Has anyone ever bought a dog from abroad?

gettingready

My friend's dog comes from those parents:

mum:



Dad:



FUria (my friend's dog) as a pup:



an

puppypants

Why do people dock dogs ears? I hate it with a passion!! Grrr...

Welshwoofs

Thanks for the great advice all!

On the rescue part - although I'm totally in favour of rescues, I'm afraid I wouldn't personally have a rescue of any of the molosser breeds. The reason for that is simple; they're incredibly strong - my Neo is 12st of muscle and if he wanted to run I know I wouldn't be able to hold him (I'm a 5'4" female) so I had to train him very carefully from the moment we got him at 8 weeks. Even now I have the odd scare because he's terrified of motorbikes and will lunch at them....I've had to train myself to hear motorbike engines in advance and literally brace myself because I know he'll lunge and then try to run away like the blazes. So I wouldn't ever take the risk on getting a rescue molosser because even if I could be assured there was no dog/human aggression....I could be walking them one day and they get spooked by something that the rescue centre didn't know about. That's a big problem when you have a dog that can pull you over.

Notsosharp wrote: »

I read somewhere that they were, but it was actually in Germany they're banned.

Sorry, my bad

No worries! Actually, if you've ever looked at a list of dogs banned around the world it's ruddy eye opening (there's one below). Even the UK family favourite, the Labrador, is banned in some countries. It's just more weight to the 'Deed, not Breed' argument in my eyes that a dog that's perfectly acceptable in one country is banned in another. My own breed, the Neapolitan Mastiff, is also banned in Germany.
http://peekaboo420420.hubpages.com/hub/List_Of_75_Banned_Or_Restricted_Breeds_Is_your_Dog_On_The_New_List

Welshwoofs

gettingready wrote: »

My friend's dog comes from those parents:

Beautiful dogs there gettingready, though I too wish they wouldn't ear crop!

If you want some Mastiff cuteness - here's my Neapolitan, Boo throughout his life stages:

8 weeks old - first day home



4 months, playing with my Mum's Lab (clown feet!)



6 months, learning that plants are not toys (perfecting 'I'm innocent' look)



1 year old, with his favourite toy



July 2012, nearly 6yrs old now and fully 'drool developed'

Welshwoofs

Pthree wrote: »

* I do realise this is a bit daft but as much as I supprt rescue all the way, there are certain breeds would not give a chance too as you never "know" what they have been taught.

Im getting ready to be shot down in flames now

P3

You won't get shot down in flames by me, that's for sure. It's unfortunate that there are certain breeds that are preferred by certain 'elements' in society who simply want them to look/be aggressive.

I've had a few rescue centres ask if I could take another Neapolitan (they find it hard to find potential owners experienced with Mastiffs) and, though it breaks my heart, I've always said 'no'. The problem I've heard with people I know who have rescued Mastiffs is that the reason they're often given up is that they're so big/expensive to keep...and prior to giving them up they're often kept isolated as 'outdoor dogs'. Mastiffs do not do well as outside dogs; they're bred to protect people, not property and they can get very distressed/develop bad habits when left alone away from their people.

FatVonD

Can't say I see the sense of buying abroad but on the subject of pup/older dog crossover, when I got my dog (many years ago, he's long gone now) he was massively easy to house train as my partner at the time already had 2 other dogs and my dog just toed the line along with them.

From what I can see it seems that most of the dog rescues also like to put dogs with adopters with older dogs so they can learn from them.

ClootiesMum

Can't comment on the bringing from abroad but I would recommend the crossover (although in all fairness, my dogs are about the size of your dog's lunch.....). You don't feel that the new dog is a replacement.

gettingready

FatVonD wrote: »

Can't say I see the sense of buying abroad

Ermm... if the breed someone wants is not available in UK?

FatVonD

gettingready wrote: »

Ermm... if the breed someone wants is not available in UK?

Ermm... I know

BonitaG

Hi,
only saw your message now. All my dogs come from abroad. Simply because at the time of adopting them, I was living in Europe. However, due to the restrictions to bringing pets into the UK, a more restricted gene pool than on the continet has developped here and I can very much appreciate why people would want to get their dogs from abroad.
The entry requirements for dogs have recently changed and if I am not mistaken, your puppy won't need to wait until it is 6 months old before it can enter the UK. Check the Defra website or give the Defra a call.
I highly recommend however to go and see the puppy and the parents (or at least the mother) before committing to a dog. The bringing the puppy over will probably cost you a mint, but if it is in your budget, I think getting the right dog for you is worth a bit more money! If you speak to a breeder they might have exported dogs before and can tell you who to contact to find out about the cost.

With regards to the question of whether to introduce a puppy to a middle aged dog or wait till he has passed:
I have introduced 2 puppies to a couple of grown up dogs. One of the big boys took one look at the puppies and left the house. He only came back in at feeding time. The other big boy thought all his christmasses and birthdays had come together. And I had expected grumpy to play daddy to the puppies like he before had to the other now big boy. After a few weeks, even grumpy loved the puppies. What I am saying is, how your dog will react, can only be guessed.
Training those new puppies, while already having two grown ups in the house was easy. The big boys did almost all the work.
But a word of warning: friends of our family used to have a Bernese Mountain dog. They added a puppy to one day replace him, again a Bernese. They got on well and the dogs were happy and nice. Once the older one had died though, the younger one bit the children and has been put down because he was cosidered too big a risk to keep as a family pet. The assessment was that he was getting stressed being the only dog in the house. This is a very sad story and it has served me as a warning. If you only ever want one dog at any one time maybe it is better to wait until there is only one dog in the house, even though it will be more work for you.

The other thing to consider is whether your car and home are big enough, whether you can afford the extra cost and could you walk two big dogs on your own?