[Closed] Where did you get your dog from?!

Trouble is with finding a Heinz dog (57 varieties and all that) is that everyone thinks that because somewhere in the deep distant past a vaguely related dog to theirs might have once shagged a poodle that it's a true 'cross breed' and want silly money for it.

Also, because there is so much money in breeds/designer dogs there are not so many 'cos a lion shagged a whippet' type dogs around anymore. For what it's worth we have a cockerpoo and a labradoodle. The cockerpoo is an adorable bundle of 'pedigree' fluff (yes I know they're not considered a true breed) and the labradoodle is as close as you'll get to a 'who knows what it shagged' dog both in terms of looks and personality. Sadly not cost though.

Yeah, the cost of dogs is truly insane at the mo. My folks used to breed chocolate labs with top hip scores, eyes, award winning Dads etc and they charged £800 a puppy. Nowadays the starting price is £2000 and that’s not for anything special by the looks of it. Covid-Tax...

We got a 8 month old Wollie (Westie / Collie mix) from SSPCA a couple of years back. I get the feeling that the workers at these places over analyse dogs because she’s absolutely perfect but they had her down as a highly strung psychopath.

I think being in the equivalent of dog prison might make anyone act oddly. Go for a rescue dog!

(We found Dogs Trust impossible to please unless you happened to be a retired surgeon with a massive garden, no kids and plenty of time on your hands.)

Ours was a rehome as his previous owner was terminal,  he wanted him to go to a home that would he’d love and Jake certainly settled in very quickly. He’s 12 now and has been the family dog.

It’s also worth just going down to the rescue places on a regular basis for a look because the “good dogs” never end up on their website as they’re snapped up quickly.

My folks used to breed chocolate labs

Surely, with the chocolate gene being recessive, they bred labradors - some of which would turn out to be chocolate?

With the prices of dogs through the roof hopefully the number that end up at the rescue reduces as people won't be easily parting with a few grand to get rid after a few months. The licensing of breeders is a good move to improve the welfare of dogs, and if they can get people to be registered to advertise dogs for sale online hopefully that will weed out the dodgy breeders.

We got a pup 6 weeks ago. A border collie, from a farmer in Norn Ireland. Met his parents and grand parents, had home made tea and cake with the farmer and his wife! He'd lived on the farm for 70 years!!! Farmer, not pup! Even with the cost of the ferry, still less than half the price of the ones we couldn't get in Scotland! Bandit is brilliant!

Edit- the cat wishes to reserve his own judgement on the pup though...

Rescue dogs seem to be out as we have a 4 year old and a 1 year old children and they all seem to be for child free homes.

We just got a rescue from Scottish Greyhound Sanctuary last month, 7yo in the house and they weren't bothered beyond checking SHE was suitable for the dog. I believe the Greyhound Trust have a very similar attitude. Applications are through the roof right now but dogs are awarded on suitability rather than your place in the queue. It took us from July and we got exactly the dog we wanted (2 1/2 years old) for the grand sum of £150.

The Greyhound rescues deal in both pedigrees and lurcher so I'm sure one of those would tick your box. Happy to answer any questions you may have.

We got our cocker spaniel just before lockdown via gumtree, prices since then have soared to around 4 x times the previous price, so puppies are now in excess of 2k and dogs that require rehoming are around 1k.

The odd thing I've noticed on there is the amount of young dogs now coming for sale as people's lifestyles change/people chose to cash in?

Odd times, but I'd wait at least 6 months and try the dog homes first.

Both her parents chocolate and the stud from a fairly long line but you’re right - not guaranteed. That said, they normally got around 60/40 chocolate...

Friend of a friend. Had a litter, we paid £80 for what I think is called a mixed breed!

Both of our Cockers from a breeder, thankfully for less than one alone would cost now. We wanted a pup so we knew history and with the kids, and the breed as we wanted small-ish and active. However the older one is quite large for a Cocker, his younger brother bang on. Both same parents. My wife gelled with the breeders straight away and in face the older one was destined for somewhere else but they preferred our family home and lifestyle. I think prices have also rocketed as breeders need to do it as a proper business with recent law changes, but also huge demand.

Lincolnshire Greyhound Trust, which is a small independent rehoming charity (has a branch or 2 down south now as there's an outpost in Oxford). Run by a very organized & level headed chap, (ex civil servant).

Met him years ago through greyhound rehoming activity and was sufficiently impressed that despite being down south ourselves, when we heard he'd set up his own rehoming org we got all our subsequent dogs (4 iirc) from them in Lincolnshire (this was before the southern branches).

There are lots of specialist breed rescue people With dogs needing rehoming as most folks are looking for puppies - if you’re looking for a particular breed, just Google it. Our Labrador was a rescue at 14 months old.

SNDogs, Swindon, local rehoming charity. They're great.

Fudge my 4 year old chocolate lab was from a litter of choc labs, chocolate lab mother and a black lab dad.
We paid £500, from an ad on Gumtree. I have no idea about his pedigree, we didn’t buy him for any pedigree purposes. I had labs growing up and thought he would be very well suited to an outdoorsy young family, and he is. Incredibly tolerant when my daughters were younger.
He’s from a working farm family. Smaller than most choc labs, but he’s also the runt of the litter.

She was in the window of a shop and grabbed our attention with her waggly tail.
We went in to enquire regarding the availability of purchase and the price....what a song and dance that turned out to be

Got Bert from Manchester Dogs Home who were absolutely brilliant.

