I'm going to buy a puppy

I know the OP wants to buy a dog, which is their prerogative, but I just wanted to correct a popular misconception that dogs which end up in rescue have behavioural problems.

It's usually down to ignorant, lazy owners who can't be bothered to train them, or who get bored when the cute puppy phase wears off. By far the most common age of dogs I've dealt with in rescue have been between 12 - 18 months old.

It doesn't take much to train a dog - about ten minutes a day - and once they have been trained to a certain level then that's easily maintained. They only need to be taught the basics, ie to come when they are called, to sit or stay and a good solid 'leave' command which applies to a whole host of situations.

There are plenty of puppies in rescue, which may either be there because they were an unwanted present or because the mum has been dumped when she was pregnant and hence they were born and reared in rescue.

Choosing a dog wisely (and training it properly) applies equally whether you are rescuing or buying from a breeder and should always be done on temperament and suitability, never just on looks.

I have four rescue dogs who are far better behaved than any of my friends' 'bought' dogs. None of them have behavioural problems and are all good with people, cats, livestock, horses, etc and a constant source of joy to me. They were all around a year old when I got them.

Because my dogs are crossbreeds, some people look down their noses at them - the same people who have to run over from the other side of the field after their their dog which has run off and won't come back because it wants to play with mine.

My boys were all strays who would have ended up dead if the rescue hadn't taken them out of the pound and rehomed them to me, which would have been a tragedy.
My beautiful boys



Just to add that some rescues will often put dogs in foster homes before rehoming them, so they can learn more about them before rehoming. It gives you more of an idea of what you're getting.

 

Your wee fella is is a proper cutie FC

 

Hey Merle....i think imay have said it before....but what a fabulous crew you've got

 

Thanks Loli May we see pics of your Goldies please? All the ones I know have fabulous temperaments (and beautiful too). I love Monty Don's Nigel and think he's the best bit of GW.

Alex

 

Lovely dogs Merle. obviously well groomed and looked after, a credit to you.
I too was involved with dog rescue, Staffies to be precise. I helped to re-home many.
I also showed and judged them along other terrier breeds for a number of years. I have a decent knowledge of other breeds too. We lost our last dog two years ago to illness. We weren't going to have another dog but we do miss them...

Now I'm going to stick up for KC reg pedigree dogs. Now I'm certainly not a dog snob and if people want to home mongels then that's absolutley fine. In some ways you know what your getting (looks wise) because rescue kennels rarely have pups.
However breeders, and I don't mean puppy farmers, go to great lengths to preserve their breeds. So if you want a gundog for instance, you can't really look anywhere else other than to a breeder who specialises in gundogs. Same goes for the working group.
Basically you can choose and buy a dog exactly to your requirements. How you look after them is a contensious issue but every time I visit a homing kennel I certainly don't see good pedigree dogs there. There's always a mishmash of different inbred dogs.
So who's responsible for this? Well it isn't the person who's paid several hundreds of pounds for their KC reg dog that's for sure. Breed specialists take great care in who gets their pups and lets face it after paying top dollar for a dog you aren't going to take it to kennels even if a baby number 1 comes along.
I don't want to sound too harsh and I certainly don't want to cause offence to anyone who has a mongrel but the hard cold facts are that people don't buy adult mongrel dogs. They have no monetary value. So if an owner dies or a baby comes along or for whatever reason you can't keep a dog, they become very very hard to re-home. Hence that's why kennels are full.
I've always said that instead of scrapping dog licences they should have kept them, and all owners registered. Then if your dog ends up in re-homing kennels, you incur the costs for their time there, including vet bills. After all it's the owners responsibility.

 

I love Staffies - it's a shame they get such a bad rep because they are the most loving dogs

The only problem with dog licences is that responsible pet owners will buy them but the irresponsible ones who are responsible for most of the backyard breeding/stray problems won't. I agree there needs to be some way to tackle the problem but difficult to see what would be effective (short of neutering the idiots)

I don't have a problem with pedigree dogs, as long as they are bred by reputable breeders who do the necessary health checks, etc and most importantly, who breed healthy dogs with good temperaments. A lot of show dogs are bred for looks and suffer health problems because of that. I know the KC are trying to eradicate it, but part of the problem is that a lot of KC officials are also breeders so it's going to take a while.

