There's been a lot of scandal in my area about some rescue 'organizations' that are really just animal hoarders seeking money. We had a tough time getting another dog, the dogs at the pound we really liked had waiting lists and the one dog who was available wanted nothing to do with our dogs on our visit. So I turned to Pet Finders and saw the profile for my Max. He was listed as no cats but I wrote to the rescue organization from my dog Zelda's POV. We do have cats, and it turned out that Max didn't mind them at all once he was comfy in our home.

Maybe you just need to be super creative with your applications? Or hound the rescue groups so they know you're serious. Not everyone is going to have a doggie Nirvana home-but someone willing to sacrifice for a good dog is going to make that home the best possible home for the dog.

Best of luck on your doggie hunt.

I wish you were down here -- I just looked and it appears our shelter has 451 dogs and puppies. They have been running adoption specials and are trying so hard to become a no-kill shelter. They work with a number of rescue groups, including some who transport dogs up north -- just don't know how hard it might be to get a dog between countries, Keep looking -- though sometimes they just find you.

I do have some criteria - - my two cats are entering their senior years so I really don't want to adopt a senior dog as well and have to deal with 3 old sick animals at the same time. A real drag, heartbreaking and expensive. Middle-aged would be fine. Not really interested in pitbulls and the dog has to be cat safe and relatively okay with young children as my Godchildren are frequent visitors. Size isn't really a huge issue. We both work so we are disqualified from a lot of the dogs who are placed in shelter because they have separation anxiety and need a full-time caregiver at home.

I've been around pitbull mixes and they seem to be extremely gentle. I was curious if you have to pay for a dog and the cost. DH and I got two puppies from the Humane Society, and I knew we'd pay something, but when we went to pay it came to $400. Yikes! They were worth it. I could have done without their first year though. lol

I feel bad for the people who would be great dog parents but most can't afford $200 for a dog from a shelter of all places.

Maybe that's why we have a high percentage of dogs who are put down? Sad.

Here rescue dogs seem to go from about $250 each to $350 each. I have volunteered with a couple of rescues and I have no issues with the cost. If you can't save up $200 to get a dog you definitely cannot feed or vet a dog. Plus the dogs are quite expensive to the rescues - - here $200 would only pay for two vet visits and no medication. No food, no leashes or Kennels. So most of the rescues have to fundraise extensively on top of the adoption fees - - and that is with completely volunteer personnel. Qite a few of the rescues here are in the habit of accepting very sick dogs that rack up thousands of dollars in vet bills as well. I can think of four dogs locally that all have $2000+ bills currently.

I think that's too expensive because so many people will be able to pay for vet bills but not if they have to pay those prices. Some of us can afford it, but I'd wager that most who want a dog can't.

Some places only charge for spaying/neutering if the dog is a puppy. I think that's reasonable, maybe tack on $50. It's no wonder the states put down all those dogs. Time to rethink the process.

Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't send a dog home with someone who can't afford future vet bills, love, fenced yard, etc. I'm not talking about thousands of dollars worth of vet bills for unforeseen illnesses like cancer.

Just vaccinations alone is like $100 a year in the US, not to mention tooth cleaning, annual checkups, flea and tick control, heartworm control, any additional diagnostic, etc. That is a recurring cost over the entire life of the dog. So yes I think it's important to be able to scrape together $200-300, that isn't preventing you from vetting your dog, that is the bare minimum you will need to treat your dog to basic medical care per year not to mention food.

In my area you can easily double those costs, taking my cats to the vet is minimum $200 per checkup and they are indoor so they only need half the vaccinations and no flea/tick control.

I have two extremely large dogs, and three cats. The cats were strays and showed up one at a time as kittens.

A trip to the vet for shots is about $25, including a checkup. Same for dogs. They don't charge other fees. The biggest expense is heartworm, flea, and tick medicine.

I live in a rural town so I know we pay a lot less than a city. If a pet of our's is sick, we go to the City. That's only happened twice in our lifetime.

So here in my state, paying $200 is outrageous. Especially for a puppy. It's just sad that if people can afford to take care of a dog, they can't get one because they cost too much. They are being punished for not being wealthy.

Your vet is a bargain. My two dogs have their annual exams and vaccs coming up and I suspect the tab will be at least $500-600 for shots, exam, blood work for at least one of them plus 3 months worth of Heartguard and flea & Tick preventative.

