Am I going to have to get a puppy?

[Ellabella222]

Missing out on rescues left, right and centre. My daughters are 10, 12 and 14 And any rescue I find who is child friendly is snapped up. It’s very disheartening and I feel I will never find a dog. Been looking for months.

Thinking that in order to get a suitable one we will need to accept we need to buy ourselves to a puppy. Is this really the only way?Never thought rescue dogs would be in short supply!

It’s sounds horrendous 😆

We got a dpuppy just before lockdown.

RIP to :

My previously perfect Laura Ashley wallpaper.
New wood effect flooring.
Treasured keepsake baby shoes.
Bedroom rug.
Laura Ashley bedroom rug.
2 pairs of footy boots - though technically just the left boot of each pair..
1 dining room chair corner.
4 kitchen chair corners - one off each friggin chair..
Keep looking down the rescue route ime op.

Oh god!

Puppies - not much to add to what Grumpy says above. Sharp little teeth and they use their mouths to communicate so be prepared. House training, out on the hour every hour, after every meal or long drink (the puppy that is), every time you see them sniffing and circling. You stay out in the garden till the pup toilets, praise and back in, repeat many times each day.

Puppies are very lovely though but definitely not for the faint hearted.
Rescue dogs -I've had several and fostered a number. Honestly, never had one that didn't respond well to warm, consistent care, proper boundaries, exercise, diet and routines. A rescue will take at least three months for you to feel you're getting to know your dog. You'll love the dog almost certainly but s/he will take some time to settle in and really show personality.
the breed specific rescues are already having pups and young dogs handed in as people go back to work and the puppies cry/bark when they're left, they chew the furniture etc. You mention spaniels - there are a number of spaniel rescue charities. If you are interested, there are several spaniel face book groups, might be worth joining as people share information about their dogs so you'd get a picture of what life with a spaniel is like
best of luck

If she hadn't outgrown the crate she would be in it 24/7 and fed via the bars...
*joking..
We love her but dh has made me vow we are never getting a dpuppy again!!

We are just in the process of adopting a dog from Spain and they have been amazing. They are a large registered rescue over in Spain. We have full rescue back up in the UK and access to dog trainers. We wanted one a bit older then a young puppy between 1 and 2 and we have an 18 month Pondenco Andulaz coming. We wouldn’t have been allowed a larger Podenco, not because they aren’t friendly just in case they knock my 4 year old over in play.
Our new dog has been fostered with children and cats so we know her temperament. Seen lots of videos but I do appreciate not everyone will want to do this without meeting the dog. We were specific and wanted one that had been assessed in a home rather than kennels. It was also imperative that they had been child and cat tested.
My sister got a puppy 3 years ago and wow he has so many issues! She has said when she comes to get another she would want one slightly older so she knows the temperament.
Hardly any rescues would touch us as our children are all under 12. Our local one does seem to be having a lot of puppies coming in now .......

I must admit, I agree with the pp about foreign rescues not being for the first time dog owner. Our first dog we had as a puppy, through a registered breeder, and she has been amazing. We had a second dog to join her, from a puppy, who was lovely but died young due to a heart condition, but he was great. We then adopted a dog who had come from abroad, but been thrown back into UK rescue after a week. He's gorgeous but he has been a challenge to say the least. We've had him for five years, he has underlying medical conditions from his life on the street for two years, he's slightly unpredictable but can also be the gentlest giant imaginable. I think what we've given him weighs up pretty equally with what he gives us but if he had been my first family dog and I didn't have enough experience, it really could have been shit!
Go for a breed specific rescue. That would be my advice....

My Spanish rescue is positively fantastic. We did luck out to some extent - rescues can have more issues. But the ones from our rescue are loved, loved, loved. They are Griffons, which come in many sizes and varieties. PM me if you want more info.

Surely puppies available now would have been glints in their daddy’s eyes back in February. The prices have been crazy for moths now

I felt very disheartened by rescues too, OP. Everything cat and kid friendly seemed to get reserved in seconds but eventually I struck lucky and ended up with a completely different dog to what I was looking for. He’s a grey cross (not an ex racer) and he IS fun and funny but I do think that they are very odd dogs and not to everyone’s requirements. Local rescues are often easier to deal with than the big nationals ime. Join lots of doggy groups in Facebook and your timeline will soon fill up with dogs looking for homes.

