Rehoming 11 month old pup

[Nyancat]

Looking for some advice. Thinking of taking on an 11month old pup from someone who is rehoming due to ill health, apparently unable to walk him at present.

Am hopefully going to visit this week with my DC to see how they all get on, and try to find out bit more about reasons for rehoming

Does anyone have advice on what questions we should be asking the current owners/things to look out for in dogs of this age/good or bad experiences in taking on a teenage dog.

I've only ever had older rescue dogs when I was a child / cats but have been thinking about a dog for years. Youngest DC is nearly 5 so we've held off until I feel he's more capable of understanding how to behave around animals.

Did you find this dog online? If so you won’t be able to trust anything they tell you.
I would be very wary. A decent breeder would have a clause in the contract that the pup has to come back to them if the owners can’t keep it. And a decent owner would contact a reputable rescue if they really couldn’t provide for the pup and the breeder wasn’t interested.
That age is also prime teenage bastard territory. Could well be the cute puppy hasn’t trained and is now a teen hooligan.
If this is someone you actually know then ask about if it can be left, does it travel ok, loos lead walking and recall, any health issues?

You need to take everything they tell you with a pinch of salt. In my experience no one who tries to privately re home a pup tells the whole truth about the situation.
Is the dog a pedigree? If so it may be worth contacting the breed association for their advice on re homing. Even if they are not involved they can be very helpful, depending on the breed and association.
11 months is right in the adolescent time for pups, they can be very challenging at this age and it is a common age for re homing unfortunately.
You need to know how well the pup was socialised as a tiny pup as this will influence its behaviour for life. What training they have done. Vet history is also helpful (I would actually ask the vet for the records as I’m suspicious) as it will influence insurance costs.

Lots of good advice from a similar thread here www.mumsnet.com/Talk/the_doghouse/3603670-adopting-dog

11 months is a very difficult stage. Even in dogs who have been excellently trained and socialised, the teenage months can be w real struggle.

Mine was perfect between about 5-7 months. Toilet trained, slept through the night, obeyed his commands, didn't really pull on the lead, good recall - the lot. Then overnight it went completely downhill - he refused to listened, went completely deaf to recall, started barking more, mouthed more - it was really horrendous. And he started marking as well - only once or twice but after several months being "pee free" in the house it wasn't very nice!

Be sure you know exactly what you're taking on. As an aside, if you're getting this dog from a stranger online I wouldn't believe a word they say! So many people "adopt" dogs via the internet and the reality is nothing like the previous owners made it out to be!

Dont do it

You are likely to have a dog that is reactive to other dogs and people when out and about
Is not toilet trained
Has not been mentally stimulated
Could easily have health issues
and that is just for starters.

If you do want a dog go to a rescue centre and be prepared to wait until the right dog comes along for , this can take time but will save a lot of heart ache and money.

Thank you, I'll check out the other thread.

All the things you are saying are those which are troubling me. I'm worried it might be inheriting someone's problem and that it's in their interest not to tell me. Was looking for questions to ask so thank you very much for your responses.

It's through an owner's group of cockapoos, so I'm assuming no reputable breeder in the background, will ask why they haven't gone down route of shelter, because cockapoos are very popular and would be no issue rehoming I would imagine through shelter. I suspect that the fact they can sell rather than give to shelter might be the reason.

I'm quite cynical generally so will visit on that basis and if we can't get answers to the questions you have all suggested I'm happy to walk away.

Can’t walk him due to health my arse!
He’s hit the teenage phase and is being a little shit I bet.
Glad to see you are willing to walk away if you aren’t sure, it could work as long as you know what you are actually getting

You will be unlikely to be told the real reason for rehoming, but I bet the dog is just the usual troublesome teen, and then some.
Of course rehoming a dog privately can work, but with various caveats. You have to be an experienced dog owner, you have to have a lot of time and patience (and possibly spare money for extra training or vet's fees), and you have to be knowledgeable enough to be able to assess the dog for yourself when you meet it. If you fullfil all that criteria, fine. You are not going to get, generally, a lovely little, well behaved family dog who will become the life and soul of your family from an internet ad. The dog may turn into that, but it will take a lot of time and work. You may also have to make hard decisions if the dog turns out to have major health or temperament problems.

They are selling him to you rather than going through the 'breed' rescue? Not a chance.

So they have bought a cute puppy from a puppy farmer or BYB. They haven’t trained it or exercised it and now they have an out of control nightmare and want rid.
Go to an actual rescue if you want a rescue.

