wanting a dog

[chris o]

hi all. just thought i would ask this question unsure of what the comments might be but here we go. i have applied with a few rescue centres near me one for labradores one for cockers and one for springers. in the hope of a pup to a 2 year old.

and i am a waiting for a phone call from one of them to say they have one ready for me that will suit me and my family with what we do. but was wondering if i do get the call can i train the dog to work aswell as the family pet?

and does it matter how old the dog is to determin on the training it for a working dog? any help and advice would be greatfully recieved. many thanks.

[soreshoulder]

yes but a balance must be kept between working and keeping him as a pet, not letting your kids 'tug' with him and the likes B)

[SteveH]

Just make sure that you know what you're getting from a rescue centre - my experience is that they don't always tell you (or don't know) the dog's history and you can end up with a problem dog on your hands.

[Country_est]

I mate,

 

My old bu66er is now comming up 10 years old and he was a return to breeder (free to good home), so as I was looking for a new dog at the time I took pity and had him.

 

Although he is now lying by my feet with the new pup he taught me a couple of things.

 

1) I wasnt as good with dogs as I thought I was

2) As I didn't have him from a pup (he was 6 months when I got him) we never really made the full bond I did with the other 2 before him and the current one.

3) never again would I have a dog (only bitches) and only from pups.

 

If you have PLENTY of time and experience then I would say go for it, but if its your first one then I would say no.

 

Also depends what you want out of the dog, just you and a bit of ruff, pigeon or wildfowling then if he is not SPOT On then you know its only you that it affects, if he is to be a beating / picking up dog then it may need to be carefull.

 

 

Also depends on what they are brought back for, my poor bu66er was just left in a kitchen for 6 months and taken out by a "professional" dog walker for an hour a day. When I got him it took a long time to get him back to just doing the basics before starting his real vocational traing.

 

Has been a great dog to me for retreiving of Pheasant, duck, geese, woodcock, rabbit, pigeon ect ect, but still need to be ontop of him.

 

Just my experience of rehomers...

 

trev

[kier]

Ive had many dogs and the best advice I can give is always get a puppy as young as possible , dogs that have been trained or not trained by other people cannot in my experiance be fully yours. my best gun dog was a german sheperd bitch trained to silent commands and new just what I wanted because I trained her and even at 11 years still learned new things. most of the rescue dogs were never any good. Im not suggesting you change your choice of breed though.

[Lloyd90]

I have to say all rescue dogs we ever had were nightmares because of the lack of training they had before, or being abused/ let to do whatever they wanted!

 

With Skye I bought her from 8 weeks, shes fantastic and looks very promising Its not that expensive to pick up a pup if thats the reason your not going for it. In my opinion its much better to wait and save the ££ to get a dog that will do what you want, not one that'll end up doing your head in

 

I know a few rescue's that were class dogs though so dont be put off if that's the way you want to go Just saying I went for a pup and spent a lil more than I was aiming for, but I got what I wanted