Finding a dog for an ex-cat lover!

Carol, the image of a basset hound and two little boys is a delight!........

Hilda, your 'baby' sounds a delight. Having worked in rescue for many years it is extremely comforting to know that Dogs Trust are still re-homing sensibly, and waiting till the new year till placing your 'babe' in her new home with her new Mum and Dad.
I must say that having read through all the messages from your first post on asking advice on what sort of dog a cat lover should go for, I would have also said a middle aged greyhound. They make the most amazing house pets and believe it or not, are very 'cat-like' in their behaviour.
Having said that, a Springer/Vizla cross is what you have fallen in love with, and I firmly believe that its the dogs that choose us (however it appears at the time!)
It would be nice to hear in the future how things go and how your babe settles in. Of course, fingers crossed for you and her that the home check is successful.
Wishing you great luck and and as much love as you can cope with from your new addition.

You can't beat that morning sluuuurp! up the face from the dog when she realises you are starting to wake up - sets the day off just right!

She's arrived. It all pretty chaotic here and she is a lot more acrobatic than we thought but we've had two lovely walks and lots of cuddles and playing. She's having an doze in her 'daybed' at the moment and I think we might be in for a sleepless night as she seems to prefer it when someone is in the room. But, hey ho tis early days! Oh by the way, did I mention...........she is ADORABLE, all chocolate brown velvet with caramel coloured eyes that make you forgive the chewed wooden spoon and muddy clothing and floors etc etc.

She's already won your heart, hasn't she HildaW? My dog has one bed downstairs and one upstairs and when it gets to 11 o'clock she just toddles off to her upstairs bed, giving me a withering look as she goes. I don't think she approves if I stay up late! She sleeps soundly all night knowing I am in bed, and only gets up when she hears me moving around. When I brought her home as a pup, we only had one disturbed night, and then she settled right in.

She sounds wonderful so am sending [bone] although I do know that they shouldn't have lamb or chicken splintery type bones so it is beef.

Pet insurance very expensive especially the for life type. Our cat and dog cost more each month in insurance than old camper van and car. Cat diagnosed with thyroid probs which at the very least will mean pills for life. So our excess on treatment was £120 and then 20% of all other fees. So far and it has only been a couple of weeks fees have been £350 plus. So although premiums high at least if something goes wrong we can get the treatment needed. Your beautiful bouncy puppy will probably mangage to cut paws at the very least (they just tend to find the one bit of glass on a beach) so unless you are rich...

Oh I can't resist here is a [squeeky ball]

I had a daft ginger cat with a thyroid problem, almost 20 years ago, which cost me £11 per month. He also went blind but had no problems finding his way around the house and garden. Hilda, your pup sounds absolutely gorgeous. You will have lots of fun and so much exercise!

A really sweet post-script to our adoption story.
Poppy was due her check-up the other day so we dug out the paperwork that Dogs Trust had given us and found her vacination record. It had her previous owner's name and address on it. My husband had a sudden feeling (and hes not usually that empathetic), that they might like to know how she was getting on. He wrote a letter telling them how she now lives very happily in the wilds of Herefordshire and gets to chase around the fields nearby as much as she like and has settled down very well and enjoying her life with us. Today we had the sweetest reply. The lady had been so sorry to give her up for adoption but Poppy was growing into much too lively a dog and was never going to be happy with just a small garden and ordinary walks. Its so nice when everything works out for the best.