"Run on" dogs

My friend and I were chatting whilst walking our dogs the other day about the possibility of future dogs, and we got on to the subject of dogs that are run on by breeders and whether that would be a good route to go down for a number of reasons.

So, what are you views on taking on older dogs that have been run on? Has anyone ever done it and what were the pros and cons? (obviously I know a lot will depend on the breeder involved and their amount of input into the pups they keep to run on).

Well that depends, on how these dogs have been kept and how old they are.

If they have been kennel dogs and not taken out and socialised correctly then no I would not.

I will be interested to see peoples views on this also as I sometimes run on dogs then rehome a little older.

The breeders that are friends of mine if they run on a dog then it is well socialised and well started in training and treated as any other dog that you might keep, but I have known people buy a similar dog and it has clearly never left a kennel for 8 months

Hence why I said .... "(obviously I know a lot will depend on the breeder involved and their amount of input into the pups they keep to run on)."

The breeder we were discussing does the same - in fact she goes over and above what many breeders would do, and that is partly why it may appeal to me in the future - especially living out in the sticks as I do, then a dog from this particular breeder would have been exposed to lots of things that a pup I reared myself may not iyswim.

My Mum and Dad took on a dog from a breeders. He was 8 years old when they bought him for £200. He was a Cairn terrier and had been the stud dog.

He was just right for them as they were elderly and he was an old dog for his years if you know what I mean-just liked to be with you and pottering about. He had a fantastic temperment and was a lovely dog but he came with lots of health problems as he had a heart murmer, rotten teeth and bad hips (yes-and he was a stud dog!).

What I would say is don't get attached to the dog (we had met this dog before as we used to take my previous dogs-2 Cairn terriers to the breeders for grooming) before you have it health-checked by a vet. We took Badger to a vet the next day and she said "he won't make old bones" because of his heart murmer. Mum was upset and took him back but then she knew my Dad was upset as Badger had really bonded with us all so she relented and went and got him back the next day.

No, he didn't make "old bones" as he was put to sleep aged 11 with a tumour on his liver and he was on heart medicine for his murmer but they were 3 lovely years we all had with him so it was definitely worth it.

How funny, one of the reasons I posted was the experience that my mother had with two Cairns that had been run on.

The dogs I am thinking of would probably be no more than around 12 months old, and certainly not "old" dogs - but I can see why an older, retired dog like that may be suitable for those of more mature years

That is interesting. Was it a good experience or not?

One of the things I forgot to mention about Badger is how interested he was in everything because he had never been off the small-holding he lived on. The first night I took him out it took about half an hour to walk him round the block. He kept stopping and staring at everybody! One man said to me "Your dog's very nosy isn't he"

Another of his quirks was that he would throw his head back and howl loudly everytime he heard a fire engine siren. This was because he had lived near the fire station and the firemen would all come and fuss him on their way back to their station (lucky old him I say!-all those men in uniform!!).
My Mum and Dad used to take him on the bus into the city regularly with them and one time the bus driver pulled in to let a fire engine go past and Badger heard the siren and threw his head back and was howling loudly along with it! Everyone on the bus was in hysterics (including the driver).