Anyone recommend a few dog related forums?

[novocastrian]

To cut a long story short our daughter has been asking for a dog for years & we have always said its not the right time/too much commitment etc etc

But now bearing in mind we more than likely wont have a holiday this year & a general feeling of lifes to short, we have tasked her with researching breeds etc and to come up with a list of potentials with pros/cons etc etc, promising nothing but we will seriously look into it...

Being 100% honest we are leaning towards a puppy rather then a rescue dog as we have no real experience* and dont really want a dog that may have potential issues/problems we are not equipped to deal with but are open minded

So the point of this... whilst our daughter is compiling her lists etc we want to have a read up as well. Via google we ended up on mumsnet (i know i know..) and its an absolute minefield of opinions & to be honest brutal at times especially if anyone mentions cross breeds (cockerpoos etc etc etc)... just want some honest & reliable/unbiased info so we can at some point make in informed choice. Appreciate this isnt the best time & cant see how we could proceed under the current lockdown, but we arent in any hurry & happy to take a long run up, so would be probably be Autumn at the very earliest i guess...

TIA


* ive never been in a dog household my mrs had a family dog but this was in the 70's when dogs just got 'let out'... we have looked after cousins dog, a terrier of some sort not a Jack Russel bit bigger?, for a few weekends & this went surprisingly well, but she is well trained and very laid back

[Mel49]

No advice on doggy forums as despite having dogs for many years have never joined any groups but just want to suggest that you do not discount a rescue dog. We got a rescue puppy that had been born at the rehoming centre so got help and support with the training. You can also sometimes get young dogs that are house trained but maybe just too much work for the owners or ones that need a new home due to bereavement or divorce and don't have behavioural issues.

Admittedly our last 2 retrievers have been direct from breeders as due to the age of our kids at the time we could not adopt a suitable dog. We love Golden Retrievers as they are great, loyal family pets but they are quite big and shed a lot of hair!


There have been a lot of posts in the past about the best breeds, training and people posting for help on general chat so even searching puppies on this forum or dog training will bring up lots of helpful posts. Good luck

[Abbysmum]

Please have a look at Happy Paws rescue, they are a rescue home for golden retrievers x

[shamu1]

don't know of any forums but my advice would be to do your research on the dogs. find out as much information as you can then once you have decided on a breed. look on the breed clubs wed page or facebook page. most have a page with some great advice. the kennel club have a list of breeders as well which can help put you in the right direction of some good breeders
.

[FLA88]

I agree, once you have narrowed down a breed you might like, have a look for Facebook groups for that particular breed.
You can then get honest answers about actually living with that type of dog, both the good and the bad points! 😁

[2point]

Careful flashing your headlights in remote car parks is all I can say

[aqualiv]

How old is your daughter?
It will be you who will look after it 100 percent no matter what she says now
So you and your wife need to be the ones who want the dog
I have a puppy basset and she consumes my whole day, good job I’m furloughed at the moment so I can give her the time she demands

In terms of forums, I am on some Facebook breed specific sites

[sam7]

I also agree with facebook breed groups, they are brilliant for information on breed specific traits. A rescue/rehome is not necessarily a dog that comes from an abused or unknown background, so don't discount them. 'doodles for rehome' is a brilliant facebook group that facilitates the rehome of poodle crosses - they help the current owner and new owner all the way through the process and most dogs comes from loving homes where circumstances have changed. These dogs are loved, trained and well behaved. Good luck, I am sure 12 months down the line we will be reading that this is the best thing you have ever done.

[Bellasmummy]

Another recommendation for Facebook breed specific groups.

We joined a few after narrowing down what breeds we were considering and found them really helpful.

We got our puppy 6 weeks ago today, just before lockdown, and I’m so happy that we did. We’ve had time with her and she’s really lifted our spirits.

We actually got her from a breeder approved by one of the Facebook groups where they’d done some checks. She’s been brilliant with advice and is keeping all the siblings in contact via a WhatsApp group. The whole process has been excellent.

We used the pets at home website for some breed research as liked the layout of the info pages and found it easy to compare breed traits. Once we found some breeds we were interested in from there we did further research and started looking at the Facebook pages.

As we narrowed down what we wanted I left the Facebook pages we weren’t interested in and narrowed our search to two breeds so started looking for breeders. The Facebook groups really made the process much more straightforward.

[aqualiv]

Originally Posted by Bellasmummy

Another recommendation for Facebook breed specific groups.

We joined a few after narrowing down what breeds we were considering and found them really helpful.

We got our puppy 6 weeks ago today, just before lockdown, and I’m so happy that we did. We’ve had time with her and she’s really lifted our spirits.

We actually got her from a breeder approved by one of the Facebook groups where they’d done some checks. She’s been brilliant with advice and is keeping all the siblings in contact via a WhatsApp group. The whole process has been excellent.

We used the pets at home website for some breed research as liked the layout of the info pages and found it easy to compare breed traits. Once we found some breeds we were interested in from there we did further research and started looking at the Facebook pages.

As we narrowed down what we wanted I left the Facebook pages we weren’t interested in and narrowed our search to two breeds so started looking for breeders. The Facebook groups really made the process much more straightforward.

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What breed did you get?