where have all the mongrels gone?

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.

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

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.

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

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

Ouch Mollie!

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

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.

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.

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.

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'.

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.

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.

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!

We saw some Doggy Daycare in the U.S. on a recent visit...........these are businesses and seem to be very popular...the 'playground' was full of dogs all shapes and sizes having huge fun!

Fantastic Hilda. The daycare place where my dog goes to hang out twice a week has just sold all our donations at a car boot and raised over £600 for the Dogs Trust. They do an amazing job and need more help if anyone is abe to donate.

Can't speak highly enough of Dogs Trust....we adopted a 9 month old Springer cross in January who is as mad as a bag of spaniels but is really filling our lives with love as well as madness!. There are far too many puppies being bred and adopting one thats already around is a much better bet. Ours came beautifully house trained but little else so shes needed her basic training - but we visited her several times at the Dogs Trust home and were thoroughly 'vetted' so we could more or less see what we were getting. Now that shes well trained to return to a whistle its a joy to watch her run and run around the local fields (farmers permission well and truely gained - in fact he offered its, amazing how many folks love a good soppy dog hard luck story).

Nonu That same thing happened to us when we used to foster dogs before they where rehomed,we where supposed to determine if the dogs where children/cat/house friendly before they went to on to the adoption list,I kept an Old English,a mongrel called rags (found in a bin)a labrador who stayed for 16 yrs,I used to go off to work in the morning and if mr.glamma had a phone call from the charity by the time I got back home at tea time another 4 legged friend had appeared.

Thanks , trouble with me is I would meet one and fall "in love " and want to bring them home to live

Also Nonu, the Cinnamon Trust is always looking for volunteers to walk dogs for the elderly or terminally ill. Their website has details.

www.cinnamon.org.uk/cinnamon-trust/

Glammanana that is a good idea , something to give thought to

Nonu With your love of dogs have you never thought of volunteering to be a helper at one of the doggy kennels,maybe just walking a dog for an hour or so during the week it is so satisfying to be able to give just a wee bit of help to these charities.

you are all so lucky to be able to have a dog , we look after DS and DIL"s when they need us to and because he"s not very keen on other dogs feel we couldn"t have our own pet , still I suppose it"s better than nothing [ mixed emotion]

Thanks for all the suggestions everyone. We will look again. We have thought long and hard before deciding to get a dog but we both had the joy of growing up with a dog and now feel out youngest son is now old enough to share the responsibility. I grew up in a rural area so our dogs were border collies crosses and I remember being distraught when my first dog died when he was 13. My dad came home a few weeks later with a little bundle he had bought from a local farm for £10 and we had her for 15 years.