This is probably too late now but, .......

Tringa

Tringa

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Dave
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Yes
... if anyone is thinking about getting a dog or a cat at/for Christmas (IMO Christmas is the wrong time to do it - too much else going on) please be careful from where you find the animal.

I think there going to be lots of adverts for adorable looking pups and kittens but some (perhaps even, most) are from dodgy sources.

Unfortunately there are lots of dogs and cats, many who have had s**t lives, in rescue centres and they really need someone to give them a good home.

I can understand people wanting a pup/kitten but an adult dog/cat can bring just as much joy to your life, and bona fide rescue centres will not try to palm you off with an animal that they do not think is suitable for you, unlike some dishonest breeders.

Dave
 
We tried several times to take a rescue cat, something about a year/18 months old has always been our preference having had a few in the past, but now the home visit rules us out of getting one because we live on a main road. Odd because my daughter dumped her cat on us 3 years ago and he seems to cope with it ok, as does our 6 year old Maine Coon that we have had from a kitten. So, if the rescue centres want to give an animal a loving home maybe they need to relax the rules a little?
Matt
 
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I think this must vary by area.
I found a killing machine cat at the cat's protection ten months ago.
Found him on Saturday Jan 28 and spent a couple of hours with him.
Took him home the following day.
I was surprised. Yes, there were a bunch of forms to fill in, but there was no home check, and there's never been a subsequent home visit.

To be honest, I think they might have been glad to get rid of the little ratbag. :LOL:
 
If anyone (which I doubt anyone here would) is thinking of getting a dog for Xmas, just don’t! I’m surprised there is a lot of advice given out about the best way to get a dog at Xmas but really it’s about the worst time to do it since everyone’s attention is distracted by other things, food, visitors, family rows (haha, but Xmas is the time they happen apparently) and so on.
 
2012 Christmas we got our lovely Susie, she was about 16 months old when we got her from the RSPCA and she is the best Christmas prezzie we could ever have. They think she was just used for breading then dumped, she is 7yrs old next week.


Hi Daddy by David Ore, on Flickr
 
Seems there are loads of puppies being imported illegally into the UK to meet the christmas demand :(
A few shipments have been stopped but not all.
These are being bought in to to meet the "want it now" culture who really don't care as long as they get what they
want.
I know a lot of good breeders and none of them chose to breed at this time of year unless they have to and none will let the pups go
until January at the earliest
I fostered an emergency rescue a few years ago a week before christams, either that or PTS, lovely dog but had endless problems to sort out,, ended up keeping
him
 
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A reputable breeder will do their level best to be honest about the breed and refuse to sell to you if they don’t think the particular breed is right for you.

I always fail cats rescue Home checks by dint of living on a main road although I do conduct Home checks for one of the breed rescue charities for dogs
 
Tringa said:
Unfortunately there are lots of dogs and cats, many who have had s**t lives, in rescue centres and they really need someone to give them a good home.
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We got these two from a rescue centre this year. They're 10 and 11 years old. Hopefully they'll have another 5-8 years which won't be s**t.

19269-1510941166-10ea2bbcbb3b92ebd08755f53a51cee3.jpg
 
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I forgot to mention, Benny is five years old with a heart murmur and a flea allergy.
Can't beat a low maintenance pet. :ROFLMAO:
 
Well, with all the people ‘fessing up to Xmas pets, I’d better admit that most of my puppies* have come either side of Xmas but they’ve been Basenjis, who are nearly all born late Dec early Jan due to having only one season a year. But I still think for most people it’s just the wrong time.

*excluding Beagles at walk.
 
I do agree with this but I'll share my dog at Christmas story too.

I was 6 and he was a useless sheepdog who was going to get the bullet so my dad got him for free. He was a fantastic pet for many years. He wasn't going to make it past Christmas so if I remember correctly we picked him up on Christmas eve.
 
MatBin said:
We tried several times to take a rescue cat, something about a year/18 months old has always been our preference having had a few in the past, but now the home visit rules us out of getting one because we live on a main road. Odd because my daughter dumped her cat on us 3 years ago and he seems to cope with it ok, as does our 6 year old Maine Coon that we have had from a kitten. So, if the rescue centres want to give an animal a loving home maybe they need to relax the rules a little?
Matt
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Same for us although our last two cats seemed to be quite safe and their departure had nothing to do with the busy road.
 
MatBin said:
We tried several times to take a rescue cat, something about a year/18 months old has always been our preference having had a few in the past, but now the home visit rules us out of getting one because we live on a main road. Odd because my daughter dumped her cat on us 3 years ago and he seems to cope with it ok, as does our 6 year old Maine Coon that we have had from a kitten. So, if the rescue centres want to give an animal a loving home maybe they need to relax the rules a little?
Matt
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Agreed. Same goes for having an indoor cat. Rescue centres seem to frown upon it but there must be thousands of healthy house cats out there.
 
neil_g said:
Agreed. Same goes for having an indoor cat. Rescue centres seem to frown upon it but there must be thousands of healthy house cats out there.
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CPL here always seem to have some of cats whose details specify "indoor cat only"; whether through lifestyle or FAIDS.
 
