You don't need to be an 'investor' to invest in Singletrack: 6 days left: 95% of target - Find out more
We sadly lost our old faithful Saluki cross Rebel a few weeks ago and the house seems so empty without a dog. Rebel came to us after a friend's father died suddenly and we were asked to look after him for the weekend while she got her head together to sort out his affairs. Previously we've had Springers and Border Collies, though ending up with pure bred rather than mutts was more luck than deliberate choice.
Anyway had a quick look at a couple of local rescue kennels this week, the RSPCA is full of young adult Staffys and non specific Staffy crosses, another local rescue had the grand total of three dogs (none matching what we offer or need) and said that with the internet and facebook people are rehoming dogs on a DIY basis, and we've just come back from visiting another where there seem to be no local dogs but vanloads of fresh arrivals from Spain, Cyprus and Romania which I am quite wary about, very odd.
Obviously I want to avoid dodgy puppy farms, but we don't really know what we want this time (bigger than a cat, smaller than a donkey, possibly an adult or juvenile). Maybe we should foster a dog for a while until we know what we want. So do people go to Kennel Club breed lists and work back from there or am I missing out on ad-hoc adverts because I don't have Facebook? There must be somewhere in between?
Anyway, RIP Rebel
[img] 
[/img]
Sorry for your loss. It's crap when dogs go 🙁
Can't help you with finding a dog though, sorry
Sad news OP. All the best in your search for a new member of the family.
Not going to preach, but maybe have a bit more time to decide upon what type of dog you want and what type will fit within your family.
The Dogs Trust might be an option..
Ours have been found locally from adverts posted in shop windows and posted up in animal feed merchants...these tend to be from the owners of a bitch that has accidentally got pregnant and they dont want the pups or from the owners of a bitch who wanted her to have a litter so sourced a dog to put her to and now they need to sell the pups..both these methods mean you avoid puppy farms and get to visit the home, see the bitch etc...keep your eyes peeled in the local post office, newsagent, pet shop etc..
Found our mutt on pets4homes. Did a bit of shopping around to find a breeder we trusted.
Have you tried these?[url= http://www.manytearsrescue.org/ ]http://www.manytearsrescue.org/[/url]
South Wales based but have dogs fostered all over the UK looking for homes. They also save a lot of dogs from the South Wales puppy farms who otherwise would be disposed off by the operators.
I got mine here http://www.oldies.org.uk/category/adopt-an-oldie
A lot of people write off older dogs but it couldn't have worked out any better for me and my little terrier seems pretty happy too 🙂
I just keep an eye on whatever TJ is kicking the crap out of :evil:.
PS. Sorry to hear about your dog, good luck with the search.
Have a search for a local independent rescue centre if you can. How far are you willing to travel for the right one?
We got our current dog from the Dog's Trust. If you are in, or near, N Wales I can also recommend the north Clwyd Animal Rescue
If you're wanting a pure breed have a look on the Champdogs website. It gives you a list of all the traits of each individual breed, KC accredited breeders and forthcoming litters.
http://www.champdogs.co.uk/?mobile_site=1
Another route you could go down is if you find a breed that takes your eye, get into contact with the relative breed society and they'll also offer advice on forthcoming litters. Can't speak of other breeds (although I'm sure they'll have the same sort of set up) but the Midland and Northern Rhodesian Ridgeback club also has a re-homing section of their website.
Do you know any doggy vets? They will be able to point you in the direction of a reputable breeder / who to avoid. Similarly a decent independent kennel owner will likely have contacts.
Basically find someone that actually loves dogs and works in the trade, they are the folk to find. I'd avoid Facebook / Gumtree like the plague though.
Southern Lurcher Rescue for another just like him.
Our lass looked on pets4homes as well. We ended up with a lab bought from a localish farm. They had pets that did a bit of work but were not working dogs and had had a litter. She's a lovely dog.
but vanloads of fresh arrivals from Spain, Cyprus and Romania which I am quite wary about, very odd.
We have a Rupert a Spanish pedenco/lab cross & a Mila a Rumanian sheep dog cross, didn't set out to get them from abroad. With Rupert we'd assumed he was in the UK & almost backed out when we found out, so glad we didn't. Mila was an adoption gone sour, so already in the UK. Both are great & we have no regrets, they were (still are for Mila, as it's still early promising days) affected by their inital traumatic life. They have taken a goodly amount of work, & patience but that is needed for any dog. A friend took on a completely shut down Rumanian mutt & he's developing into a lovely dog, unlike their Springer spaniel whose mad as a march hare.
There's are potential issues but no one can guarantee you an issue free pet.
Rescue. Don't give up
Rescue every time, there's a dog out there waiting for you but you just have to find him/her.