Working dogs are a different matter because I would assume that they would have to breed healthy dogs or they wouldn't be fit for purpose. You look at a working lab vs a show lab for example - there's no comparison in my eyes.

They don't necessarily have to come from a breeder though. For example farmers will breed their best working dogs with each others', which is why working sheepdogs sometimes look so different to show Border Collies, because they may have a bit of something else in there.

It's more common than you might think for pups to come into rescue - it's just that they are usually fostered in homes rather than kept in the kennels (certainly in the rescues I've been involved with) and there are also lots of pedigree dogs in rescue - some end up in breed rescue and others end up elsewhere. I've rehomed everything from your average mutt to a poodle and even a 7 month old KC registered Rottie which yes, got dumped when the first baby came along (and this happens with pedigrees too, although they usually rehome them to family/friends or try to sell them through the free ads before they go down the rescue route).

The arrival of the internet has been brilliant for animal rescue, because there is much more information available and it's a good way for some of the smaller rescues to 'advertise' (for want of a better word) their dogs on dog rescue forums. It's how I got into rescue and how I got all four of my dogs - all but one of them were fostered before they came to me, so I knew they were right temperament-wise. The other one was part of a transport run I did from a pound to a rescue and he never got further than the next pick up point (but I did foster him initially to ensure he got on with my other dogs before officially adopting him).

Although I do love some breeds (I would love a black working lab), whilst there are so many loving dogs in rescue I personally couldn't in all conscience buy a dog. Doesn't mean I don't understand the other side of the argument.

I would never want to go through that puppy stage again either

 

We've got a rescue Jack Russell who's nearly a year old now. Admittedly, she was born in the rescue centre - mum had come from a gypsy camp. Aggie's been a delight and is part of the family. She's just won her first rosettes at the local dog show!

 

Dogs (loved and cared for) are not the problem.
Idiots that get dogs for the wrong reason are the cause for concern in my view.
Up here I see a lot of young people (often male, but not exclusively) who live in a flat and own a Staffy. Rottweiler or similar cross version) and wander about with it as a trophy.
It's then left abandoned in the flat for many hours, released in the park for it's exercise, whilst kids are playing and we wonder why these dogs get a bad rep.
We have a neighbour i the next street who has 3 dogs (Siberian Husky, Rottweiler and Staffy). They are all out all day and the dogs howl continuously.
When they walk the dogs - through the estate where all the kids play - the dogs are all straining on the leash and are barely under control.
These are the people who should be banned from owning a dog - even a "rescue dog"
Where kids are in the house I would always worry about having a dog. No dog is "Guaranteed" not to bite/snap, because kids are unpredictable and incidents can happen. As a child we had a Jack Russell called Tiny who we considered docile. Our neighbour came and demanded he was put down because he had bitten their child.
It turned out the kid sat on Tiny's back and repeatedly pulled his ears. The dog nipped his finger to stop him. No blood and no mark - what else could he do? Needless to say my Dad declined the request.
In the right environment any dog can be a valuable family member.

 

Dogs have to be licenced here on the island and it's required that they have a numbered tag attached to their collars that makes tracing easy. Licence is £8 or £4 if the dog has been neutered/spayed.

 

Half price for a half dog?

 

I can remember dog licences, Oh yes, that was back in the old days.

Our estate was full of strays, they used to roam in gangs.
Dog wardens have stopped that, maybe dog wardens should take a more active role and have a few more powers regarding owners with dogs out of control.

Dog licences dont work and wont work. That's why they did away with them.

 

IMO...'The powers that be' should charge quite a steep fee for dog licences...then those that are completelty committed to our 'furry' friends will pay it no matter what....the biggest problem is ....how are they going to police it.....i'm fully aware that some of the elderly may have difficulty with this but allowances should be made for them as they make such wonderfull companions....i 'm fully aware that 'cost' is involved...(isn't it always)...but i feel i'm constantly chucking money at animal welfare as are others but in this day and age surely some progress should be made....
....nearly did my foot in getting off my soap box......

 

So Dog wardens are funded by the tax payer, As a tax payer I don't want to contribute my hard earned money for somone elses problem dog.
Dog licences didn't work because they weren't expensive enough. All dogs micro-chipped, a £200 initial licence and £50 a year thereafter would sort out the problem. Oh and £500 fine if you get caught without one. Self financing easy!