neil_g said:
Agreed. Same goes for having an indoor cat. Rescue centres seem to frown upon it but there must be thousands of healthy house cats out there.
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I used to think keeping cats indoors was bad but when I lived in a high-rise block of flats several neighbours had seemingly very happy cats - they were mostly Siamese types and 2 in a flat. Not sure if adult cats used to roaming would adapt.
Most people would be better off with a pet rat ;)
 
viv1969 said:
CPL here always seem to have some of cats whose details specify "indoor cat only"; whether through lifestyle or FAIDS.
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We tried a few years ago and got resounding no from all our locals unfortunately.

sphexx said:
I used to think keeping cats indoors was bad but when I lived in a high-rise block of flats several neighbours had seemingly very happy cats - they were mostly Siamese types and 2 in a flat. Not sure if adult cats used to roaming would adapt.
Most people would be better off with a pet rat ;)
Click to expand...

Yes trying to get an adult used to outside life to stay indoors may be difficult.

We got our boys from kittens so don't know anything different. Just had their 4 year checkup and perfectly fit and healthy. We keep them stimulated which helps.
 
sphexx said:
I used to think keeping cats indoors was bad but when I lived in a high-rise block of flats several neighbours had seemingly very happy cats - they were mostly Siamese types and 2 in a flat. Not sure if adult cats used to roaming would adapt.
Most people would be better off with a pet rat ;)
Click to expand...

Rats are wonderful pets :). We had at least 12 when my daughter was growing up, all lively, intelligent and entertaining. They're buried in our old garden in SA.
 
It used to annoy me how a lot of rescues were anti rehoming dogs to people living in flats without gardens.
All those I know that have dogs in such circumstances at least give them regular walks and spend time
with them, I've known people with house and large gardens that just shut the dogs in the gardens to exercise etc.
and leave them in utilities rooms a lot of the time
 
viv1969 said:
I think this must vary by area.
I found a killing machine cat at the cat's protection ten months ago.
Found him on Saturday Jan 28 and spent a couple of hours with him.
Took him home the following day.
I was surprised. Yes, there were a bunch of forms to fill in, but there was no home check, and there's never been a subsequent home visit.

To be honest, I think they might have been glad to get rid of the little ratbag. :LOL:
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I now see Viv as the mad cat lady...
 
Byker28i said:
Took your time, too many cats to feed this morning?
latest



Runs and hides.....
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One's enough, thanks!
It was stressed when I got him that he MUST have access to outside. No problem...have a cat flap.

But, they said, keep him in for the first month or he may wander and get lost. No problem...lock cat flap.

After five days he was meowling to go out, but I remained tough.

On day six he completely destroyed the cat flap, ripping it out of its housing and buggered off!!

Little s*** came back half an hour later with an eviscerated, but not yet dead, starling. Charming. :eek:
 
Gremlin said:
It used to annoy me how a lot of rescues were anti rehoming dogs to people living in flats without gardens.
All those I know that have dogs in such circumstances at least give them regular walks and spend time
with them, I've known people with house and large gardens that just shut the dogs in the gardens to exercise etc.
and leave them in utilities rooms a lot of the time
Click to expand...
Yes our neighbour does this just chucks the dog in the garden poor thing cries for attention
 
sphexx said:
but they’ve been Basenjis, .
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I had to google that, interesting breed (y)

Gremlin said:
It used to annoy me how a lot of rescues were anti rehoming dogs to people living in flats without gardens.
All those I know that have dogs in such circumstances at least give them regular walks and spend time
with them, I've known people with house and large gardens that just shut the dogs in the gardens to exercise etc.
and leave them in utilities rooms a lot of the time
Click to expand...
And then of course you get the "fair weather" dog walkers, the minute the sun stops shining or the temperature drops below 20 degrees they are no where to be seen.
I used to walk / run mine 356 days of the year. and in all weathers.

The problem as I see it, with rescue centers, don't get me wrong I think they generally do a great job, But as I understand it, the "bar" is a lot higher now from when I adopted my 2 ( on separate occasions)
And the prices are far from a "Donation".
Again, as I understand it, its cheaper to go to a "breeder" than "adopt" and of course the cycle continues!

viv1969 said:
Little s*** came back half an hour later with an eviscerated, but not yet dead, starling. Charming.
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Don't be ungrateful .... It was a "Thank you for adopting me" present. :D
 
Cobra said:
I had to google that, interesting breed (y)

:D
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In a sense they are not really a breed just native Central African dogs. Because they are difficult UK breeders have made them rather more “wild” than they probably are in Africa by keeping them in kennels and so on.
 
sphexx said:
they’ve been Basenjis,
Click to expand...

A few years ago a friend asked me to look after her dogs on the Discover Dogs bit of Crufts, she had a lovely pair of Rhodesian Ridgebacks.
First few people that came along commented about them being the dogs that fought lions :rolleyes: no they hunt and hold them at bay for the
hunters, doubt a dog would last long against a lion !!!

Then the classic, someone walked up and said "ooh look Basenji's, bigger then I thought they'd be" :LOL::LOL:
I did manage not to laugh till the walked away having told them what the dogs axctually were.

