Dogs...

[bannedfromHandV]

18 minutes ago, Rds1983 said:

We're thinking about getting a puppy and curious if anyone had a recommendation for where to get it from. Would prefer a purebred or cross so that we have an idea of what we're getting (tempament and health wise) but not a deal breaker. Main concern is not wanting to use a puppy farm etc. 

Get one from a dogs home, you could be saving a life as well as fulfilling your own needs.

[Rds1983]

24 minutes ago, bannedfromHandV said:

Get one from a dogs home, you could be saving a life as well as fulfilling your own needs.

See my previous post. We're having zero luck with rehoming centres, both in the UK and abroad. 

Id happily rehome one as I've volunteered in shelters before and have family involved in those charities but due to the age of our son that isn't really an option. 

Edited September 6, 2022 by Rds1983

[AlwaysAVFC]

34 minutes ago, Rds1983 said:

I've looked at 100s of dogs at a number of rescue centres but none in this country will deal with us as we have a young child and they see it as too much of a risk. 

I've spoken to some overseas and they might but that's raised other queries. 

How old is your child?

We got ours from Birmingham dogs home May last year. Them, Blue Cross, Dogs trust, RSPCA will have dogs for young children as will others. Although if it's anything like when we were looking, you have to be frequently searching, to get in there first when one comes up as there arent many. I had all searches saved and was on my phone a lot going through the sites. An unhealthy amount of time, but had to do it to stand a chance.

We were also pretty open to what dog we wanted. We didn't want anything too small or like a Lurcher/greyhound. Some big dogs I think are an automatic no for young children.

What are you looking to get ideally?

[Rds1983]

8 minutes ago, AlwaysAVFC said:

How old is your child?

We got ours from Birmingham dogs home May last year. Them, Blue Cross, Dogs trust, RSPCA will have dogs for young children as will others. Although if it's anything like when we were looking, you have to be frequently searching, to get in there first when one comes up as there arent many. I had all searches saved and was on my phone a lot going through the sites. An unhealthy amount of time, but had to do it to stand a chance.

We were also pretty open to what dog we wanted. We didn't want anything too small or like a Lurcher/greyhound. Some big dogs I think are an automatic no for young children.

What are you looking to get ideally?

I've looked into (and even volunteered with some of) these sites and as a rule was seeing almost no dogs for home with kids under 8.

My wife is also not keen on staffies so that removes a lot of the dogs straight away. She's also concerned about behavioural problems they might have due to past trauma and how this might manifest in regards to our son who has to come first. As such she's not keen on getting an older dog. 

I've looked at literally 100s and 100s of dogs, have sent multiple enquiries but so far it's not looking like a good option. 

Edited September 6, 2022 by Rds1983

[picicata]

1 hour ago, Rds1983 said:

I've looked at 100s of dogs at a number of rescue centres but none in this country will deal with us as we have a young child and they see it as too much of a risk. 

I've spoken to some overseas and they might but that's raised other queries. 

Have you tried looking on Facebook for adoption groups? We picked up both our rescue spaniels from a Spaniel specific group. One at 6 months old and one at a year old. They are the loveliest pair and I wouldn't be without them.

[AlwaysAVFC]

17 minutes ago, Rds1983 said:

I've looked into (and even volunteered with some of) these sites and as a rule was seeing almost no dogs for home with kids under 8.

My wife is also not keen on staffies so that removes a lot of the dogs straight away. She's also concerned about behavioural problems they might have due to past trauma and how this might manifest in regards to our son who has to come first. As such she's not keen on getting an older dog. 

I've looked at literally 100s and 100s of dogs, have sent multiple enquiries but so far it's not looking like a good option. 

Ours were 3 & 8 at the time. As I said it was a lot of searching, not many came up and some of those weren't for us. Then of the ones we applied for sometimes we didn't hear back, occasionally there was some communication.