They thought he was a Collie/Malamute cross. DNA tests reveal he's a purebred Karelian Bear Dog. Can only find one other in the UK. Absolutely brilliant dog. Best £130 I ever spent on anything.

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My wife was wanting to get a breed, as you've more idea about temperament than a mix and match. However, I couldn't justify paying that much when we could get a rescue and save a little life.

We got our Romanian rescue from a small rescue dog organisation on Facebook. Sounds dodgy, but they bring them over then foster them to get an idea of temperament give them all the vaccines etc. So you have a good idea of what you're going to see. Cost us £300 I think, which pays something to the charity the fosterers and the vet and vaccines etc.

Ours is a kokomi, small ish Greek breed and the most chilled, cuddly wonderful thing in the world.
Great with kids, good with other dogs, doesn't care about fireworks, and is a natural care dog for our ADH/autistic household.

McDonald's car park in Bolton at 11pm.
£100 and 16 years later Barney is still everyone's favourite

@RustyNissanPrairie - Bert is indeed a dog of magnificence 🙂

The licensing of breeders is a good move to improve the welfare of dogs, and if they can get people to be registered to advertise dogs for sale online hopefully that will weed out the dodgy breeders.

Still plenty of registered breeders basically running puppy farms out there and transporting the dogs to nice houses for you to view *

* from recent experience

Off a mate. She is a patterdale and didn't have still doesn't mix well with other dogs.

She's mint with people though.

Shes now 15ish and I'm genuinely getting more worried about how long I've got her for

We got our lurcher from a lurcher breeder!

Miniature dachshund for us. Got him off a local well respected bulldog breeder who had a female dachshund who they did a litter from. We paid good money back in November last year and as other have said, prices have gone daft, looking at around £3000+ now for a KC registered pup.

Friends of ours just got a beautiful tall and bouncy wire haired thing. She’s awesome with the kids, (one five, one toddler) and was from a rescue. I’ll enquire which trust/rescue it was. Think was from Romania originally.

Mrs P (and just checked with her friend who works at local animal rescue) says that they adopt dogs into families all of the time...so..?

Ours was from Monica's Happy Ever After's in Romania, via Barnsley and District Animal Welfare.
https://m.facebook.com/groups/852992068044299/

I'd be wary of the gumtree dogs which are 6 months old and are 'looking for their new forever home through no fault of their own.' That could of been 6 months of poor/no training which is why they're now being sold on.

Yet again Bert wins the interwebz

Mine came from a bloke I knew up in Derbyshire. He’d had a litter from his primary working dog and had sold all but Ted with the intention of keeping him as another worker. His wife reminded him that three dogs was enough and that he had to re-home Ted.

I went to see him, saw Ted and realised I was going to spend a long time clearing up his poop and replacing chewed socks. That was 13 years ago. He cost £150. Not bad for a KC registered pedigree working Spaniel.

She was in the window of a shop and grabbed our attention with her waggly tail.
We went in to enquire regarding the availability of purchase and the price….what a song and dance that turned out to be

This needed some appreciation.

Apologies, this is the link I should have posted.
Monica's Romanian Rescue

I'm amazed that rescue centres don't have dogs that they would recommend for young children. I wonder if it has anything to do with possible litigation?

We're in France but rehomed a dog that had been in the refuge for 5 years. He has been a superb dog, not giving us a moments trouble. He's a Braque Francais, (basically a French german short haired pointer.) a loyal, intelligent, gentle dog that just loves to have fun. Other than being a big dog, he is great with kids. I researched the breed first and then found him on the internet at a refuge 4 hours drive from us.

I'm out of touch with rescues in the UK but if possible could you research a breed that is good with kids and then search for one of them in a rescue centre?

I would thoroughly recommend getting a rescue, it's been so rewarding on both sides!

Not ours, but we're dog sitting for friends this week and this thread lacked pics.

Meet Dexter, he's a cross, 1/4 Ewok, 1/4 Wookie, 1/2 Trouble.

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Every time I see Bert, I think he’s great but I love most dogs, had one most of my life. Dexter looks great to! Some friends of our got a rescue a couple of months ago, I’d say an early lock down dog that the first owner's didn’t want the work. So still well under a year, they paid £300 for him, he’s great with everybody including children.

@mercuryrev a lot of the British rescues seem to have a set of rules that are founded in a level of ideology of forever home that many working families in modern Britain will never meet if they answer honestly and this is the issue I think the OP is having. They then complain that people buy puppies or bring in dogs from elsewhere when they have loads that need rehoming.

OP if you're a new dog owner I'd be careful about the Romanian route and do your research. They are / can be a very different proposition to adopting a UK dog.

Got zigs on the left as a pup from what now appears to be a backyard breeder.
Got jack on the right at a year old, sheepdog who isn't interested in sheep.

Both fantastic dogs.

Timely thread as it is one year to the day that I bought home our little Floh (German for flea) from a dodgy bloke who had her stuffed up his jacket in the cattle market. He wanted £300 but we haggled and I gave £140 for her. She was from a litter off a working farm somewhere up round Brecon way apparently. Who knows. She just looked into my eyes and I knew she needed saving. It hasn't been an easy ride but she is becoming a useful working sheepdog and a very accomplished trail dog too.

1 year ago on the day she came home with me
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A couple of days ago surveying her kingdom.
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She just looked into my eyes and I knew she needed saving.

I thought greyhounds had perfected the "woe is me" hard done by look but damn! I'm surprised you could find the will to haggle!