Home Checks
A bit of background for those who don't know...
My OH and I both grew up with dogs - my parents had a GSD when I was very small, and from age 9 I grew up with two JRTs, then had a BC when I left home (she was rehomed due to my ex-husband). My OH grew up with a CKC.
We privately adopted Amberella, a GSD cross pup, back in October. Her owners got her from a BYB, had her for two weeks, decided she wasn't the dog for them and announced that she was off to the RSPCA as a stray if no one took her. I've always been a sucker for a sobstory, and she is sooo pretty
, so we brought her home when she was ten weeks old.
Two weeks later, my mum phoned me in a state about her labrador cross, Sam. She adopted Sam from a local rescue in February 2007, after our elderly JRT passed away, but was now getting divorced and had moved out of the marital home into a rented property. The landlord wouldn't let her have the dog, my step-father refused to keep him, and her friends who had originally taken Sam were finding him too boisterorous... daughter to the rescue
Ella has adored having Sam at home, and essentially has grown up with him. She is six months old, and he is about eighteen months, and I am amazed at how happy she is with a constant doggy companion. So my OH and I decided that when my mum's house was sold and she and my step-dad could take their money and go their separate ways, we would get another dog of our own, both for us and for Ella (we'll miss Sam, too!). Because my mum pays for Sam's costs, getting another dog depends on my OH finding a half-decent job.
I've been spending the last few months doing some research on the sort of dog we would like next time, beginning with Malamutes, working through Huskies and then NIs and Utes. We've not made any firm plans, but initially decided to find a good, reputable breeder and to get on the waiting list in the hope that the right pup would come up roughly in line with Sam going home, although we are prepared to wait if necessary.
Then I fell in love
We had been discussing the idea of getting a young rescue - as much as I have adored Amber's baby days, toilet training her almost drove my OH and I to distraction. We have found the dog that we would like to adopt, I've had a chat with her foster-mum and talked it over with my OH. Since he's the sensible one
he told me to hang on until the work situation is resolved, and he is actually at an interview today (fingers crossed everyone!). If he gets the job, I will have his blessing to contact the rescue for further information.
But I am terrified of the home-check
I'm convinced we will fail because of our home, so part of me doesn't even want to waste the rescue's time but instead hang on to the fantasy. I know a fantasy isn't as much fun for Amber to play with, but at least then I can't be disappointed
I own a three bedroom town house (technically my ex still owns half, although we have reached agreement and we're just waiting for the paperwork). We don't have a garden, but we have a small yard that the dogs have 24/7 access to and they are let out into the alley every couple of hours to toilet, as Sam will not go in the yard
. My OH is an avid photographer and is often out for hours with the dogs and his camera, but my biggest concern is that the rescue will see our lack of garden (although it is very well enclosed with a 6-7ft brick wall
) and say "no". We have brilliant walks - beaches, woods, moors and we love going out for the day to country estates, etc, that we can take the dogs to.
My other concern is that we have no experience with this type of dog. Although we've researched the breed and we are planning to visit a few people who own this breed and similar, will the rescue turn us down for having had no previous hands on experience? I'm also informed by a friend who has had rescue dogs (not this particular breed, though) that my other pets will be a "problem" (I have two large breed rabbits who live in a converted understairs cupboard, a tawny owl in an aviary in the yard and a snake in my bedroom). Really, I think I'm just trying to avoid embarassment and disappointment.
Can anyone give me a bit of information on what is actually looked at during a home-check, what sorts of criteria people tend to fail on and what I can expect? At the end of the day, we are quite a distance from the dog, her foster home and the rescue's base so I don't want to waste a lot of time and effort on other people's part in getting to the home-check stage to find that, actually, we're not acceptable.