Getting a new dog...slightly effing frustrating

[Craphouserat]

So many of you will know we lost our wee man Ozzie in Sept. Thanks again for all the kind words.

This weekend been trawling around all the dog homes...and not just local ones. Booked a couple of days away and went to visit ones further afield.

Filled in their questionnaire's and looked at the dogs they had....many a tear shed by the wife and a few by me. No easy seeing and hearing them barking and looking sad etc etc.

Anyhow...we seen one we liked and we know its not as straight forward as going into a shop and buying what you want but we were basically told no you can't have any of the ones you like because they can't be left alone.....despite the fact my wife and i work different shift patterns and there is virtually always one of us hoe 7 days 24 hrs a day. Very worst case scenario it will be on its own for 4 hours max twice every 10 days...that is very worst case. We have no kids a very large enclosed back garden - live in a semi rural village and in general have a lot of love to give..as well as being able to give them a great home life.

One of the dogs we liked was going to a family..who were there whilst we were there. The dad was what can only kindly be described as a chav...now he may have just been finished work i grant you...grey joggin bottoms baseball cap and a Kappa T-shirt. Wife - nice enough 3 very young kids in tow.

Maybe I'm just being jealous - snobbish - whatever. I don't mean to be. But the people in the homes never asked us much bout our jobs...just no you can't have it ( the one we wanted in the home in question was a 1 yr old black lab) because you both work....eh???

Really?? You can't have a dog because it can't be left alone?? Seriously? All the dogs I've had may not have liked it initially but have got used to it...and this year I changed jobs so there's virtually always some one home 24/7 - before taking annual leave into account.

Still its OK if you have 3 young kids ( none were over the age of 5 ). At least someone is home all the time there to pull their tail poke and prod it etc.

I'm sorry....rant over. No rescue dogs here I think..try breeders now.

Edited by Craphouserat on Tuesday 21st October 21:07

[scdan4]

Not sure who you are looking with, but try the smaller one man band type rescues.

The large, known ones are often a shower of "the road to hell is paved with good intentions" ste imho.

Have used big ones in the past, but never again for us I'm afraid. All the known brands have dissuaded us from going back.

Local ones are better and more sensible IME.

Our current mutt was found by word of mouth. She's a good un. Ask around.

[bexVN]

I'm sorry to say this is on of my biggest gripes with animal charities . I had fellow vet nurses refused even though we can bring our dogs to work with us!! I've known prospective rescue dog owners refused so they've gone and bought a pup instead.

There will be some out there more open minded. As mentioned look at smaller charities or if you can bring yourself to, ask your vet. We keep a list of people that could be prospective owners of dogs needing a new home. (people just like yourselves)

[Craphouserat]

[quote=scdan4]Not sure who you are looking with, but try the smaller one man band type rescues.

The large, known ones are often a shower of "the road to hell is paved with good intentions" ste imho.

Have used big ones in the past, but never again for us I'm afraid. All the known brands have dissuaded us from going back.

Local ones are better and more sensible IME.

Our current mutt was found by word of mouth. She's a good un. Ask around.[/quot

Cheers

The ones we went to were the larger ones....really put us off. Never really spoke to us at all. Whats annoying is we have so much to offer/give...but no...you both work so forget it. I appreciate a lot of rescue dogs will have baggage and we really want to give a dog thats had a st start a good life...so we know they will take time. We wouldn't just leave it.

But alas all they seen in the form was both these people work....dogs won't work for them at all. Get a goldfish.

[HarryW]

Nothing changes, looked at rehoming over twenty years ago but gave up due to the same issue as you have just experienced, it's quite perverse really. my last comment to the 'manageress' at the big 'chain' was along the lines of "so you have to be unemployed to actually have one of your dogs" she just shrugged......let's just say it's not a charity I will ever contribute to.

[Craphouserat]

bexVN said:

I'm sorry to say this is on of my biggest gripes with animal charities . I had fellow vet nurses refused even though we can bring our dogs to work with us!! I've known prospective rescue dog owners refused so they've gone and bought a pup instead.

There will be some out there more open minded. As mentioned look at smaller charities or if you can bring yourself to, ask your vet. We keep a list of people that could be prospective owners of dogs needing a new home. (people just like yourselves)

Thanks Bex.

