Getting our puppy

When we were looking for a puppy we had to be quite specific at which breeds we looked at because I'm allergic to dogs.  I did have a dog growing up - a gorgeous red setter called Max.  Unfortunately, the loss of him was too great for my parents and we didn't get another.  My husband, otoh, grew up with Westies until he left home at 18yo.  It was only after an allergic reaction to something unknown, that I was tested as an adult, and found to be allergic.

DD2 loves animals, and has been begging for a pet - any pet at all - since she was very young.  As my husband and I are dog-people, it would always be a dog, but I wasn't keen on having one whilst the girls were small.  To try and help the girls realise the level of responsibility that comes with owning a pet, I had said that we wouldn't get one until they had shown they are responsibly by keeping their bedrooms tidy for 6 months in a row.  That kept them appeased for a few years, as I kept saying that I would have a dog, but needed them to be tidier so the dog wouldn't get hurt.  Meanwhile, however, I had been thinking about getting a dog.

Ideally I would have wanted to get a rescue dog, however, because I'm limited to which breeds I am looking for, dogs that are suitable for our family are few and far between - the ones that are available specify that they need experienced owners, or no children, or both.  Then about a month ago, on Dog's Trust website, there were a pair of poodles - 4 years old - but they had to be homed together.  They were gorgeous!  Unfortunately (though fortunately for them), I saw the advert late at night, and when I phoned the following day, they had closed applications for them.  Going from no pets, to 2 potential pets, to no pets within 24hours made me realise how much I do want a dog.

So, I had been looking at adverts on as many websites as possible, and reading up about what to look for in a pet and a breeder etc.  There is also a lot of information about puppy farms.  Whilst I know they exist, I didn't realise quite how prevalent they are.  The old adage of "if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is" seems highly accurate when looking for a pet.  There were loads of adverts that I didn't even click on, some that I spotted and managed to contact the website owner to get taken down, and one that I didn't realise was a puppy farm until I contacted them, and someone with a different name, with a different email and phone number, and a different location, offered "just for me" £250 off the advertised price, plus he'll deliver it to me.  I feel sad for the pups, but I don't want to give my money to people like that, no thank you.

The breeder we found is fairly local, and as soon as I contacted her, she replied asking me a load of questions about why I wanted one of her pups, whether the pup would be left at home during the day, etc etc.  I had visited a few other puppies (because I refused to make a decision there and then, they were often sold by the following day), but she was the first to ask me anything, before she agreed for me to view the pups, and that made me have confidence in her.  

Due to covid, we had to have masks on, and meet in her garden, but the pups were gorgeous.  I thought it would be hard choosing between them, but luckily I didn't have to choose - she chose me!  We now have an agonising wait before we can bring her home to join us, with a couple of visits in between, but we are very glad to have made this decision.  Not only are we getting a new family member, it has prompted the girls to tidy and get rid of excess (I have said that any toys or clothes they sell, they can keep the money for), so our house is looking great!