It was 2001, the year a Basenji won Crufts, text my mate a said had she seen the result an RR had won :D
 
Gremlin said:
A few years ago a friend asked me to look after her dogs on the Discover Dogs bit of Crufts, she had a lovely pair of Rhodesian Ridgebacks.
First few people that came along commented about them being the dogs that fought lions :rolleyes: no they hunt and hold them at bay for the
hunters, doubt a dog would last long against a lion !!!
:D
Click to expand...
Yes, there is an idea among some Ridgeback people that they should be big and powerful because of the lion hunting thing but really they should be very very agile if used for that purpose. BTW some of the must interesting bits in wildlife films are when you see jackals trying to nick meat from lions, nerve and agility! Basenjis are a bit like jackals in build and sometimes crossed with them in the Congo.
 
Gremlin said:
A few years ago a friend asked me to look after her dogs on the Discover Dogs bit of Crufts, she had a lovely pair of Rhodesian Ridgebacks.
First few people that came along commented about them being the dogs that fought lions :rolleyes: no they hunt and hold them at bay for the
hunters, doubt a dog would last long against a lion !!!
Click to expand...

Nope! Very few dogs can win a fight against a tom leopard, unless they're in a pack, and leopards are much smaller than lions...
 
sphexx said:
es, there is an idea among some Ridgeback people that they should be big
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Yep, but the people were referring to what they thought were Basenji's no ridgebacks, think the colour threw them, or more likely they didn't have a clue .
It's an eye opener doing Discover Dogs, I've helped on a few and some of theings people say,you just have to do your best
to tell them the truth
 
My neighbour has 2 RRs. Beautiful svelte dogs.
I was surprised last winter to see them both wearing coats on a particularly cold day when he was walking them.
He said that because of the ridge in the nap of their coat, they are quite sensitive to extremely cold temperatures.

They looked a little embarrassed by their winter garb. :LOL:
 
I thought about getting a RR some time ago, and quite surprised at some of the interesting genetic facts that make up the RR.
“That’s where God sews them up when he’s done stuffing them.”
The ridge gene is a dominant mutation ...
Ridgeback breeders and researchers have long known that there is a relationship between the presence of the ridge (or some element of it) and dermoid sinus,
Although DS is not unheard of in the ridge less "breed"
I think that would be the one I went for.
 
viv1969 said:
One's enough, thanks!
It was stressed when I got him that he MUST have access to outside. No problem...have a cat flap.

But, they said, keep him in for the first month or he may wander and get lost. No problem...lock cat flap.

After five days he was meowling to go out, but I remained tough.

On day six he completely destroyed the cat flap, ripping it out of its housing and buggered off!!

Little s*** came back half an hour later with an eviscerated, but not yet dead, starling. Charming. :eek:
Click to expand...

We had cats growing up. Sammy, a black male, independent, occasional killer and Chloe, a black and white lazy lap cat. Sammy died and when Chloe was 15 my parents moved from London to the middle of Wales and Chloe turned into amass murderer. Birds, baby rabbits, full grown rabbits, all appeared on the patio in her fav display spot. Her best was full grown hare that tried to check out my dads veg patch.
She lived to be 24.

We have a Labrador though. I prefer dogs
150257127.jpg

159465857.jpg


I was looking at a second from the local rescue until Cadbury ripped her cruciate ligament, then broke her leg after the op. She and my bank balance has to recover first.
 
Byker28i said:
We had cats growing up. Sammy, a black male, independent, occasional killer and Chloe, a black and white lazy lap cat. Sammy died and when Chloe was 15 my parents moved from London to the middle of Wales and Chloe turned into amass murderer. Birds, baby rabbits, full grown rabbits, all appeared on the patio in her fav display spot. Her best was full grown hare that tried to check out my dads veg patch.
She lived to be 24.

We have a Labrador though. I prefer dogs
150257127.jpg

159465857.jpg


I was looking at a second from the local rescue until Cadbury ripped her cruciate ligament, then broke her leg after the op. She and my bank balance has to recover first.
Click to expand...

Oh she's beautiful!
Benny is my first cat. It's an education, but other than his killing tendencies, he's pretty easygoing.

I'm a dog person too.
My last, a GSD rescue called Chloe, I rescued at 7 months old after she had a poor start in life.
Best dog I have ever had, and she lived to 15.
I still miss her.

Circumstances dictate that a cat is easier than another dog, and it's working out well all round. :)
 
Yeah cats are easier, small killing machines aside and occasionally let you have a cuddle.
Right now I have 30kg lab trying for a cuddle...
 
Gremlin said:
Yep, but the people were referring to what they thought were Basenji's no ridgebacks, think the colour threw them, or more likely they didn't have a clue .
It's an eye opener doing Discover Dogs, I've helped on a few and some of theings people say,you just have to do your best
to tell them the truth
Click to expand...
Yes, I did understand but was making a further point:( . I I’d Discover Dogs with Basenjis the first year the KC introduced it. It’s curious how many people can’t spot differences in appearance of various breeds. Sticking withBasenjis, I find people often ask if they are Staffies but the most popular is “are they Jack Russells?” which is very hard to understand. :(
 
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