Adopting an older dog - any tips?

ftbworried

Ok Guys, a quick update (i'm off to work soon :-( )

We went to see him (Barney) this afternoon (he is at north clwyd animal rescue). Oh my gosh, he was GORGEOUS. The other half and I had a lonnngggg discussion about whether its the right time to get a dog (both quite nervous of doing the wrong thing) but we came to the conclussion that he will bring more to our lives than take away- and in turn we could bring more to his life than he has at the moment.

Anyway- I phones the shelter last night and chatted about him. it turns out that he was brought into the shelter by his previous owners and that his previous owners friend wants to personally rehome him. So I rang this 'previous owners friend, Amanda, to have a chat).

Barney's (brief-ish) history

As a young dog he was kept in a pack and his 'role' in this pack (upto 16 dogs) was a 'minder' - i.e. he'd bark at noises to warn of danger. So, he had problems adjusting when going into a normal home when he was 3 years old. As a result his owners in the 'normal home' called out the dog trainers at 'bark busters'. They manages to sort him out and gave the owners some training things to do with him- but they didn't (or couldnt?) and he reverted to his old ways. His owners had decided that he 'wasnt for them' anymore so the trainer (Carol i think her name was) loved him so much that she kept him for herself (for the next 6 years, which takes us up to now. The trainer (Carol) has to emmigrate to Australia for family reasons and she needs a home for little Barney, but no one wanted him because a) he's an old chap and b) she doesnt want him keeping with other dogs incase he reverts to his 'pack' days and starts barking again. We took him out for a walk and met other dogs and he's great with them so that wasn't a problem.

Her friend Amanda, also works for bark busters and was really nice. She said that he comes with a guarentee that if we have any problems with him we can call her and she will do some training sessions with us for free. She said that she'd love to keep him herslef but has other dogs. She seemed delighted that we liked him and was really pleased. We even live near his previous owners (despite the rescus centre being 60 miles from us) and she said that up until she emmigrates his previous owners would love to be able to still see him (which of course they are welcome).

The next step is that Amanda is coming round to do a house check for our house next week and we can go from there :-)

I'm SO excited. He's an absolutely adorable dog. So well behaved and well mannered and he's a character to boot. He's hopefulyl gonna fit in just fine with us :-)

Thanks you guys for virtually holding my hand through this!

oh- and the picture (which i'll nick of the rescue website) is here....

Dora_the_Explorer_5

He is utterly, absolutely, totally gorgeous. I'm so happy for you all. Dogs can be a bit like babies - is it the right time to have one? There is never a totally right or wrong time. I wish you all a wonderful happy life as a family :T And if he gets too much for you....................I'm coming to get him :j

Not all dogs jump up, slaver, scavenge or hump your leg! It is a matter of consistent training and conditioning.

This made me laugh, my Jack Russells became quite used to being dressed up in dolls clothes and pushed around in a dollys pram by my young nieces - until they smelt sausages, even though we used to hide any medication in pieces of sausage.

twink

i think he is lovely too he looks like a well cuddled teddy bear, hope you have many happy years with him

Jazzy_B

Dora_the_Explorer wrote:

He is utterly, absolutely, totally gorgeous. I'm so happy for you all. Dogs can be a bit like babies - is it the right time to have one? There is never a totally right or wrong time. I wish you all a wonderful happy life as a family :T And if he gets too much for you....................I'm coming to get him :j




Seconded

WeirdoMagnet

What a gorgeous dog - how could you resist now?! Good luck for the homecheck. Don't do too much hoovering, but do make sure you have a secure garden!

Dora_the_Explorer wrote:

There is never a totally right or wrong time.

... until they smelt sausages...

Dora you are right - you can never know when is the 'right' time. Oh yes, she is rather partial to sausages!!!

lil_me

twink wrote:

i think he is lovely too he looks like a well cuddled teddy bear

Thats exactly what I thought. Hope everything goes well for you.

Becles

awww - he looks like a lovely dog :smileyhea

In case you haven't seen my thread in the discounts forum, it's worth joining the Pets at Home club for some money off vouchers on pet spends. See here for details:
http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=216586

newmoney_3

Good luck with the Dog if you do decide to go ahead with it.

Just one point on Pet Insurance, I am not keen on taking out Pet Insurance, personally I prefer to shove a fixed sum per month into a bank account for all those smaller unknown bills that come up. This way I am not wasting the money if I never use it.

Obviously if a major problem appears then you don't have the insurance, but that is something you need to decide yourself.

WeirdoMagnet

newmoney wrote:

Just one point on Pet Insurance, I am not keen on taking out Pet Insurance, personally I prefer to shove a fixed sum per month into a bank account for all those smaller unknown bills that come up. This way I am not wasting the money if I never use it.

Obviously if a major problem appears then you don't have the insurance, but that is something you need to decide yourself.

I agree with you newmoney. However, I took out insurance not only for the vet bills cover, but also for public liability cover too - I think I'm right in saying (although I stand to be corrected!) that if, for instance, your dog became loose and caused a car accident, you would be liable? I'm with M&S and their cover is £2m third party liability. I wonder if someone in the know could tell is what the deal is? Can you buy third party liability insurance as a seperate product?

On another note, M&S state:

We cover your pet for the full duration of the treatment up to £7,000 per year as long as you keep your policy renewed, subject to your policy excess

which I don't think many others do, and they have no upper age limit on the dog either.

Here's the link if anyone wanted it.

Debt_Free_Chick

Georgina wrote:

Can you buy third party liability insurance as a seperate product?

I think it's included in some buildings insurance policies