When got our dogs 2 years ago, we got them from a family who had "accidentally bred". They weren't breeders, the dogs aren't pedigree and there was no contract. We would never rehome, but if we were to then the "breeder" didn't mention anything about returning the dogs to them.
Our girls are the best decision we've ever made!
Realistically, I don't think it matters why the person is rehoming the dog (unless it's biting!) as many people just aren't as committed to pets as you should be.
I think you're definitely doing the right in going to visit. I'd ask to take the dog a lead walk with some treats and see how you get on. You'll be able to see how the dog reacts around other people/dogs etc and how you all get on!
The dog may not be well trained but at 11 months, you can absolutely solve that yourselves. Good luck! I hope you come home with a new family member

Realistically, I don't think it matters why the person is rehoming the dog (unless it's biting!) as many people just aren't as committed to pets as you should be.

Of course it matters! There are plenty of other behavioural problems that can be just as problematic as biting (if not more).

Not being house trained
Reactive to other dogs
Reactive to people (especially children)
Has expensive health issues
Excessively fearful (can lead to biting if the animal is made to be too uncomfortable)
Mouthing behaviours
Aggression (which doesn't always manifest itself through biting)
Poor socialisation

To name but a few. Teenage dogs are difficult to cope with even when they've had the best starts in life - take one on where the history and temperament is unknown and you could be in for a whole heap of trouble.

I would also judge the morals of someone willing to hand over their beloved pup to a stranger on the internet. If someone has to rehome (and there are plenty of legitimate reasons to do so) they should do it through their breeder or a rescue centre.

It does matter why they are rehoming, OP needs to make an informed decision as to whether she wants to take the dog

And OP - whatever you decide to do, please don't take your children to see the dog until you have seen it on your own. You need to make a clear headed decision which is hard when there are excited kids around

@adaline I'm well aware teenage dogs can be difficult, having dealt with my own at that stage.
The majority of the issues you've listed can be dealt with through training. They're also issues that you could encounter with ANY dog, whether you got it at 8 weeks/11 months/4 years old. The issue of the dog potentially being reactive would be obvious when the OP and her DC visit and take the dog for a walk on their own. If the dog showed signs of this and they were unable/unwilling to work on those issues then they take the dog back to the current owner after the walk and say, "sorry, not for us!"

Yeah I'm well aware they're issues you could take on with any dog, but with a puppy you get breeder support and with a rescue, you get support from them.

What support do you really think OP will get from a granger stranger on the internet? This is a dog she's never met and has no bond with - making all those issues much much harder to cope with. If it's a pup you've "raised" yourself, you're much more likely to have a bond there and you're likely to find training easier as a result.

It may even be stolen if a fashionable mix

Some issues here I'm afraid. I'm not sure that was the easiest time for me! That said I am not sure what was easy all the time!

I definitely wouldn't involve the DC at the moment. Go along if you think it is the right thing to do but alone with a cool head.

Some friends of ours rehomed a dog from an ad in the paper. She was I think four or five - not a puppy or teenager any longer - and the owners were just bored of her. She turned out to be a lovely family dog but she also had serious and ongoing health issues (that of course the new owners had not been told about). They paid a small fortune in vet's bills, and the dog was pts when still relatively young.

So yep, be very cautious. As PPs have said, you have no idea where this dog has come from and what it's true circumstances are. That's fine if you're very experienced with dogs and are fostering a dog for assessment for a rescue which will give you back-up, but otherwise, not so much.

Thanks for all the advice.

We went down this evening with the kids and, maybe I'm overly cautious, but to me it very quickly became clear that the pup was not used to children. He was very shy and growled at them when they got anywhere near him, maybe he would have been ok with a bit of time but not a risk I'm prepared to take.

Think we'll stick to looking out for the right rescue for now.

Black Retriever Cross rescue have brilliant dogs, which they assess in foster before rehoming.

Sounds like you've made the right decision about this dog. I can't see the dog being comfortable in your home, so it would likely be happier in a home with no young DC.

I don’t think you’re overly cautious at all. I wouldn’t want to take in an unknown rescue that growled at my kids.
Rescues that foster like black retriever x or starfish etc are great.

I know you've already decided against this particular dog, but for the record, Nearly every dog I've had has been around 11 years old when we've taken them on. They've all had their quirks, and all been very active dogs at that age, but they've not taken more training than a puppy. They've all turned into lovely dogs. Even the street dog that wasn't house trained didn't take as much house training than a puppy as her bladder was an adult bladder and she could hold longer.