Spot, where did I say I have bought a puppy???
I have NO puppy here, unless my son has smuggled one in and he is hiding him under his bed...

To clarify (again)...we didn't not take Mr C because of the lack of a trial period (as in all honesty I suspect the rescue would have allowed us to take him home for a few hours anyway...)

We tried Cosmo....fine.
We tried Biff...alarm bells started ringing as they wouldn't let Mr C offlead incase he floored and hurt him (he would be offlead in our house obviously).
We then tried Cosmo again and everytime Cosmo approached Mr C, Mr C started to hump him. Yes...this is dog behaviour, but it is not dog behaviour that Cosmo can deal with very well and that WITH the reluctance to let him offlead near our old boy the day before made us realise that this is NOT the dog for us.
We had been told, when initially expressing interest that he would lie down around big dogs and was a bit worried about them, so we thought they would be okay as Cosmo is a gentle type who would bring him around. Infact the rescue were initially worried Mr C would be too wary of our boy.

Suffice to say I have chatted to them since and it would appear that since entering rescue, Mr C has actually gained a great deal of confidence and is exhibiting a lot of mounting behaviour and they totally agree that at this point, he is not the dog for us.

Has all of this put me off rescue? In all honesty, we invested a great deal of emotion into Mr C and he was the best fit (on paper) that we have had at the centre. We have only (as I've mentioned before) in years of going up there, ever expressed interest in one other dog and that was one that didn't work as she had already been reserved. We have to be careful about the rescue we would bring in, for the sake of the rescue and my family and current dogs. We were really upset that Mr C didn't work out, we were ready to bring him home and the meeting with Cosmo that failed was the last one before everything went ahead. In our heads, he was home ..... The ear bashing I got from the rescues on here after that didn't really help.

Will we rescue? Yes, I can hand on heart say that we will rescue in the future. Will our next dog be a rescue? At this point I don't know but our experience with Mr C has taught us that we would like to stay with our breed. We are already on the rehoming list and have been for a while...if we don't rescue, yes it will be a pup. At this point all I can definitely say is that it will be another Flat Coat. We know the breed and have decided to stick with it and stay in our comfort zone in that respect.

I can safely say though no puppy has been bought...

Well it was a positive one for breeders but not mentioning that things are actually the same with rescues apeared to me that you were comparing rescues and they were perhaps lacking in the welcoming stakes.

You're right breeders and rescues should be positive and provide back up if problems arise which can happen at any time in a dogs life - hence a trial period will not necessarily bring up any potential problems but rescues will do this right along with good breeders.

Did the breeders you contacted offer a trial period for the pups?

Spot I really do appreciate that this is a subject close to your heart, but surely you can see that there is a difference to taking on an older dog with a history (be that history good or bad or indifferent) to taking on an 8 week old pup...who has a much shorter history?

ramble i can really see where you are coming from on this. Cassie hates being humped, outside on a walk she grumbles and then runs away from the offeneding dog. She might give a warning snap if the dog doesn't take the hint but thats it. Now in the house would be a different matter as she has no where to run. A strange dog in the house that tries to hump her, well that doesn't bear thinking about!!

I really think a trial could help in some cases and would take a bit of the pressure off people hoping to adopt the dog. An over night stay isn't going to upset the dog (no diff from when they go to the vets ect) but it could help to gage if the dogs are going to get on. Some dogs Cassie hates on site (staffy can not even exsist in her world) others she can dislike but come around to. At the end day Cassie is a rescue dog to and i am not going to get another dog that could upset her, she came first and has to be my priority.

Thanks Razcox. We have had dogs in the past that would have told him off in no uncertain terms for doing the humping thing, but Cosmo isn't like that and he just gets stressed and upset by it. Yes, if he was here we could work at it....but in the meantime Cosmo is stressed and Biff could genuinely be hurt if Mr C leaps on him too hard.

I too, fail to see what an overnighter, or even an afternoon (which we would have been happy with)...would do to damage Mr C...acually in all honesty surely it would only be beneficial as he would get out of the kennel for a while?
No, 'trials' for every dog probably aren't a good idea...but in some situations (ie when there are other dogs in the home) they can work...

I apologies for the puppy thing - must of got wires crossed there.

I have already said that of course you did the right thing by not taking him and I understand your reasons.

However as you have said he has changed hence a trial period wouldnt necessarily have bought these things up.

Fingers crossed breed rescue have a perfect pup for you sometime soon.

Thankyou.
We won't get a rescue pup I wouldn't have thought.
It will be a rescue OR a pup....but it WILL be a Flat Coat.
We are in no hurry and will wait for the right dog. We thought that was Mr C...but it wasn't.

I appreciate what you are saying about the trial period...and I do understand that. The thing is I would just have liked to have seen how my dogs responded to him in the house, that's all. As I've said, I know how they respond to pups, adolescent bitches and older dogs (no problems with any of them, apart from it being dangerous to walk anyhwere downstairs with an adolescent bitch in as her and Cosmo do zoomies for hours on end ) I don't know how they would be with a just neutered adolescent male though and I needed to see that for all of their sakes...that was all. I suspect it would have been allowed given are situation, experience and circumstances ....


I do agree that a trial isn't always appropriate...I guess I wasn't asking for a trial in as much as a quick visit home!

Interesting point - do those who support trial periods think the adopties should still give the adoption fee, or part of it or none?

I still dont get the difference between taking on a rescue (and lets face most rescues will ensure that they match the dog and owner to the very best of their ability) if things dont work out you return the dog yet putting the lable trial run in front of the word adoption makes any difference - maybe as you say apart from paying the full adoption fee (and no this is not aimed at anyone at all).

Either way if for some reason it doesnt work out either in 3 hours or 3 weeks or 3 months the dog is returned?

When we were at the dogs trust cats were a ? for us, we really wanted to get a cat at some point so it seemed important to get a dog that was ok with cats. The people at the dogs trust were willing to bring Cassie round to my Mum and Dads (who have a cat) to test her on this for the afternoon . . . But in the end we wanted Cassie more then a possible cat.

This is the kind of thing that would be a very good idea for more rescues to do i think. An afternoon outing wouldn't stress a dog out and help to see what the dog is like in a home envrionment.

It can be a safety net for people though I think.
Yes, I think if a trial happens the fee should be paid upfront.(non returnable)
I think some people who may be reluctant and worried about taking on a permanent commitment, would take a dog home on a trial period and fall in love with it. Having the option of a trial could actively encourage some people to take a dog. If the fee is non returnable it would discourage those who just keep wanting to try dogs out???