On the other hand, the normal fee for pet adoption at our shelter is $80 or less, depending on breed and how long they have been there. After a certain period, the fee drops to $25 and seniors who adopt senior pets are free, Plus they run 2 for 1 specials (especially for kittens) and have been running $10 special since the beginning of June. Those fees all include vaccinations, spay or neuter and any medical that was needed up to the adoption. Even the $80 is a bargain. The private rescues do have higher fees, but I suspect they are about average -- and I do share the concern that folks who can't pay an adoption fee can't pay for proper food and medical care for a pet. So many pets are returned to the shelters as soon as they require any significant expense.

Robo, too bad you don't live near me. The shelter in the city nearby is waiving adoption fees for 2 days due to the shelter being completely full. I'm always seeing these cutie-pie dogs (and cats) on the news stations that are up for adoption. I've seen FB pages that have 'profiles' of dogs and cats up for adoption with a little blurb about their traits (shy, partly trained, feisty, their age, etc).

Robo, various breed rescues often have mixed breed animals. Lab cross, golden cross etc

If we deny a loving family from adopting a dog because they don't have $200 at the moment, then owning a dog will only be for the elite. Imagine what would happen to those poor animals? And just because someone doesn't have cash to buy the dog, certainly doesn't mean Spot will be eating Ole Roy and not get his shots.

We got our first dog right out of college free from the pound, long before we ever heard of heartworm. Paco lived to be 15, and the only extra expenses were flea meds and yearly shots.

I'm all for vetting though, but not to see if they can afford a $2,000 surgery that the dog may or may not have. Most don't. And there's help for that if need be.

You ought to read about all the stray dogs in Greece and surrounding areas where they get dumped because they aren't good hunters anymore. It's awful. There are groups who actually fly those dogs to other countries to home them, and people donate to help with cost. We can't be an elitist society for pet ownership.

robo, I live just outside Toronto and we thought surely there wouldn't be a problem in such a large city to find a dog. Several years ago, we applied at the nearby shelters and Toronto SPCA, but saw that hundreds of others were ahead of us on the 'waiting' list, for less than 20 dogs. It seems almost impossible to get rescue dogs in Canada, and I literally haven't seen a stray dog on the street in any of the 3 cities I've lived in, since I was a young girl. My daughter finally went on Kijiji (similar to Craig's List, if you don't have Kijiji in the States) in hopes of finding a mature dog, and was able to find two, who now have a very loving home.

I was looking at Kijiji and noticed there are a lot of Greyhound rescues, my friend has them and they are a wonderful breed, have you considered a Grey Hound at all?

I used to volunteer for that rescu walking dogs at the kennel! I love greyhounds but my husband absolutely does not--my parents rescue them and they have had a series of neurotic/dog aggressive greys. So his intro to the breed has been pretty negative. He would like a more bomb proof dog. Most of the greys we have know have sleep aggression and we are around young kids quite a bit so not really suitable there either. But I love them anyway.

We met Doogie the labradoodle today but the terms of guardianship are too harsh for us - up to 7 years keeping him intact and if we decide we can't live with him intact we can't keep him, we have to give him back.

Thanks picky ! I think there are a lot of strays up north (territories) but getting them down south is a other matter.

Oh wow, hadn't heard about that about greyhounds before, everyone I know who has them just adore them and are very grateful they are a part of their rescue. I do know they are often times not treated very well though, their story at least here in the States is not pleasant. It really makes me sad that a dog is missing out on a wonderful home just because of some silly requirement like that.

I just don't understand how so many of these organizations feel they can dictate what you do with a dog you adopt and provide a loving home to, it basically sabotages the effort. Their hearts are in the right place but the process and demands have gotten way out of control.

When we decided to get a puppy, we tried to adopt, however, the experience was not a positive one at all. Several times no one even responded to our inquiry, while others were rude or made us feel as if we were absusers or looking for a handout which was obviously not the case. We went to see a german shepard at one agency that was set up like a normal shelter with small cages. The conditions were not ideal and yet they still insisted on making it difficult to adopt; I left feeling so deflated. Getting a puppy was supposed to be fun and exciting, but the whole experience was anything but. It's not for us, nope, never again. We'll either adopt from the local shelter or buy from a private source instead.