Any centre I registered with, I never heard back from. It was the obsessive searching to get in there first that got our success.

Just looked on Birmingham dogs home where we got ours.

https://birminghamdogshome.org.uk/dog-search-results/?jsf=jet-engine&tax=size:25%2C26%2C27;can-live-with-young-children:89

There is one Lurcher available and another that has been reserved both 8 month old for all age children, one was for over 8's. Lurchers did come up more than most and we didn't want one.

Guess you do anyway but make sure you put about volunteering if you apply for any.

[Rds1983]

27 minutes ago, picicata said:

Have you tried looking on Facebook for adoption groups? We picked up both our rescue spaniels from a Spaniel specific group. One at 6 months old and one at a year old. They are the loveliest pair and I wouldn't be without them.

I'm not on Facebook but thanks. 

 

26 minutes ago, AlwaysAVFC said:

Ours were 3 & 8 at the time. As I said it was a lot of searching, not many came up and some of those weren't for us. Then of the ones we applied for sometimes we didn't hear back, occasionally there was some communication.

Any centre I registered with, I never heard back from. It was the obsessive searching to get in there first that got our success.

Just looked on Birmingham dogs home where we got ours.

https://birminghamdogshome.org.uk/dog-search-results/?jsf=jet-engine&tax=size:25%2C26%2C27;can-live-with-young-children:89

There is one Lurcher available and another that has been reserved both 8 month old for all age children, one was for over 8's. Lurchers did come up more than most and we didn't want one.

Guess you do anyway but make sure you put about volunteering if you apply for any.

I'll take a look thanks. Similar to you I've engaged multiple centres and hear back from hardly any. Quite a few (generally overseas) just emailed back demanding upfront deposits and that just screams scam. 

I'm kinda burnt out by the endless process (we've just lost out on a Collie from Spain after a few weeks conversation as it tried herding a 4 year old who was visiting and nipped him) and wanting to see if any easier options were out there. 

Edit. Just looked at that Lurcher and whilst it says young kids (u13) when you open it up it then says only aged 8 years plus which we don't meet. This is the main issue I've had. 

Edited September 6, 2022 by Rds1983

[AlwaysAVFC]

20 minutes ago, Rds1983 said:

Edit. Just looked at that Lurcher and whilst it says young kids (u13) when you open it up it then says only aged 8 years plus which we don't meet. This is the main issue I've had. 

Yeah that's Diesel, Patty says all children under 13. She is down as a large dog though and there is no picture at the moment. 

It is hardwork to look and can see why people just go the puppy route. My wife used to work for Blue Cross so we were only ever rehoming a dog and she wouldn't consider one from abroad either. 

The first one we arranged to see, it got a bit possessive with a toy so they rang to cancel and changed the age. The next we said we'd take and paid reserving fee. On between picking her up apparently a previous owner tried to claim her and said that it had snapped at a child. Which I think they said to scupper rehoming and centre had no choice but to cancel. They did put us on a priority list though. So the next dog that came up they contacted us and we went to see her and ended up taking her home a few days later.

[Rds1983]

30 minutes ago, AlwaysAVFC said:

Yeah that's Diesel, Patty says all children under 13. She is down as a large dog though and there is no picture at the moment. 

It is hardwork to look and can see why people just go the puppy route. My wife used to work for Blue Cross so we were only ever rehoming a dog and she wouldn't consider one from abroad either. 

The first one we arranged to see, it got a bit possessive with a toy so they rang to cancel and changed the age. The next we said we'd take and paid reserving fee. On between picking her up apparently a previous owner tried to claim her and said that it had snapped at a child. Which I think they said to scupper rehoming and centre had no choice but to cancel. They did put us on a priority list though. So the next dog that came up they contacted us and we went to see her and ended up taking her home a few days later.

Unfortunately my wife's not keen on any dogs listed with separation anxiety which Patty has. A few of my family have rehomed dogs suffering from this and it's caused too much difficulty. As my wife's not grown up with dogs she doubts me when I say you can work on this. 

