Oh yes!!!!

When we lost our Jake, I said no more dogs but after 3 weeks of an empty house I couldn't stand it any longer.

We looked round the Grappenhall dogs home and couldn't see any dog that struck us. We were just on our way out when I spotted an area off to the side with only 2 kennels in it. Sitting there was Ben skinny and forlorn and sitting in his own pee and he was so pleased to see us. We learned that someone else was interested in him at the same time but they had gone for lunch and were coming back...to bad he was ours.

Poppy, we never planned for another dog, Then we started thinking that it would be nice for Ben, that same night I came across Steph's post about her and her sister...the rest is hisory and you know what?

Ben is soo like my Jake in temprement as is Poppy so like our Cassie my cocker Spaniel. Cassie was a little madam too!!! reincarnation Hmmmmm maybe!!!!! you just never know do you?

Elaine xxxx

I am hoping one will pop out at me on saturday when i visit some rescued greys ! - my girl Kym was the first one they brought out for us to look at, they brought some others out and put her in an enclosure nearby - she was whining and barking everytime we went to go, thats how we ended up taking her home.

Not specifically Beau but definitely his breeder. All her dogs have a look to them and I had seen one of her bitches in a RR book. When we were looking for a breeder we were told that she had a litter planned and she would be at a local show at the weekend...........fate after 3 years of planning.
With Lula, I saw pics of her on a rescue forum and read about her antics. I knew straight away that she was for us and we couldn't have asked for a more perfect dog.

Most of my cats have a story of how I came to have them but Dusty is my best fate story.

I had put my name down on a litter, my first ped dog, I was a bit clueless, truth be known, I found them on the KC site, I thought that if they were KC reg they must be ok, I knew I didn't want one from a puppy farm or out the paper.

So I did that, I was sure I wanted a wee boy, wasn't bothered on colour. So, the breeder sent me pics of the 2 boys, I chose one from pics, a week later, oh, a friend wants him so would you take the other boy, fine I said, they were very similar and I hadn't met them yet, weeks passed and we kept in touch, they were in Liverpool so I had to go a fair distance, and I called up to arrange things, she'd sold him to a friend too, sorry...

OK, I was quite upset as i'd got everything ready for him e.t.c but ho hum!

Chose another, lovely lady, everything going well, home bred, not shown, just pets, I was number 4 on list, mum gave birth, only 3 pups. Back to the drawing board.

Found another breeder before the pups were born, 2 people on list, health checked, good show lines, great, I was number 3 on list.

3 pups were born, man calls to tell me, all doing well, but there was just something about him, he said he and his friend were choosing first and I could have 'whatever was left' and that I shouldn't even bank on that as 'you can lose pups in a wink'. I didn't like his attitude, he was talking about them like commodities not puppies! I told him to get stuffed.

Then I get a phone call, the breeder who's list I was number 4 on and only had 3 pups, well someone had dropped out, they wanted a black and tan pup and the last left was a silver dapple, but one thing, she was a wee girl, would I consider having her rather than a boy?

I picked her up the next day!

And then because of Dusty being a girl, I got Maddy, if Dusty had been a boy, i'd have got a boy Weim and never had Maddy. And Star is a different story entirely.

Yes. Without a doubt.
Not sure it was with Biff...it certainly was with Mo. We found him under a pig at the farm and the farmer didn't want us to have him!!!
With Cosmo...well lets just say he is from a special litter...his mum, who had trouble in the past conceiving, had been mated for the last time and 2 days later came down with bloat. She died twice on the operating table. Everyone was convinced she wouldn't be pregnant...she was. She had her litter at the full moon. We weren't going to have one of the pups as he was home so close to Christmas...but we had to...

Tango ...well the rescue phoned and said 'she is just meant to be with you' and she was. Undoubtedly.

Absolutely.

She waited two years in Battersea for us.
I remember like it was yesterday how she was in the meeting room -

"she doesn't like her collar held...
Oh, she's never let anyone hold her collar before!"

"She doesn't like a fuss...
oh, she's never let anyone do that before!"