I wonder if maybe a trip to the states isn't in order... :c)

I haven't read all the responses so sorry if this has already been mentioned, but have you checked Craigslist? I looked in your area today and there are a few young dogs up for adoption -- this one lives with cats but is in Maine and looks to be quite a distance from you:

http://maine.craigslist.org/pet/5663952188.html

The dog adoption process in some areas definitely could use some improvement. When we lived in SC, we contacted a private no kill shelter and the people bought two dogs to our house to "interview" us. One dog got out of the car, promptly bolted and got lost. We never had a chance to even look at it! The shelter people badgered me relentlessly for two weeks because they thought I wasn't making our home inviting to the lost dog. What else could I do besides leave out food and water? I finally had to get short tempered with them so they would leave me alone. The dog eventually came back and they picked him up. Good riddance to those people.

When we moved to GA we looked for a dog for months. My husband finally drove 1 1/2 hours to get our mix breed stray at a county Humane Society in FL. She had heartworm and a tumor and the expenses and treatment were paid for by the shelter. We fostered her during the heartworm treatment and then they let us adopt her after she was cured. I think we paid $25. The shelter is in a wealthy area with a lot of retirees so I am sure they were well funded and had lots of volunteers.

Gail...here we use kijiji instead of Craigslist (not sure why!) my husband trolls the kijiji ads. Most adult dogs for rehoming here go to the rescues because this is a no kill province so people know their dog will be in good hands.

the update is that labradoodle guardianship isn't for us (they wanted us to leave him unfixed for 6-7 years!!) but we have put a deposit on a goldendoodle puppy. I don't mind the fact that they're a mixed breed as purebreds have so many health problems. I'm really looking forward to having a dog and my husband and I have lots of plans for socialization and obedience classes, I think this will be a very involving and rewarding hobby with frustrations (puppy craziness) and health benefits.

Lucky you! Goldendoodles are great dogs. Added bonus they tend not to shed ! When I first got my pup around the 4-6 month mark I thought "what the hell did I do." Now he is 10 months old and has totally blended into my life.I love him so much now . I call him a terriordoodle.

This is Charlie..Underbite and all.

ven't had a doodle, but have been around a number of them. They can be great dogs -- retrievers (labs and goldens) and poodles are typically very smart dogs. They are also high energy, so while they are very trainable, they do need training and lots of exercise to make it work. I spent a small fortune on chews and toys for my lab pup (and later the border collie mix), and we did training classes. Well worth the time and cost.

Robo - is there any particular reason why the shelter would not want the labradoodle neutered? We've owned 7 dogs in our 40+ years of marriage and we neutered every one at the recommendation of our vets. They all stressed that if you're not going to breed them it is healthier for the pet (and s much easier for the owner) if they are neutered.

Is there a chance the shelter would want to breed the dog?

Oh what fun, congrats! I hope you post pics when you bring it home. I know it's different for everyone but I found the training part to be an extremely rewarding experience. The time invested paid off considerably and it's the part of the puppy phase I miss the most.

Marie cate it wasn't a shelter but a breeder so yes it was a stud arrangement. I thought I might be able to get a lovely puppy for a bit cheaper and he really was a doll, but I couldn't imagine living with an unaltered dog for so long in the city. Plus we couldn't buy the puppy outright if he, let's say, started humping everything in sight. We would either have to live with it or give him back.

We are fortunate to live just up the street from an excellent positive training organization so our plan is to start with puppy classes and just keep on going for a couple of years. Ideally if the dog has the right temperament she can be a visitor dog to seniors' homes and she would be the right height for a wheelchair or bed bound person to pat. We are definitely committed to consistency, positivity, exercise and stimulation! Although I'm a bit dreading crazy puppy year or two. It's a good time for us as my husband is off work (looking for work) so he has lots of time to spend socializing and playing for the first week or more and we have time to prep our house for that Labrador chewing instinct.

Ah Robo - that makes sense - at least for the breeder, but I agree with you about living with a non-neutered dog.

How exciting! How soon will he arrive? I hope your new puppy inherits the best of both breeds and lives a long and healthy life.

Oh dear you are absolutely right about that Labrador chewing instinct. This is our second one and she is now 5 and in her first 2 years she ate a bowl of pebbles (later vomiting them all over the kitchen floor during a dinner party), a pair of panty hose that my MIL left in her tote bag on the floor - which required a trip to the ER vet so that they could induce vomiting, a flea and tick collar which my MIL put on her while I was in the hospital. But she didn't buckle it securely and it fell off - the only way DH knew she ate it was he found the metal buckle in her crate and she began exhibiting symptoms of neurological deficits due to the toxicity. She spent 24 hours at the vet's hooked up to an IV to help flush it out of her system.

Happy to say she recovered completely and with the exception of a few socks she hasn't chewed anything in years. But she loves to carry things around the house - hats, shoes, hand towels, flip flops - you just can't take the retriever out of them.

