Rescue Dog tips

One further thought, is this the best time to be getting a dog, Christmas can be quite stressful with lots of different things going on. Maybe it would be better to wait until things are quieter in the New Year.

Talk to the staff at the rescue centre, an older dog may be more suitable but in the end I think heart rules head. Before we got our last rescue dog we looked at several on the website, not too big a dog as one of mine recently pulled me over. Be honest about what you have to offer in the way of time, garden, experience etc. Our little girl is the kindest, gentlest little dog despite being very badly treated by a previous owner. Previous ill treatment does not necessarily mean the dog will have problems. Good luck, we have so much love and pleasure from our dogs.

We are happy to take a mature dog as I don’t want to outlive it. One rescue centre had a criteria that ‘you must be ready to have the dog in 7 days. That seemed much to rushed. We don’t have a car, so are restricted with visiting rescue centres.

Does anyone have any experience of Battersea, which is closest to,us?

Yes I went to N.C.D.L and my DH is a German shepherd lover. Well,he had been taken and returned several times so was on death row. He had so many hang ups but we stuck with it and he was brilliant in the end. I totally agree with the rushing process .They couldn't wait to get rid !

We went down the Dogs Trust route, but I do feel they are verging on the industrial scale nowadays and perhaps you get a more personal service from smaller local re-homing charities. A neighbour has recently taken a dog on from a local place and they allowed her a decent 'honeymoon' period which seemed a jolly good idea.

I recently had a lot more contact than I would have liked with dog rescue centres, and it seems some are rather to quick to match up dogs and owners, and send them on their merry (or in some cases, not so merry!) way.
You need to be sure the place you get the dog from is happy to take time whilst you get to know your new pet.
I think sometimes they are so overrun that they rush the process a bit, so they can take in other worthy dogs.

We rescued one who had been abused . He was 3 yrs old. Lovely dog . Wouldn't do it again though. Too many babies about haha .

I have been researching getting a dog for some time and during my research I came across a site called something like ‘ Oldies rescue dogs’. The dogs were more mature, for those who didn’t want a puppy or young dog.
I have also noticed the quite strict criteria for rehoming such as, the ability to be with the dog during the day and having a completely enclosed garden, crop up frequently.
I am still undecided as the GCs are still quite young.

Well done, Littleflo.
It will be your choice, obviously, but I've seen so many appeals for re-homing elderly dogs. Often the owners have died, or can't cope any more.
Of course the dog won't have long to go either, but they're usually easy to manage, as not too energetic.

Good luck with your search for your forever friend. When we were looking for our rescue dog we had a specific breed in mind, Springer Spaniel. We got in touch with their rescue site and the rest is history, Chloe spent the last nine years of her life with us.

Puppies - not supplies

What a lovely thing to do. I've just been reading about a poor dog who has been in a rescue centre for 4 years and still waiting for her forever home I would recommend talking to the rescue centre nearest to you - they will be best to advise you. Maybe an older dog rather than a puppy would be ideal. All our dogs were rescue ones and gave us so much pleasure in their lives. One was 7 when she came having been dumped with her supplies - the others were 2 or 3 years old. Good luck.

How wonderful for you littleflo I don't have any advice for you I'm afraid but am bumping in case anyone else does.
Ours were strays too but came to us as puppies via a vet friend who'd had them brought in to her and were pretty straightforward. Are you looking for an older dog?