I'd buy the pup. In similar situations ive bought/homed pups/kittens & fledglngs (latter from pet shops)

Well we had a similar scenario. When Rosie was 4 my brother got a staffy x pup from rescue. Rosie thought this was great but when he went home she got so upset and spent ages searching the house looking for "her" pup. So we thought the time was right to get a companion. Normally we would do it within 18 months of getting the first dog but circumstances were never right or never occurred.

Because at that time Rosie had a condition which we thought might make a male companion "too" interested in her we opted for a bitch. We asked the vet for her advice and she said that generally speaking an adult dog finds it easier to accept a puppy into her home. So we tried various outlets such as shelters - one turned us down because at the time I worked fulltime even though there was someone in the house all day and the dog would not have been left for more than max of 2 hours a week

At that time it seemed there were more male pups looking homes than female!

We did ponder on a Lab as my parents have always had them but then came back to the idea that it was Boxers we had, knew so well and might as well stick with what we knew and loved

So the search began. By golly its a mine field out there. I asked a few if they showed and when they said yes you knew they were telling porkies Then there were ones that were "seeling the pups for my neice/grandson/son/daughter" do joe public really fall for these porkies - sadly yes. I just didnt like what I was hearing at all. So......... I decided to ask the lady who we got Rosie from as she bred Boxers and her hubby showed them and she also runs NIBoxer Rescue.

She couldnt have been more helpful, she put us in touch with a breeder who had just had a litter of pups 10 days old. Mum was an Eng + Ir Champion and dad Eng Champ - Winuwuk - Lust in the Dust. Initially we were interested in a brindle pup - 5 brindles and 2 white.

We had a long talk with breeder on the phone. When pups were 4 weeks old we went to "meet" the breeder, had a good long talk and during the conversation he sent his young daughter out to bring in "our" pup. She came back with this tiny pup wrapped securely in a blanket and set her on my knee. This tiny little "white" pup - yes he knew what he was doing, looked at me and I was lost. Still am, spoilt rotten she is From that moment on he started to call her our choosen name - Katie.

18 months down the line we heard he had another white male pup - quite stunning apparently, obviously you cant show whites. So we talked it over and decided that as we had this ratio before - two bitches and a dog we could do it again. Even so the breeder told us to think seriously before committing ourselves - you see good breeders do exist Nevertheless this little white pup arrived - looked just like bigger version of Katie at that age.

He came in - had his devoted "momma" Rosie for cuddles and comfort and his equally devoted "momma" Katie for rough and tumble games - [Rosie's "girl" problems had sorted itself out when she started on thyroid treatment]

I still keep in touch with their breeder.

I did consider rescue's, and spent quite some time searching through our national rescue database (we have that here... all dogs in all rescues are in the database).... however, most of the dogs I came across were either not good with young children (I have 2), or not good with cats (I have 2 of these as well)... it was not a risk I was willing to take at the present time in our family... in a few years, when the children are older and more sure confident we probably will start rescuing.... In addition, I also think that children learn an amazing amount about dogs if the get to experience all the life phases, including the puppy phase.... at least once in their childhood....so this time round I really wanted a pup, especially as I now have plenty of time to raise one...

For me the ethics of the problem lay in the following: should I put my name on a waiting list, thereby maybe being the one to convince a breeder to breed another litter... or should I look at pups which already exist... thereby not contributing to even more dogs being born.... It was in no way a matter of wanting the dog "now", but more an ethical question of new litter vs existing litter...

I incidentally chose to look into existing litters (of which there are also loads at any time), and after much searching and researching I found one who ticked all my boxes and really was fine... the pups were bred because both the owner of the bitch and the owner of the dog each wanted another dog, and they did do their homework in trying to find the best match to improve the breed.... I was very critical when I first went to meet them when Tess was around 5 weeks but everything fell into place... the result is a wonderful little character, very willing to work for the whole family, but also fine if the action slows down for a while... however.... she's not the prettiest BC ever according to most (except us)... most people in holland think that all BC's are long-coated and fluffy when someone asks what breed she is, all I have to do is bring out a ball.. and in no-time they say... aaahhh... a BC....