You’ve all been really helpful. I’m thinking about next steps.

Contacted a couple of breed specific rescue. Still mulling over foreign rescue.

Not sure I’m up for a puppy now. LOL.

I found I was unable to get a rescue because I had kids so got a puppy. But my kids are much younger than yours

You ask how hard the puppy stage is but you do know that most dogs being rehomed are probably not much easier than a puppy?

Rightfully or wrongly dogs are abandoned because they haven't been trained properly and the owner can't be bothered anymore.

Rescue dogs can be unhousetrained, aggressive, nervous, have a lot of bad habits (that take way longer to cure than it would to train a puppy from scratch) etc
But if you think about it, how rare would it be for someone to train the perfect dog and then take it to a rescue centre?
Hurt because a dog is not a puppy does not in any way mean it won't be hard work! Many rescue dogs will be way harder to train and care for than a puppy.

Just food for thought.

Where are you OP? We got our Spanish pup from aadogrescue who you can follow on Facebook . You will need to fill in an adoption form and have a home visit but they are perfectly happy to rehome the right dog with children.

I suggest you give them a call, fill out the form and keep watching the FB updates. Our boy is fabulous, he arrived at just under 6 months (Pups can travel from 16 weeks but there was a backlog)

Good luck x

Oh, and to answer the poster above, our boy is fully house trained. Many of the pups that have been bought up in kennels don't poop on their own doorstep and so wait until they are outside.

@MrsOosh77 - yup, the majority of dogs poo as far away as possible from where they sleep. They're not stupid!!

If you are referring to my post I didn't say that they will poop where they sleep?

I just made a point that rescue dogs aren't necessarily "easy" either and can have many issues, not just with house training.

I’m looking into foreign rescues yes.

Also I am aware that rescue dogs often have issues, of course they do. I fully prepared to work with these and am not expecting a perfect dog. I was just wanting to avoid the full on neediness of a baby dog.

I grew up with dogs and we regularly look after a mate’s rescue so I’m not going into this naively. I just haven’t had a puppy before - as the adult in the house.

I appreciate everyone’s comments. Really useful. Thanks.

In your situation I’d wait as lots of dogs are going to come up soon, breed specific rescues are good.

Puppy stage is hard, ours hasn’t destroyed anything, but I made life hard for myself by getting up in night to let her out, I could have put her to sleep in room with hard Floor and wiped up in morning. The biting is painful, you can’t take your eyes off them.

But it’s also lovely and cuddles.

There are plenty of reasons people get rid of a perfectly nice dog: death, illness, divorce, moving house, new baby, change in financial situation, change in working hours, weren't prepared for the realities of having a puppy. We got ours because it wasn't getting on with the other dog in the house and he is probably better trained than if I had been responsible for it.

Responsible for the puppy training I mean.

yes i noticed that.. child friendly dogs dont hang around very long, they seem to be non existent.. this was a few years ago but i can see it being the same situation now, keep looking around different animal shelters, or look at a private sell, or be willing to travel further a field

Puppies are HARD work. To start with they can’t be left. At all. The moment you take your eyes off them you have a puddle on the floor or a chewed house. And they bite. Everything. I have scars.
It also takes a long time to get a puppy through the right channels. It took me two years to contact the breed club, meet breeders and eventually find the last one of a litter. Admittedly I wanted a specific (and not common) breed. But to avoid puppy farmers, commercial breeders and backyard breeders is a nightmare.
Would you consider rescues from further away from you in the U.K.? Smaller rescues? Starfish? Black retriever x? Breed specific rescues?
Good luck. It’s worth taking the time to do it properly!

@DangerCake

In your situation I’d wait as lots of dogs are going to come up soon, breed specific rescues are good.

Puppy stage is hard, ours hasn’t destroyed anything, but I made life hard for myself by getting up in night to let her out, I could have put her to sleep in room with hard Floor and wiped up in morning. The biting is painful, you can’t take your eyes off them.

But it’s also lovely and cuddles.

should you let them bite?

soudashelter.org/

My friend had a beautiful collie pup from here, she was about six months old. No problems at all with the adoption process or the puppy.

Puppies bite. It’s called mouthing. They teethe and they use their mouth to explore the world around them. You can’t stop that. All you can do is keep substituting what you don’t mind being chewed for the forbidden stuff!