab come on the site today. Her ID is 15825 as I know you don't have Facebook. Her name is clover and she looks adorable.
Www.manytearsrescue.com

Thank you. I'll look now.

Why are most of the dogs in Wales? Is that where the company is based? It feels too much to expect them to come to Kent to do a home visit . She sounds wonderful though and I've sent the link to DH.

Going

They often have local connections to homecheckers throughout the Uk rather than coming distance

That sounds better .

Did you try black retriever X? They rehome in the south east (and everywhere).
There is a network of home checkers, I have been home checked for a dog from Yorkshire and am taking a dog from Cyrus next month. I am in Kent.

Helen McGarry re homes dogs (often dumped by British ex pats) from Cyprus. They are assessed, chipped, vaccinated and given a passport, also full back up. She is brilliant at making it easy. On Facebook if interested, heaving with beautiful young dogs. Retriever pup needs a home-

We are thinking we'd be better with a puppy as our cats might cope with a new pet coming in if they are about the same size but I'm looking at every dog and discussing them with DH. We don't want to be too restrictive. Thank you all 🐶

Very disappointing that no one has got back to us be it charity or private breeders.

In relation to Many Tears - we are London based and the lady who came to us to do the home inspection was very local (i.e. she lived a couple of miles away). They have a broad network of inspectors throughout the country.

We drove to Wales to pick up our pooch early one Saturday morning and the journey wasn't at all arduous! Unlike other rescues, we only had to make one journey. Dogs Trust seem to want many visits before you commit to take a dog - we simply had a Meet and Greet - all loved him, so took him home! The only thing I would mention though is that the fosterer will want to meet all members of the family to see how they interact with the dog.

Sadly Clover was reserved by the time DH got home.

I've got working labs, and they are very different tempremements to the show labs I meet in the park
The biggest difference (apart from the size) is their strong impulse control
Working labs just don't tend to have that impulsive nature around food and play. Don't get me wrong, they love food, but I can leave a roast chicken on the floor and they won't touch it, which on a more practical level, means no scavenging at picnics in the park, or pulling me across a main road to because they've seen some food. It why most guide dogs come from a mix of working Goldie and working Lab lines... They are so much easier to train and so much calmer...

I can really, really recommend buying a copy of 'the pet gundog' by Les Graham from Amazon and reading it. It gives you a great insight into how to train spaniels and labs, and how their minds work.

I also don't think your logic of the cats preferring a puppy is correct. Puppies are bouncy and nippy and into everything. Their size is irrelevant to the cats - it will annoy them.
An older, calmer dog which will leave them alone is going to far less stressful for them

That's interesting and will bear that in mind. I've got a lot of animals and kids to consider!

If your thinking puppy, it would be sensible to contact one of the breed clubs. They will be able to tell you which members have litters coming up and all members have to abide by their code of ethics and health testing recommendations- SUPER INPORTANT!

It would be prudent to contact then asap as a lot of puppies are reserved before they're even born. Good luck

If you do decide to go to a breeder you'll probably have more luck if you ring them rather than email, unless they've got a very active online presence.

If you get in touch with one of the breeds clubs, either the national one or the [[http://www.thekennelclub.org.uk/services/public/findaclub/breed/list.aspx?id=2048 relevant regional one, (again, ringing is likely to be more successful than emailing) they should be able to help point you towards breeders who are planning litters.

Champdogs have a list of lab breeders that can be filtered by type (show, working or dual purpose) and by breeders that health test.

Be very careful if you're looking on places like Pets4Homes. Whilst you do get some genuine, decent breeders advertising on there you also get a lot of dodgy ones. Puppy farmers/dealers are getting very clever indeed at setting up convincing fronts for selling their pups.

DH keeps sending links to pets4homes but I've told him no to all and told him has to be kennel club registered. One lady has replied but haven't had chance to talk to him yet.

Kennel club registered means nothing in terms of is this a decent breeder!

You want to make sure that the breeder health tests all their dogs and is ideally breeding for a purpose- to work or show- not just sticking two dogs together wildly nilly.

Breed clubs are the best place to start. Also look at the ABS scheme. It's not foolproof but it helps.

A lot of good breeders advertise on champ dogs, you can post a lot more details about your litter there

Apologies for the ballsed up link for Champdogs, here's a fixed one!!