Hi Tom,
So glad to hear your news ,especially since you chose to go for a rescue dog-Ive had 4 and they have given us such love.
We lost our collie cross Lulu 2 weeks ago,aged 14 (miss her so much)and our other dog has dementia. We have 3 cats,too ,2 of which they grew up with Lulu and her "brother".
Welcome to Dogsey-I only joined after Lulu died and the support I had from other people was very comforting,There are lots of members with a wealth of experience to give advice and encouragement too,so dont be afraid to ask .
Hope the assessment went well for you and for Sooty,as I could almost hear the excitement in your voice as you typed the post.Please keep us up to date and show us some pictures when things settle down,
from Maureen
P.S Its quite heartwarming to see that you have thought through what dog ownership involves and are committed to putting in the effort that it needs-I wish everyone would do the same!!!!!Sadly some people view pets as disposable,to be bought on a whim and dumped at the Local Rescue at the first sign of a problem-often a problem caused,not by the dog,but by them.

Thank you all for your kind words.

I had a phone call from Evesham Dogs Trust yesterday and everything was fine with his assessment.

He's very playful, loves his food and can be a bit of a handful on the lead (as expected, we did walk him Saturday and almost tripped over him a few times!). He can get a little bit spooked by loud noses or sudden movements but this is probably just due to being in kennels and he should grow out of it pretty quickly.

He's going to be castrated today so I'll be giving them a call on Monday after the vet has checked he is healing ok, if he is we'll be picking him up on Friday.

Last night we sat down and started working out a plan for his first couple of days and a routine for a normal day. We're still undecided about whether to re-name him or not.

I've also had my head in my Victoria Stillwell book as well as re-watching all the "It's me or the dog" episodes on 4OD to try and get a head start on some training.

As I mentioned earlier I'm definitely still going to need more advice from all you helpful people which brings me to the last couple of things we need to decide.....

Having had a brief look at insurance I think we're going to go with PDSA. It'll be about ten or fifteen pounds a month and seems to offer the level of cover we're after. Does anyone have and feedback on PDSA or suggestions for a better alternative?

I've also been having a think about food. My first thought was to feed dry food with some wet food or "human" food occasionally mixed in. For example: Dry food every day then three times a week either some wet food on top or a bit of whatever we're having for dinner (meat, pasta, vegetables etc...). I was also planning on varying the dry food a bit (say three types of dry food from the same manufacturer fed on different days). The last thing I want is for him to get bored with his food and I have heard this can be a reason for a dog to steal/beg for food.

I'm looking at feeding solely natural food with no additives etc... After a very quick glance I've stumbled upon Burns dry food and Naturediet wet food. Does anyone have any experience of these or any other recommendations? For obvious reasons I don't want it to be too expensive but am willing to pay a bit of a premium for good quality food.

I'm sure these will be the first of many questions to come and in the future I'll be posting them in the correct sections of the site but for now I'll keep everything together.

First thing I'll do on Friday is try and get some pictures for you all to see.

We're both just counting down the days now!!

So glad you found a lovely dog to bring home!

BTW, I used to walk a black lab called Sooty, I was recalling her one day and this man, walking by, took offence to the name Sooty, until he realised I was shouting the dog and not a racial comment towards him. So that maybe could go on your pros and cons of changing his name list...

Hope everything goes fine with his op and can't wait for pictures!!!

Oh CSJ for dry food - about £10 per 15KG, will last one dog about 2-3 weeks, lasts my 2/3 about 2 weeks (Well a 15KG sack does, I feed Shepherds choice) As for human food, my lot get pasta about twice a month. I would avoid most wet foods, they are just sugar and water really. I would say a good slop of tripe in with biscuits will keep him happy - although I would invest in some good air fresheners

Good luck!

Fingers crossed for Friday

As for diet, mine get Nature Diet for breakfast but I raw feed in the evenings ~ mixture of raw meat (chunks/mince), offal, juiced up veggies, steamed coley fish, tinned oily fish. Others also feed tripe, eggs, whole rabbits etc. All of us raw feeders feed raw meaty bones as part of the dog's diet. You may want to consider including some of these ideas in Sooty's diet ~ knawing, ripping, chewing & grinding on raw bones is a wonderful way to keep teeth in tip top shape, provides a great work out for jaws, most dogs find it very satisfying & natural & is a great way to deal with stress (& often stops them needing to chew other household items like chair legs!).

Have a look at some of threads in the raw feeding section & maybe see if you could incorporate raw meat/bones in Sooty's diet?

I'll definitely have a look into raw feeding.

Are the bones you're talking about just lamb/beef bones I could get from a butcher? I know chicken bones are a big no no is there anything else I need to avoid?

I didn't know this. The Naturediet website states it foods are 60% meat with the rest made up from brown rice and vegetables. They do seem expensive though. I might start a thread in the food section it just seems everyone seems to have an opinion with no general consensus over what is best.

I said most Naturediet is probably the best wet food. Sorry I confused you, pedigree and other commercial foods are the worst for being sugar and water.

I'm definitely going to be staying away from commercial foods.

It was a real eye opener to be honest, I came online to start having a look at which brand/supermarket own brand would be best only to find out they all contain all sorts of things you wouldn't want your dog eating!

I'm adamant I don't want any chemicals/additives/preservatives, if I had the time I'd cook all his food myself but unfortunately I don't!

That's why you cook it the same time you have dinner

My OH's mum cooks mince and she puts extra in so I can dribble it over the dogs biscuits. I also pinch any veg she does, not that I have to pinch it, Louie steals the carrots from the veg rack from time to time - it's only for the rabbits though. I'd love to feed mine raw, but I have this thing about touching raw meat...

Mine get a good quality kibble (Arden Grange) twice a day plus a spoonful of the AG tinned food mixed up with some warm water on their evening meal. They just get the warm water in the morning. They have sardines once or twice a week or coley (microwaved in a little water) and chicken wings once a week for their teeth. I used to vary the flavour of the kibble (bag of lamb, followed by bag of salmon, etc) but they all have the same one now, except the oldie who has the senior version.

I find this is all the variety they need and none of them steals food. As a treat they have pigs ears occasionally but always watch them in case they choke.

Good luck with your puppy - it's a very exciting time!

Actually just about any bones are fine ~ as long as they are raw & this includes chicken bones. Lots of people here feed raw chicken wings, necks, whole carcasses. Sometime you need to be careful with the large, weight-bearing bones as if you have a dog that really does try to knaw at them for a long time, it can damage or wear down the teeth.

I get my bones from a local butcher who saves them up for me & I collect on a Saturday morning. As I buy the mince, offal & some of our meat from the butcher, the bones a free. But I also get some things from the supermarket, e.g. oxtail, lamb shoulder shanks when they're on offer. And chicken wings are one of the cheaper deals in most supermarkets.

My dogs have never had kibble or dry complete food ever since they've been with me. I just don't trust what goes into commercial dog food. But others feed dry food successfully, but often as only part of the diet & include more palatable & varied foods mixed in.