But the joys of having a dog is well worth dealing with all the idiosyncrasies of puppyhood. DH has been retired for 2 years and he dotes on Maggie and it's been an entirely new experience. She follows him everywhere, or lays beneath his desk, or next to his reading chair and she lets him know when he should feed her or take her out. Maggie has done a remarkable job of training DH which proves you can teach an old husband new tricks. Like most labs she loves the water and when she wants to go in the pool she gets her beach towel and drags it over to DH and then just sits and stars at him until he takes her out. It is really the best thing that's happened to him in retirement.

I hope you post photos - you know how we all dote on pets here.

Good luck!

Maire

Years and years ago, our chocolate lab ate cat poop outside and got giardiasis, ate an ant trap, rolled herself around on a dead skunk, swallowed a sweet neighbor girl's baby bunny, in one gulp (ex wasn't thinking when he let the little girl come in the yard while holding the rabbit. She dropped it. It was horrible), and ate the cuticle nippers, requiring major surgery. All of this before the age of two! After three, she was not destructive at all. She was a lovey love and is very, very missed. It is so rewarding!

Thanks so much for sharing those fun and funny atories!! Hilarious but scary I'm sure st the time! I just want to correct a mistake I made...I said Labrador chewing instinct but I should have said retriever as this will be a golden retriever mix. But I think it's very similar!

Maire cate, apparently there is some new thinking on neutering early. Our neighbors recently got a lab and both the breeder and the vet said to wait a year to have him neutered. It had to do with bone growth which can cause issues a the dog grows older. There were other reasons as well. See article below.

Reasons to wait to spay/neuter

Congratulations! Put up the remotes, the toilet paper, pillows and the home work for the first year...

My experience is with a lab but I would expect a golden mix to be similar too. We had a kong (toy we could put treats or peanut butter in and give her something to work at getting them out), stuffed toys, chew sticks and she picks up real sticks outdoors. Even now -- DS gathered some twigs for kindling and we have watched the lab go pick out a stick and chew on it. Sometimes 3 or 4 in a row. I've only seen the border collie mix do that once -- she tends to gather her own -- or steal her sister's. Neither our cats nor our dogs have gone after toilet paper -- but a shipping box or food box in the recycling basket sometimes makes its way onto the floor and winds up in bits like the tablet above. You have the right ideas. Good luck with everything.

Our doggie visitor x 4 months, Betsy, was very mischevious with socks of all things! She turned up her nose at chew toys. She is an extreme high energy dog (sled dog rescue) who was abandoned as a puppy when she came up lame. 2 Mos later, no lameness, just one maniac puppy. Oh and the "beagle" size the vet thought she might grow into turned into 75lbs. She is 4 now but I guess her first year was just a nightmare of extreme high energy and brattiness (and my brother in law spent hours upon hours trying to exhaust her and many months training her every day - but she was born to work!)

one time when she was older and could walk longer distances safely, he jogged her 15k to doggy daycare. When he went to pick her up that night they were like "does she get much exercise? She was go-go-go all day here!"

Our prospective training place recommended the book Before You Get Your Puppy which recommends puppy spends a lot of its down time in an xpen (in your living room or bedroom or whatever) with chewable toys stuffed with its breakfast and supper to foster a chew toy habit. Seems reasonable as long as puppy gets lots of playtime and enrichment outside of the xpen.

Betsy being a stinker

Sharing the the back seat on our many road trips

Robo! Best selfie ever.

Puppies don't have to be so bad. Just crate them, take them outside often on leash, have a party when they pee outside, wear them out with exercise (walks) and stimulation (training and games) and give them lots of toys - a variety - to keep their mouths busy. My last two puppies learned very quickly what was "theirs" and what they were not allowed to out their mouths on. They really were not mischievious at all. (They are herders - not retrievers.)

My puppies liked the fabric toys the best, preferably the ones without stuffing. My last one used the toys to keep her teeth really clean. She has gone through a lot of toys - we'll have to go shopping again soon.

I will definitely try to do all those things in abundance.

Betsy was a special case as a sled dog. She would have done well on a farm or in training for the Iditarod (but couldn't have because of her bad leg). Sort of like greyhound puppies - most households just aren't set up to handle that much working dog. Now that her bones are grown and she is allowed to run long distances (and being 4) she is a lot easier to handle. Still has a very puppy energy though! People are always asking how many months old she is ...they're a little surprised to hear "48."