We got a Romanian dog and he's a git, a lovable one though. 🙂
Get one like mine (although mine came straight from her previous owner...[url= http://www.trailhoundwelfare.org.uk/ ]Lakeland Trailhound Welfare[/url]
If you like the idea of them Greyhounds are brilliant dogs and surprisingly lazy (they much prefer a sofa to a walk). There's loads of Retired Greyhound Trust places around the country. Really miss our hounds - intelligent, loyal and much more manageable than their size suggests.
This time round though Mrs Danny had very specific requirements which included it being a puppy so I scoured pets4homes also. We've ended up with pretty much the perfect dog for what she wanted. Just a case of finding a breeder you like and being prepared to say no if you don't (sometimes harder than it sounds).
If you're looking for a pointy dog 😉 then give http://www.greyhoundgap.org.uk a try. As said above though, definitely rescue. The right dog is never the wrong breed.
As mentioned above by many, rescue is the right way to go. So many dogs in rescue just need a chance to show how good they can be. Good luck with your search and photos when you get your new dog home please!
Sorry for your loss, basically took me a year to get over loosing my dog before I felt able to get another.
seem to be no local dogs but vanloads of fresh arrivals from Spain, Cyprus and Romania which I am quite wary about
Why are you wary? They are just rescue dogs needing a home. The rescues in those countries just couldn't cope without rescues here taking dogs.
I got my dog straight from a rescue in spain, which basically meant I saw a photo and a few notes then paid a few hundred quid for his transport. I didn't get to meet him till he turned up. He's an awesome wee dog though.
Tied up in a box and thrown in a bin as a pup with his sister and mum. Foreign rescues really need help.
Billy The Kid -
[img] 
[/img]
Have a look at breed specific rescues, if you are struggling with local rescue centres.
I follow spaniel aid and East Midlands lab rescue on Facebook. The former seems to have no shortage of lovely dogs. I'm sure there's rescue groups/charities for other breeds as well. Quite often there's cross breeds with these charities as well.
Otherwise dogs trust, they always seem to have lots of choice. Sadly.
We got ours from Forest dog Rescue, back in the day they'd use a network of fosterers rather than house them all at kennels. Bonus for me was they all got proper socialisation and domestication.
Biggest problem was picking a dog up and seeing the foster family's children getting upset when we took their favourite dog home.
Some local rescues are great, I got my fella from a rescue that does great work. In fact I’ve just checked on their website and this little pup is looking for a forever home......
http://rescueremediesdogrescue.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=5985
What is putting you off a rescue Staffie / Staffie cross from the RSPCA?
They are great loyal family dogs. Don't believe everything you hear about their reputation - its pretty undeserved.
wwpaddler - Member
What is putting you off a rescue Staffie / Staffie cross from the RSPCA?They are great loyal family dogs. Don't believe everything you hear about their reputation - its pretty undeserved.
Good point, but I think the issue is that they're not getting the early-life care that they need from the families that take them as pups.
And they grow up with issues.
Another vote for Dogs Trust. They tale the whole thing very seriously - matching the dog to you / your lifestyle and carrying out a home visit.
Dogs are neutered / spayed and chipped. We didn't get the dog we wanted - we got a nervous wreck who refused to be walked more than 50 yards from the kennel on the practice walks.
After a few months of love and attention, he turned into the best dog in the world. He was only about four months old so it was easy enough to 'retune' his doggy brain.
Once you've had a lurcher it's hard to go back to a normal dog! They have a certain demeaner and temperament that other dogs just don't have. All dogs are great by the way but Lurchers are special. Contact a lurcher and greyhound rescue charity and take it from there. Greyhounds are lovely but thick as mince compared to a lurcher!
Good point, but I think the issue is that they're not getting the early-life care that they need from the families that take them as pups.And they grow up with issues
Can be true of all rescue dogs not just Staffies
We wanted to go down the rescue router but had specific requirements due to my wife and youngest daughter both being asthmatic and technically 'allergic' to dogs (well, dog 'dander' I think). This meant either a labradoodle / cockapoodle, or one of a small number of breeds that have hair / shed minimally etc.
After much searching ended up with Bedlington Terriers. Stanley we got from a local ad - breeder had a KC bitch that fell pregnant to an aged dog they thought well past it at 16. So he was cheap and non-registered etc. Digby we got last year after going via KC and recommendation to find a breeder we liked - picking him up involved a long train trip from East Sussex to Hartlepool and back. Stanley was < £100, Digby was £700 without KC registration (but we have his pedigree / family tree going back about 6 generations).
In the usual vein of recommending what you've got - Bedlington's are ace - very, very laid back for a Terrier, don't shed, get on amazingly with the girls and generally all round lovely members of the family.
We 'adopted' a Saluki whilst living in Qatar and ended up bring her back to the UK, they are amazing dogs.
We were thinking of bringing another back to the UK- have a look at rescue salukis Middle East:
http://rescuesalukisme.wixsite.com/rescue-salukis-me