This does limit our search somewhat but it's important to find the right dog, not only for us but also for the dog. 

I'll keep looking but curious to see what other reputable options are out here. 

Edited September 6, 2022 by Rds1983

[Harkanon]

Don't get a companion animal if you attach so many conditions for success.  You are doomed for misery on all parties from the outset when the slightest transgressions inevitably occur.  Each animal has their own personality and you are guaranteed nothing.

[AlwaysAVFC]

12 minutes ago, Rds1983 said:

Unfortunately my wife's not keen on any dogs listed with separation anxiety which Patty has. A few of my family have rehomed dogs suffering from this and it's caused too much difficulty. As my wife's not grown up with dogs she doubts me when I say you can work on this. 

I had a quick scan through the bio but missed that sorry.

I'd just repeat what I said about checking whenever you can. 

Birmingham dogs home, I had the most communication with for dogs and we got ours from

Blue Cross had the least come up and don't think I applied for one with them.

Dogs trust had a few but felt the they got a lot of applications. Getting in early helps but they do evaluate applications too. So it's like applying for a job and selling yourself to them.

RSPCA actually had a few litters of puppies when we were searching but we ideally didn't want a puppy.

[StefanAVFC]

We just picked up a dog from a breeder yesterday.  Bit older, 4 months old, and she’s great. Beautiful, smart, knows a lot already but she just seems so sad. She plays but at a walking pace, hides from anyone who isn’t us. 
 

anyone else experienced this? Does it pass?

she is a Ogar Polski, a recognised breed only really found here 

[Jonesy7211]

My cocker spaniel was attacked by a mastiff last night, and received two puncture wounds to the face and neck. Thankfully he's ok, after a good few hours in the vets, stitches, and antibiotics, although quite obviously now in shock. My wife and 11 year old lad were with him at the time, and they're both still quite distraught.

I called the non emergency police number today to log this incident, however was informed that this is a civil matter and there's nothing they can do as my dog isn't a service dog and mastiffs aren't on the dangerous dogs list. My concern with this is that I genuinely worry that if the dog were to attack again, then the next victim could easily be a child or the next dog may not be so lucky.

Obviously I'm quite keen to ensure that the dog is destroyed, and spoke to the owner at length about this (no angry words spoken, just a level headed chat). The owner doesn't know what they'll do.

Does anyone know if there's any legal course I can take to make sure the dog is reviewed by an authority so that there is a correct outcome, regardless of what that is?

Regarding the attack, my dog was on his lead and the mastiff wasn't. He just bounded up, my dog hid behind my wife, and then the mastiff locked onto his skull. My wife kept my dog as still as she could so thankfully his wounds were not as severe as they could have been.

[Stevo985]

On 18/09/2022 at 18:31, Jonesy7211 said:

My cocker spaniel was attacked by a mastiff last night, and received two puncture wounds to the face and neck. Thankfully he's ok, after a good few hours in the vets, stitches, and antibiotics, although quite obviously now in shock. My wife and 11 year old lad were with him at the time, and they're both still quite distraught.

I called the non emergency police number today to log this incident, however was informed that this is a civil matter and there's nothing they can do as my dog isn't a service dog and mastiffs aren't on the dangerous dogs list. My concern with this is that I genuinely worry that if the dog were to attack again, then the next victim could easily be a child or the next dog may not be so lucky.

Obviously I'm quite keen to ensure that the dog is destroyed, and spoke to the owner at length about this (no angry words spoken, just a level headed chat). The owner doesn't know what they'll do.

Does anyone know if there's any legal course I can take to make sure the dog is reviewed by an authority so that there is a correct outcome, regardless of what that is?

Regarding the attack, my dog was on his lead and the mastiff wasn't. He just bounded up, my dog hid behind my wife, and then the mastiff locked onto his skull. My wife kept my dog as still as she could so thankfully his wounds were not as severe as they could have been.

