We want a new dog - what kind to get? Puppy or re-homed?

[iismum]

Our beloved Labrador died nearly a year ago and we feel its time to get a new dog. The kids (8 & 10) would love to get a puppy, and we've only ever had pure breed puppies, but I feel it's a bit unethical to do this and we should re-home if possible.

Our Labrador was perfect for our family life, but we'd struggle a bit to cope with the needs of a puppy now - we can rearrange our lives to do this if necessary, but missing out on the puppy days would make life easier; we were more flexible when our previous dog was a puppy (no children!)

I work part-time but spend a lot of the non-work time ferrying children around, etc. DH works full-time but from home, so the dog would have constant company. DH is also v flexible timewise, so fitting in walks is not a problem - however, multiple long walks means he has to work a lot in the evening.

We want a chilled-out, non-yappy dog who likes long walks but doesn't go crazy if given shorter walks for the odd day or two. The local rescue centre has several lurchers and greyhounds, which I've heard are good - but would they need a lot more exercise? Also several staffies and staffy crossbreeds, but these have never appeared to me.

Our last dog was very well trained, as is possible (quite easy!) with a lab and walked off the lead a lot with excellent road-sense (at least, trained never to step into the road and completely reliable, with no desire to run unexpectedly) which DH loves - he wants a dog that can do this. We also spend a lot of time in the country, so a dog with no interest in sheep would be ideal.

I'd really appreciate any thoughts. I'm tempted to go for a lab puppy and put up with the effort it will take in the early days, because then we know reasonably well what we'll get - but I feel uneasy about this and feel we should give a home to a dog that needs it.

We got a rescue lurcher last May, we think she's about 2 years old. She's been the best thing we ever did. She loves to go out her walks and do her zoomies in a field near us, then will come home and happily curl up somewhere comfy and snooze. She's been very easy to train and is a big gangly soppy girl always looking for cuddles. I'd never had a lurcher before and did have my doubts but she really has been the easiest dog I've ever owned. Loves long walks but equally happy to laze around. Only thing we had to learn quickly was to never leave any food out on kitchen work tops as she's a bit of a gannet. But if you've experienced a lab then you'll know about that! I'm not sure about the no interest in sheep but though as I've never been near them with her and if I was she'd definitely be on the lead. She does like to chase squirrels as is fast enough to catch them but I have a big shouty no voice that seems to stop her in her tracks when she charges off. Her recall is pretty good unless she spots another lurcher, they seem to love meeting up with their own type.

With children I would always buy a pure bred puppy from a reputable breeder. You don’t want to inherit problems with a rescue dog.

We've got a rescue deerhound/lurcher. Got him at 6 months and he's now 4 and an absolutely wonderful chap. He gets lots of comments from people and is a real character! The last pic was when he was a pup before rescue. Look at his sad eyes ☹️

Thanks a lot for the advice. For those of you that got rescue dogs - how long did you look before you chose one? Did it take a lot of searching? It must be hard to go to a rescue home and come away empty-handed!

I am a bit swayed by the advice about getting a pure breed with children. I'm sure a rescue would probably be ok, but probably maybe isn't good enough - it would be unbearable to send it away once we adopted it, and obviously any risk to the children is even worse. The children are extremely affectionate with dogs from and would find it hard to have a dog that they needed to keep their distance from.

There are no guarantees with a puppy, sorry. I've known people have pups from 8 weeks & have to rehome because of problems. I'm an avid 'adopt dont shop' as a rescue fosterer & would advocate a rescue every time. If you want a specific breed, find a breed specific rescue; surprisingly even pups end up in rescue.

Smaller, foster based rescues would be your best bet as the dogs have been in a home environment & the fosterer can assess them in that environment; i completely understand the need for kennel based rescue & hold my hat to them but you simply cannot assess a dog 100% in a kennel. Many fosterers have children, and dogs are usually assessed with other dogs as well as other small animals like cats/rabbits/chickens.

Another one saying you need one /two of these!! One was from adult only home and came to us after a break up. She is besotted with the dc!! The other one is her dd we have had from a puppy. Would never have said I was a Lurcher lover but they are fab dogs for a family!! Great off the lead and love our dcats!
Rescue ASAP op!!

Your DH would struggle to work at home with a puppy I have tried but many older rescue dogs would be more than happy to hang out with him while he worked.

If you choose a good rescue that uses foster homes they can find a dog that has been tested with children and in many other situations.

Many dogs in rescue have also come from family settings - relationship breakdown is one of the most common reasons for rehoming and obviously not the dog's fault at all.

this site has a lot of info - you can search by area or by breed etc

You could look for a puppy from a rescue? It would be a longer wait probably but they do get them in. Sometimes as rescues themselves, sometimes from a rescued pregnant bitch. Then you have the best of both worlds really.

Oh figrolls - your girls are fabulous!

What mustbemad said. There are absolutely no guarantees of buying from a breeder. It's just so difficult to weed out the dodgy ones, even "better" ones don't necessarily have the time or inclination to give really good attention. I just don't like lining pockets either for no good reason.

Many small rescues will have puppies and young dogs in foster homes, receiving great socialisation and basic training. If you pick the rescue carefully, follow them on their FB group, you'll get a good idea of what they're like.

Look at Help Pozega Dogs and Wags N' Wet Noses Rescue - if only to see how many health checks they do, cat testing if required etc. They really go the extra mile and a lot of UK rescues could learn from them. W N' W rescue specialise in retriever/lab types (just sayin')

Just a few of their pups.