"she's possessive of her toys...
never seen her give up a toy before!"

and then, she took a treat from us so gently... in exactly the same manner as Spotbot did. Never seen any other jack do that.
We've always said Spotty had a paw in leading us to Missy - and we believe it to be true.

yep definately with the rescues, we always wanted 2 dingles and Nev had always had a thing for the white faced ones. one popped up on its a springthing in the rescue section called Bella when Meg was around 6 months old, and at the time we didn't feel ready for another. Then in the August we went away for the first springfling with the intention of speaking to Cynthia (boss of Nessr) about being considered for a rescue and who should turn up on a transport run, but Millie Minx, well we had all weekend to get to know her and in spite of her issues we decided that we were in love and she would be number 2, that plus the fact that she didn't like other dogs, but really seemed to love Meg from day one. (millie has never had a go at Meg)

We then started to help out nessr, and over time we picked up a lot of dogs especially out of a pound in cottam that we worked with, Nev went on this particular day to pick 3 up, 2 black and whites and a supposed field spaniel (she's not). Moll crawled out of the kennels on her belly on her 7th day , straight on to the backseat of the car and straight into our hearts she was 8 months old. Graham was supposed to be fetching me a new foster that day, i asked if i could send him back to Cyns and foster Moll needless to say she was how we became a memebr of the FFC.

Then Neam, Neam came out of a gundog kennel he was offloading because he said he had too many dogs, she actually came into Nessr last august and went to one of the other fosterers, I saw her photo and kept quiet because i knew if she ended up here, she would be staying. She was very very timid, had never seen things that most dogs had seen and again fate played a hand in the shape of a litter of puppies that came in, Neam was then supposed to be going north as we reckoned it would take months if not years to sort her out, and emergency up there for two 6 month old babes , and me happening to be at the other fosterers at the time and she came here. That was in October, we officially adopted her at Christmas, because she had come on so well, and was so settled we just didn't think it would be fair to rehome her. I still have to give her valium for long car journeys, and she can still have the odd accident but we love her to bits.

So there you go thats my pack, fate played a part in all the rescues, so for me it was meant to be

Definitely! When we got Georgie I definitely wasn't looking for another dog, and the weird thing was, my breeder of Cassie had telephoned me a short while earlier, asking me whether I could take a 5yr. old WHITE gsd which I would never have had by choice, but I felt sorry for him, the owner had to keep leaving him in his work's van all day, so I decided to take a trip up there to meet him, but before I could do that, she phoned to say his mate had taken him on. THEN, the very next week, husband came home asking me if I would consider another dog, a 5yr old WHITE gsd (spooky or what!) who he had fallen in love with and the owner was very ill, he was in the care of a dog-walker he knew, and the rest is history, he came home to be with us, and little did I know my darling Cassie had such little time to live on, and Georgie's arrival made her last two years on earth the happiest she had ever been, they adored each other from the start, so that was fate.

We always said Georgie would be our last dog, or at least our last big dog, and although I was searching for another rescue at the time because Georgie seemed so very depressed and miserable on his own, hubby decided it wasn't the wtg with Georgie, it wasn't fair on him, he's "no-cookies" Georgie, he had to have a little baby, so the search was on for a puppy. So many puppies, so many twists and turns that they just weren't meant to be for us, and then totally out of the blue, somebody on here pm'd me about Zena, and it was love at first sight, and just like Elaine has said, and has happened so many times before with my other dogs, I honestly believe my old girl at the bridge had a lot to do with this latest arrival, coz just like I had before with Cassie and Georgie, I now have again with Georgie and Zena!

The other strange thing is, the timing when Zena came into our lives, because if you had asked me at Christmas whether we would ever have another puppy, it would definitely have been an emphatic "no"! When we did get her, and it all happened so very quickly, within a couple of days of even hearing about her in fact, everything was fine here at home, no problems with mum or suchlike. A few weeks down the line, I then went through a very traumatic time with my mother being taken into hospital having suffered a severe stroke, a brain heammorhage and I've had to watch her slowly dying over the past 2 months, and if it had NOT have been for the fact that I had a distraction goes by the name of Zena, I probably would have ended up in hospital myself over the stress of it all, so YES, I consider Zena was a gift from heaven to get me through all my trauma of late so I definitely believe we are fated to have the blessing of the particular dogs we have. I'm thankfull anyways!

Thanks guys some fantastic stories!!

Oh and I think i meant "destined", not fated...but you all seem to get my drift, lol

I now know for sure everything happens for a reason.

After Sam I didn't want another collie. It seemed too much like getting a replacement and Sam was special.
But the house is so empty without a dog and we couldn't agree on anything but a collie so Dale arrived. He was definitely Mike's choice but I'm so glad we've got him. He's taught me such a lot.
Chip came 18 months later. We'd decided on the breeder and asked when any litters were planned. Well she had two pups not reserved when I spoke to her and by the time we went to visit Chip was the only one left. I'm sure he was waiting for me