where have all the mongrels gone?

That's what my dog does. She has a ball, just like children's play group with slides and Wendy houses and they do a bit of obedience training. Comes home shattered and is asleep in minutes - brilliant!

HildaW beat me to it. I was going to say try the Dogs Trust. They have branches all over the country and a wide variety of dogs. For various reasons, I don't have a dog at the moment but I do sponsor Samuel and Sydney at out local branch.

Try getting an ordinary moggie at a decent price. My little 12 year old cat only cost £20 from an acquaintance but I've seen moggies on sale for £100! I think it may something to do with lack of kittens unless you go to the Cats Protection and adopt a cat and sometimes a kitten. However, be prepared for the third degree, home check etc. I've had three dogs and none of them cost me a thing. The first a collie from a hippy friend who lived in the depths of Dorset, sadly he died at four years old. A few months later, through a work colleague, I heard of two adult Labradors up for homing from a private home.Daisy [yellow lab] was 4 and Bella[black lab] was her 7 month old puppy. A couple were divorcing and couldn't decide who'd have the dogs - so after I met them, thought about it and decided [with much nagging from kids] to adopt them. So we exchanged flowers, wine and dogs under the Martyrs Tree in Tolpuddle - half way drive for both. Both dogs lived to 14 and gave us such fun and joy. After Bella died 6 years ago I just couldn't go through losing another dog, the grief at losing her was so awful. Even now I find it difficult to see a black lab and not want to swoop them away.

lurchers - provided they are not a greyhound crossed with something a bit of a problem. I am on my second lurcher - he is border/bearded collie crossed with greyhound and he is so laid-back except when spotting a small furry that my grandson (nearly 4) is fine with him and knows to keep out of the way if the dog is on a 'dash'. Bonus - he rarely barks - the dog that is.
both of my lurchers were private adoptions - not that I do not support rescue centres- as I had problems with their insistance on 6foot fences (in the country!) and neither of my dogs has been a 'jumper'.

We were vetted by Dogs trust and although are fenced, its only about 4 ft on some sides. I think they could see we were so deep in the country it hardly mattered and used a bit of common sense to see that we were serious about looking after her and keeping her away from livestock. So yes, they do say that fences need to be 6 ft in their paperwork, they are not daft about turning away a good home.

Yes; it's a terrifying sight seeing a dog running at your arthritic knees at 30 plus miles an hour [I have a whippet and she always aims at my knee!]. I love lurchers and sighthounds.

Crimson, Yes our mad thing does that out in the fields.....I turn sideways matador style and ignore her......she usually just goes straight past now, skids to a stop and then trots towards me for a reward, if she hits me there is no reward.

the trick is not to move when they are at full dash mode as I learned when 30kg of dog collided with my leg when I thought I was trying to get out of his way

Ouch Mollie!

I do a sort of matador thing with my poop scoop bag.....

Gosh Crimson........that needs to go on YouTube!

Some one mentioned Staffies early on as there are a lot in rescue homes. My parents have always had Staffies (64 years - I'm 65) and are eager to point out that they are known as the nanny dog. I don't know how old your children are but I can say that whatever their ages a Staffie may be a good dog for them.

BUT - it will defend you, your house and them against the world. Which is why so many of them get themselves into trouble. If anyone, including their friends or your neighbours, acts in a way the dog considers a threat ....... ! I know this applies to a lot of guard and terrier breeds but a Staffie has been bred to have enormous jaw muscles so even a playful nip can really hurt.

And, yes highly bred cocker spaniels can be nippy, but working cockers are excellent as they're bred for their character not their looks. And they come in cheaper!

If you know what sort of dog you'd like and the Dogs Trust can't help have a look at your chosen breeds rescue website. They often dogs from broken homes etc.

I've got one sitting on my feet right now - a proper mongrel if ever there was one. Brilliant

Would it sound judgemental () if I said that I would never ever buy a bred dog or cat- when there are 1000s looking for good homes right now.

I've got one lying at my feet too jura - the best kind of dog IMHO. And I do agree that I would never buy a pure bred dog - there are so many lovely, good dogs looking for homes.
But that also takes us on to another subject - I believe that there are far too many dogs being bred and we should have some sort of control on breeding puppies.