There are young puppies in rescue - in fact there are two 6 week old lurcher puppies that I am fostering snoring in my dining room right now (who have both been reserved, but there are another 7 in this litter). They've never known anything but love and care as they came in with their mum the day they were born, and are meeting cats/children/chickens with us.

Lurchers don't need a lot of exercise, in fact they are very chilled dogs generally once past puppy stage (when they are bonkers). EGLR is one rescue who foster all their dogs, so the fosterers know them very well

There is a Labrador rehoming site. My friends, who only wanted a lab used it. You tell them what your home lifestyle and requirements are and they contact when they have a suitable dog come in

We have a retired greyhound who is just great with our children who are 18 months, 5 years and 8 years, plus I childmind. He accompanys us on all the school runs and walks great next to the double buggy. Doesn't need tons of exercise and isn't at all phased by the normal hustle and bustle of family life. Greyhound as a rule are gentle, sensitive souls and I just love them!

Thanks - this is all really inspiring. I'll look into smaller rescue centres - don't know much about these - and see if I can find suitable labs/pitchers/greyhounds. A puppy would be amazing - we got two 9-day old kitten once because we adopted their stray mum - and it was amazing. But I'm not holding my breath, I know it's not likely, and would also be way more work. One one or two year old would be ideal I think.

We visited the rescue centre for nearly 6months regularly which built up a good relationship between us and the staff. When our girl came in we got the nod that a potential suitable match for us was in. We went to meet her and fell for her straight away. She's been lovely with my DC's too, all she wants is to be with us and she's happy.

CMOT are there puppies still available in that litter? Where are they based? It would be good to find out more.

Yes, another 7 as of this afternoon!

The children are extremely affectionate with dogs from and would find it hard to have a dog that they needed to keep their distance from.

There's no guarantee a puppy would grow up enjoying attention from your children. One of our dogs hates being fawned over and she's been with us from 10 weeks. Why not contact a breed rescue of you want a lab in particular and see if they have a young dog you could look to adopt?show breeders often look to rehome failed show dogs

Greyhound, all the way. I wasn't wild about them as a breed as they are very pointy and angular however, I researched a lot before we got a dog and came to the conclusion that a greyhound was the right breed for us. We wanted a dog and we wanted to rescue one.

We got her from a greyhound rescue 7 months ago and we haven't looked back. They are known as 40 mile an hour couch potatoes with good reason, they really really don't need that much exercise but will happily go for a trash across the moor when required (on-lead is the only proviso). Ours has barked three times in the 7 months we've had her, it's a shock every time, and has been very tolerant with our 6 and 8 year olds. She was house trained when we had her and is so calm around the house I can't tell you.

Every time I see people on the school run who are stressing out about puppies and dealing with chewing and mess around the house and how they can't leave them for more than 10 minutes, I feel very smug indeed with our skinny, pointy but undeniably gorgeous hound.

Just to try and persuade you further...

All rescues get in puppies on a regular basis, but you won't always see them listed online so you'd have to go to your local rescues, build up a relationship with them and then you'll be at the front of the queue when the perfect pup comes in.

Rescues also get an epic ton of dogs between 6 and 12 months, you're more likely to see these than 8 weeks old, because people have got them at 8 weeks and completely neglected to train them or just underestimated how much time they'd need. Doesn't mean all these dogs are "broken" but may just need a few training classes or some agility training to burn off the puppy energy.

Here's a rescue lurcher example (because, as others have said, greyhounds and lurchers are just FAB) who is now reserved but is beautiful and apparently happy with children over 8. www.dogstrust.org.uk/rehoming/dogs/dog/filters/~294~~2~~n~/1179921/pumpkinpie

Get on the FB groups for the small rescues. You get to know them, what backup they give etc. Also, you can post your interest and keep in touch.

Rescues are always strapped for time and their volunteers stretched so Fb and messaging are better by far than emails and telephone msgs.

I'll give a bit of balance as an unashamed pedigree buyer (it is the irresponsible breeders we want to put a stop to, NOT shut down all the responsible ones and leave only the idiots with no conscience breeding).

Obviously, no method of buying any animal is guaranteed, but for me the odds are stacked in your favour when you can see health certificates and temperaments of many generations from a good breeder.

I always find it interesting when people say lurchers behave like x or y - lurchers by their very nature are a mix of at least three breed types, so are about as varied in size, stature and temperament as you can get. That's obviously not to say that there aren't very many lovely ones, there are - but they are a very mixed bag, and as an adult the sheep thing might be a concern to me. Rescues may have tested prey drive against small furries, but that is not to say it will be the same across all species.

Breed rescues exist, but if you did look at e.g. Labrador Rescue do please remember that a high proportion of what is in rescue will not be the well-bred dogs with eye tests and hip scores. Again, there will be some diamonds there, no question, but also an awful lot of heartache if you're not 100% for the idea of a rescue dog.

As an alternative thought - show breeders will often 'run on' two puppies to see which shows the most potential as they grow. Perhaps it would be an idea to join some breed forums, get yourself known as serious owners, and put feelers out to see if there is a well-reared Labrador of perhaps 6-12 months, or a young adult, as the best of both worlds?

Agree with everything Flipperty says, greyhounds are just fab and they seem to settle in so easily, no massive issues or dramas. They are gentle giants and after track life they so deserve a place to call their own.