I agree with the others, ultimately your decision will rest on how the dog is when you meet it.

As far as the £150 is concerned, I don't think the owner can win either way - if they were giving it away, people would say that they are making no effort to ensure that interested parties have a serious commitment; if they ask for money, they appear mercenary.

Yes, it's true you can't get the "perfect" dog, that's why i think it is important to take an experienced dog person along to meet the dog, then at least you could have a little "heads up" on the dog in general, it's personality, possible issues etc.

Like claire says, most dogs will have some issues and i'm sure you are aware that it is finding the dog that is right for you and working on the issues from the start.

As far as adding the price tag on the dog, they could still be genuine, as lots of web sites etc encourage people to charge when rehoming dogs to discourage irresponsible peopel who just want a free dog. Some sites also say that free dogs can also end up being tested on by labs.

If the reason for the rehoming is true (Moving abroad) that is a genuine cause for rehoming.

As others have said a visit is necessary. Why not go in the times she suggested and then go back with OHs daughter for a second visit if it's not too far away.

I agree about the money thing, they may want to be sure it's going to a good home too. Just giving away your dog (if you don't know the people taking him) could be a real worry for them.

I would try to find out exactly how many homes this dog has had,
sorry if its already been brought up but how long have they had him?

Thanks I will ask all those questions. I am still waiting for a reply about visiting him.

He's actually really far away (130 mile round trip) so its not as if we can pop along and say hello every weekend.

Plus, I'm not able to take a morning off to go along and meet him due to the fact that I'm going part-time shortly! Plus, as I emailed to her, we only have my partner's daughter every other weekend and we won't take until she sees him and he behaves well around her.

Well, from what has been said so far...
Thunder is 2.5 years old.

in the email reply she says that he was sick in the car at first, but has been ok since - about 2 years.

So, depending on how long the 'at first' bit was, it would seem that she got him sometime before he was 6 months old.

It is a question that should be asked though, just to build as much history as possible.

Lol - thanks. I should really have been able to work that out myself! haha!

Still, hopefully I'll get a reply soon to us visiting. If she can't accomodate us visiting with the little one then it'll be a no-no, despite how lovely he sounds.

thanks hali, hadnt the time to re read the whole thread before, I kinda thought it was something like that,
so assuming the breeder sold the pup, then the owner sold it on to the people that have it now, this would be the dogs 4th home if they do get the dog, I always count the breeder as home 1

that sounds probable, but I wouldn't hold it against the dog - none of that may be his fault, he could just be very unlucky so far in the people that have picked him.

Poor little love!

As I say though, no matter how much we want a dog, (and this goes without saying really) we wouldn't put my partner's daughter at risk. If she won't let us visit with her, we won't be taking him - that simple.