Really frustrating. I've owned Retrievers and now a Terrier - we both work for the Police on different work patterns....not even that mattered !!

We're now looking at pups. Really sad because like I said it was upsetting seeing the dogs some of whom almost looked like they were begging us to take them home.

Ohh well.

[Craphouserat]

I appreciate these places do a good job and they quite rightly have to have the dog's interests at heart...but for gods sake have a sense of perspective. Yes some dogs have current problems and so cannot be left alone...we completely understand that...no problem. But to tell us we can't have a 1yr old lab because we work and give it to a couple with 3 kids is a bit odd.

My wife got our terrier from her brother when they had a kid because they couldn't look after both. We gave him a great life. I'm not saying you cannot look after a dog if you have 3 kids..not at all..I am just jealous ! But I doubt it'll be easy.

Anyhow..time to breath ! Rant over!!

[egor110]

put up a post up on the agilitynet facebook page, lots of people there have there fingers in lots of pies.

[Craphouserat]

egor110 said:

put up a post up on the agilitynet facebook page, lots of people there have there fingers in lots of pies.

Thanks - I've never heard of them before.

I was about to ask what buying from the net is like..gumtree etc? i imagine like everything else...some good sellers online...some not so good.

[rscott]

You could consider a retired racing greyhound. We had no problems adopting 3 despite both working. They're perfect dogs for this situation - they sleep most of the time!

[Turn7]

You can also try breed specific rescues - check the breeds websites, they nearly always have rescues.

[Craphouserat]

rscott said:

You could consider a retired racing greyhound. We had no problems adopting 3 despite both working. They're perfect dogs for this situation - they sleep most of the time!

Yeah - we've discussed this..and are still considering.

Thanks for the post - won't rule this out.

[bexVN]

Yes was going to mention Greyhounds our Local one GRWE are good for this. (Greyhound Rescue West of England)

[egor110]

Craphouserat said:

egor110 said:

put up a post up on the agilitynet facebook page, lots of people there have there fingers in lots of pies.

Thanks - I've never heard of them before.

I was about to ask what buying from the net is like..gumtree etc? i imagine like everything else...some good sellers online...some not so good.

It's mostly for people who compete at dog agility but some are linked to homes so they post up dogs for rehoming, some of them might not be up for agility but great as just a pet dog (not that agility dogs aren't also pets)

[egor110]

egor110 said:

Craphouserat said:

egor110 said:

put up a post up on the agilitynet facebook page, lots of people there have there fingers in lots of pies.

Thanks - I've never heard of them before.

I was about to ask what buying from the net is like..gumtree etc? i imagine like everything else...some good sellers online...some not so good.

It's mostly for people who compete at dog agility but some are linked to homes so they post up dogs for rehoming, some of them might not be up for agility but great as just a pet dog (not that agility dogs aren't also pets)

Re buying from the net, slow down.

You need to research the breed/breeds your interested in and look up there breed health problems,then when you go to a potential breeder ask what tests they've done , what aftercare they offer (hopefully they'll say something like you can always ring up anytime for advice)

[dern]

Sorry to be against the trend of this but went through the same thing and to be honest I just felt that they knew the dogs best and more about what they'd been through so wasn't put out at all. We were able to rehome a seven year old lurcher through the dogs trust even though he is on his own morning and afternoon during the week. We trusted their opinion and he's happy and we're happy.

Cheers,

Mark

[Wigeon Incognito]

Roughly where in the country are you? I'm involved in rescue so could send you details of a couple of places if you're in striking distance.

Matt.

[glasgowrob]

had a crazy situation couple of years back with dogs trust who branded us as inexperienced because neither my wife or I had had a dog for 10 years.

considering that both of us had dogs previous and I until recently was involved heavily with my local Kennel Association I found kind of strange.

fwiw we ended up with a puppy because we were put off with the approach dogs trust took to rehoming

[jackthelad1984]

We got our gsd scout from german shepard rescue southwest, based up in biddaford north Devon but will happily rehome further afield. It's a small rescue run by only a few people and foster homes, they are very accommodating and have a selection of god's and Crosses available for rehoming and/or fostering. Both working shouldn't be an issue, at least it wasn't for us.

[226bhp]

Out of interest, does it matter what you tell them? Do they come round afterwards and check?