It's terrible to have a dog off their lead if they can't be controlled at the best of times, but to have one that can hurt other dogs is frankly shocking.

[Jonesy7211]

1 hour ago, Stevo985 said:

It's terrible to have a dog off their lead if they can't be controlled at the best of times, but to have one that can hurt other dogs is frankly shocking.

I often have my dog off lead, but if I see other people around he goes straight back on. I know dogs aren't for everyone.

There absolutely must be more accountability on bad dog owners. No such thing as a bad dog, just bad owners. What happened to my dog simply wouldn't have happened if the mastiff was on his lead.

[Stevo985]

1 minute ago, Jonesy7211 said:

I often have my dog off lead, but if I see other people around he goes straight back on. I know dogs aren't for everyone.

There absolutely must be more accountability on bad dog owners. No such thing as a bad dog, just bad owners. What happened to my dog simply wouldn't have happened if the mastiff was on his lead.

Exactly.

Even if your dog (not you, I mean you in general) is small and friendly and harmless, if it can't be controlled then it could still go up to unfriendly dogs that ARE on leads and get themselves hurt. 

I know that's not what happened here. Having a dog that is dangerous and having them off lead at all is totally unacceptable

[BOF]

3 hours ago, Stevo985 said:

It's terrible to have a dog off their lead if they can't be controlled at the best of times, but to have one that can hurt other dogs is frankly shocking.

I'd go as far as to say anyone who thinks a mastiff is the kind of dog that doesnt need a lead - and then that mastiff goes and does something like this - is exactly the kind of person who should not be allowed to have a dog in their household ever again.

[Stevo985]

4 minutes ago, BOF said:

I'd go as far as to say anyone who thinks a mastiff is the kind of dog that doesnt need a lead - and then that mastiff goes and does something like this - is exactly the kind of person who should not be allowed to have a dog in their household ever again.

Yep

to be honest even if it was the best behaved Mastiff in the world, you should probably still keep a dog like that on a lead

[Mr_Dogg]

On 18/09/2022 at 18:31, Jonesy7211 said:

My cocker spaniel was attacked by a mastiff last night, and received two puncture wounds to the face and neck. Thankfully he's ok, after a good few hours in the vets, stitches, and antibiotics, although quite obviously now in shock. My wife and 11 year old lad were with him at the time, and they're both still quite distraught.

I called the non emergency police number today to log this incident, however was informed that this is a civil matter and there's nothing they can do as my dog isn't a service dog and mastiffs aren't on the dangerous dogs list. My concern with this is that I genuinely worry that if the dog were to attack again, then the next victim could easily be a child or the next dog may not be so lucky.

Obviously I'm quite keen to ensure that the dog is destroyed, and spoke to the owner at length about this (no angry words spoken, just a level headed chat). The owner doesn't know what they'll do.

Does anyone know if there's any legal course I can take to make sure the dog is reviewed by an authority so that there is a correct outcome, regardless of what that is?

Regarding the attack, my dog was on his lead and the mastiff wasn't. He just bounded up, my dog hid behind my wife, and then the mastiff locked onto his skull. My wife kept my dog as still as she could so thankfully his wounds were not as severe as they could have been.

Do you have dog wardens? That's who you need to contact.

[BOF]

Just now, Stevo985 said:

Yep

to be honest even if it was the best behaved Mastiff in the world, you should probably still keep a dog like that on a lead

The way I see it, by having it off the lead you're taking a 'no going back from this' risk. If the dog is well adjusted and by extension you're a good owner then maybe maybe you'll be OK. But why take that risk if you are a good owner (knowing that even the best dogs can encounter the wrong dog on the day). Whereas if you're a bad owner and as a result the dog isn't well adjusted, then you've given it precisely the opportunity to expose you both.  Problem there is someone else has to be the chew toy.