Maybe we got lucky but when we got our lab puppy and took her for her first well visit, the Vet told us, "A tired lab is a happy lab" and Labs that aren't bored won't destructively chew. True or not, we took her advise, followed it verbatim and it worked.

While she was too young for the doggie daycare, we ran her outside every day and found toys that kept her happy including a kibble ball that she could roll around with her nose so she could work for her meal. At 4 mos, we started putting her in daycare a couple times a week and never once has she chewed something that wasn't meant for her to chew. We still take her to daycare a couple times a week and on the off days we run her till she's tired during her potty breaks. Chuck it balls are your friend and a must when you have a lab, retriever or labradoodle!

Love the pictures, what a gorgeous dog and cute selfie, I didn't read a lot of the conversation above until after I posted but it looks like that is going to be one very very lucky pup.

I suspect that GS was bred to encourage that high energy for sledding, but that makes it hard for her to be good in a regular home. You know the saying "a tired puppy is a good puppy" but how do you get a dog like that tired? Sounds like you did more than most families could (I don't have anyone who could run a dog like that -- I would have had to tried training her to a treadmill).

I was looking for "jobs" for my boarder collie mix and heard of people having them pick up balls or socks and putting them into a basket. I never got her interested in anything like that. She does like to play fetch in the pool. My lab is a ball dog (double yes to the chuck it! -- as well as cans of tennis balls) -- won't go in the past the first step of the pool.

Thanks! Sadly Betsy is my sister and BIL's dog although I would steal her in a heartbeat.

i haven't met our prospective puppy yet but I believe she is one of of these.

I was talking to BIL about Betsy's puppy days tonight...he said sometimes he'd just look at her and beg her to get tired. He laughed bitterly when he remembered reading puppies her age should sleep 16 hours a day.

They do sleep 16 hours a day...Just not on your time table !!

Ooooh adorbs! Look at those pretty pups, will ya?

Just one word of advice...pet insurance

Our lab, acquired at approximately 1 year, doesn't chew and neither did the lab we had previously. But oh boy could they dig! Especially in the hot summer when it was hot outside. They both would get behind a shrub and dig, looking for a cool spot to lie in. We have tried a small pool, pool with sand, but they would have none of that. Must be the dirt. Both spend a lot of time indoors though. I should count my blessings that he's not a chewing dog except for his chew bones.

Congrats and best of luck with the new puppy! The pups are really cute!

No joke about the pet insurance. My sweet, calm rescue dog tore her doggie ACL running up the stairs on Sunday :( We are doing a wait and see right now but she will probably need surgery which will be around $2,000. Yikes.

Will the pet insurance cover the ACL surgery?

Wow! That's the second lab I've heard of lately that had to have an ACL repaired. A friend's nearly 2 year old lab had surgery several months ago. She's doing just fine now but it was sure hard keeping a bouncing young lab down for a while. He had been training her for hunting/retrieving and this came up.

Trupanion does. I agree, besides your new puppy, pet insurance will be another new best friend. I'm not sure if Trupanion is available in your neck of the woods, but if it or something similar is available, it would behoove you to check into it.

Also, I didn't know this but when I picked up our lab from daycare today, I noticed a sign from the groomer that said, "dematting fees will now be charged effective immediately".. I know the groomer, he's extremely giving and layed back, so I inquired, "is J**** getting a lot of dogs in need of dematting?" She replied oh yea! It's the Doodles, they all come in so matted up and it takes hours to comb out because their owners don't want them shaved". I didn't know that about them, but their fur is so cute and curly it makes sense. We use a Kong Brush, it's all rubber and is perfect for lab hair but I'm not sure if it's the right tool for a cute little doodle.

The picture of those puppies is precious. I don't know how you can stand waiting. I'm a complete and total sucker for puppies! When I need a fix, I sit and watch the puppy cam on Animal Planet with our dog!. LOL

The Goldendoodle will require grooming much like a poodle, they have very thick curly poodle like hair. Or at least the ones I've seen do.

Yes From what I understand with the doodles, you can't just brush the top coat, you need a comb to go through the undercoat as well. We're not as concerned about looks and our doodle will be living the lake life with us on weekend so I imagine she will get shaved for the summer.

so this breeder comes with good recommendations and great reviews online but I have found him very uncommunicative :( just not getting a great feeling although he was quick to reply to my initial inquiry. I'm trying to tell myself to withhold judgment til I get out to the farm.

Update: had a good phone conversation tonight and feel much better about the situation.