Finding a new dog

[leekandpotsoup]

Hi I'm going round in circles trying to decide how to find ourselves a new dog. Do we go for rescue? Find a puppy through a breeder or go through breed rescue each route has its pros and cons and we can't make our mind up

We lost our beloved 12 year old black lab almost four months ago he was our 2nd Labrador and our fourth dog - we're caring responsible owners. We now feel like there's a big hole in our lives and we'd love to fill it with another dog but it's finding one and the options are

A rescue - we know there's lots of dogs needing rehoming and it's a good thing to do, we'd prefer a younger dog and that maybe harder to find and we are aware that rescued dogs can have behaviour issues

Labrador Breed rescue - lots of people looking for a small number of dogs

A Labrador breeder - where do you start, how do you know they're good responsible breeders?

Pets 4 homes, gumtree , social media - a minefield? Puppy farms?

Advice from Friends, family etc

First up, be patient. Everyone and their mother has wanted to buy a dog in the last year, demand has sent everything mental and there are scams left right and centre - avoid freelistings and social media!

Rescues are also overwhelmed with the demand, every dog, especially desirable breeds like Labs, could potentially get 50-100 applications. I know of a litter of just three Dachshunds that had over 1,000 applications >_< yes there are risks with behavioural issues or long term health problems, but those could also crop up in dogs from breeders as well.

Do keep an eye on all your local rescue websites though - if you fit the bill for one of their dogs you may be in with a chance.

Also check out Kennel Club Assured breeders and ChampDogs, be aware that most of the breeders probably have long waiting lists for puppies.

Thanks @bunnygeek I find it hard to be patient- I know logically that I should be. I'll keep researching

We were in a similar position last year. Lost our lab girl in the previous December and were prepared to start looking for Lab Rescue in early 2020. So we waited and waited and waited and were very patient because Covid etc. Dogs began to pop up on the Rescue FB page that were never ‘advertised’ on the main site. We’ve been supporting the Rescue for years and were accepted as potential rehomers while our Lab was alive.
So this spring we tracked down a breeder by personal recommendation, from people who knew we were looking for a dog.

So I guess what I’m saying is give breed rescue a try but maybe set a time limit? And put out feelers with friends, colleagues, neighbours who own dogs saying what you want from a breeder. I had to politely bat away a couple of suggestions from well meaning people who knew breeders that ai could tell weren’t decent ones, though. When the right one came up I could tell they were reputable,