Rescue puppy/adult, rescues? Breed?

[alessandrae83]

Hi,

Asking for a friend who doesn't use MN.
She is looking into getting a dog. She previously owned one a couple of years ago and that dog came with a multitude of behavioural problems and wasn't as described by the rescue. She kept him though and loved him. He was a terrier. He passed away since from illness. She now wants to get another dog but isn't sure whether to get an adult rescue again and go to a different rescue or get a rescue puppy. She won't be buying a puppy or dog.

Her requirements and what she can offer are below:

•Must be child friendly as she has children age 10 and 6. She knows an adult dog won't be about breed for this one

•Must be cat friendly (can all breeds except maybe sighthounds live with cats and be okay or they grow up with them from puppy hood? Her cat is said to be dog friendly but would rather hide than fight)

• She lives in a semi detached 3 bed house with average size garden and lots of parks nearby.

• someone will be at home most of the time and will only be out for school runs.

•She can afford a dog. The essentials, insurance etc so no problem there

• she is looking to walk the dog for at least an hour a day, sometimes a bit longer.

• She wants a dog that would be happy to go away with them.

• She doesn't want to do agility or anything but is happy to teach basic obedience.

• she doesn't mind some barking but not excessive.

• shedding isn't too much of an issue and she can brush daily and afford a groomer every couple months

• she would prefer a small to medium breed especially if getting from a puppy as DC don't like dogs knocking them over or getting too in their faces.

What would you do?

[Sayhellotothethings]

There are lots of staffy puppies in rescues and those would meet her criteria.

[GrumpyMiddleAgedWoman]

Has she thought about approaching breed-specific rescues that foster the dogs? English Springer Spaniel Welfare, for example, foster with people with other dogs, cats etc. They settle the dog in, get it vetted and exercised, and from that decide what its needs are. I have come across a dog adopted through this system who arrived in foster completely manic and came out a very pleasant, dog-friendly and cat-tolerant spaniel.

[ThisIsNotAIBUPeople]

OK, I am Hampshire so not much good, if she looks on Facebook there are so many that rescue from abroad, and some do foster here so its worth a good search.

[alessandrae83]

@ThisIsNotAIBUPeople she is in the east midlands area and is also prepared to do this but must meet the dog beforehand and see proof that a dog is cat friendly. Thanks

[ThisIsNotAIBUPeople]

*also

[ThisIsNotAIBUPeople]

I've been looking into this a lot lately! (See my other threads!)
My requirements are similar to your friend, we have children (older though) and cats, I will alao be out at work 2 days a week.
What I have found is that many Uk rescues will not rehome at all to homes with children, or where there isn't someone around pretty much all the time. I have a long thread about possibly rescuing from abroad as there are loads of charities that do this. It is something of a minefield as there are so many and its pretty hard to work out which ones rehome responsibly and which ones arrive at your house having transported a dog from Romania or wherever, and you only have their word that the dog is as they describe.
I have come to the conclusion that in our situation we are prepared to adopt from abroad but we need the dog to be in foster care somewhere fairly local to us so that we can meet the dog and discuss our needs and the dog's needs.
Depending in where your friend lives I can PM some rescues that I have approached.

[tabulahrasa]

The issue with a puppy from a rescue is that breed is often a bit of a guess, so things like size can be unpredictable.

So a lot of her decision really needs to be about how much she needs some of those things listed, if she’d be ok if a puppy ended up twice the size expected or half it’s genes turned out to be from a high prey drive sighthound or really active breed and they were the dominant traits as it grew up.