Puppy Versus Rescue dog - which would you choose & why?

I am opening a huge can of worms here but would like to get opinions on the above.

What is the decision making process when thinking about getting a dog, which makes one decide on a puppy rather than a rescue dog?

I ask purely out of interest, however readily admit that I feel very strongly about rescue animals as there are so many in desperate need of homes yet so many people get new pups rather than take on a rescue.

If I could get another dog , I would immediately go for a rescue rather than a new pup, as cute and cuddily as a pup is, I cant ignore the amount of abandoned dogs that are sitting in homes throughout the UK.
Opinions ??

Dani

I think it depends what you are looking for.
When I got Teagan, I was specifically looking for a Bullmastiff pup. It was something i'd been researching for a while etc.

I would love a rescue dog though.

One thing I have noticed, and I didn't used to know...how many rescues there actually are.
If you ask a lot of people, they don't know about specific breed rescues, or other rescues. The only ones they know about are RSPCA/NCDL etc.
I don't think enough people are educated to know about the amount of rescues there are.
I know a lot of rescues won't let people with kids etc get a dog, so I think rather than doing more research, they go and buy a pup.
The internet opens up a whole new world of researching, and finding the rescues.

Before I got Teagan and joined doggy forums, even though I have been online for many years, I didn't know about specific rescues.

(Not very good at words, so don't know if I got across what I mean!)

A good topic Dani- that is sure to get some interesting replies

I have *bought* two dogs as pups as I wanted to show but I have always said I will take in a rescue staffy in the future.
My heart says that you should opt for the rescue but then that makes me hypercritical because I never as my first choice

With your present dog Dani, I think you would find it difficult to get him to accept another Stafford male, I believe he would possibly take to a bitch puppy, either rescued or purchased.

Before buying my first puppy I contacted Boxer rescue(can't remember which it was a long time ago).They said I was too young and inexperienced for one of their boxers I then managed to find a breeder and bought George.He lived a very happy life with me and I had no problems whatsoever.
This time around I wanted my son to have a puppy as i had never had that experience as a child(my parents always had rescues).
He's had that wonderful experience now so any dogs we add to the family in the future will be rescues I just hope I am deemed old and experienced enough now

Can anybody tell me if recues will adopt to a home with an intact dog already? I know they all have different criteria but wondered if this was a common concern? I know it is in the States.

I have had both - my last two dogs though I got from puppies because my OH had never had any pets before and he wanted to experiance puppyhood.

Although at the time I wasn't aware how many dogs are pts each year because no-one wants them and if we were to get any more dogs it would definately be rescue.
My cats all came from rescue apart from Lao who I found in a pet shop - he was only 4 weeks old and riddled in fleas.

Well with Kip we had the best of both worlds we took on a rescue as a pup....just because you want to take on a rescue dog doesnt mean you could not get a pup. Why not rescue a pup, there are always plenty whenever I walk around the shelters. I have in the past seen Tracie advertising SBT pups for rescue so it is not impossible to have the best of both worlds Dani

Just a thought. When we got Cassy I wanted a specific line of dog and a rescue was just not an option at that time.

Laura

As you say it depends on the individual rescue centre- I imagine it will also depend on the dog you are rehoming too (ie a young bitch who is as yet too young to be spayed etc)

I homecheck for two local centres and the dogs they rehome are spayed/neutered before rehoming. If they are too young the new owner must agree to have the op done when the dog/bitch is old enough.

One of the centres asks to see vet cards and details of neutering etc of present pets and up to date vacc records- the other centre isnt quite so strict

Having said that not EVERY rescue centre neuters but the majority do

Thanks Lel,I haven't got so far as contacting any yet(still working on OH ) I should realy find out,also if they would let me have another male

After seeing some of these poor dogs suffering in kennels when helping with Staff Rescue I have always wanted to rescue the forgotten "oldies" .

But at the moment with three of my own, it would be me who needed rescuing if I brought home a fourth... now all I have to do is convince my other half to visit the kennels, just once, and...