A moral/cultural conundrum: online advert (i.e. "eBay") dog or puppy?

Helen! You're naughty! You've got me looking at this site now. I fell for Laurel straight away..

 

Sorry! x

They are all so gorgeous and need a home, come on everyone have a look, you know you want to xx

 

I saw Laurel as well! She's lovely, too.

I'm very bad... I've already written them about Bruno.

 

Fantastic Emily, Bruno has the most gorgeous face EVER He's your kind of dog x

 

Oh I shouldn't have looked...Tiago had me in tears...

 

I'm not looking. I'll end up with another dog otherwise

 

Poor boy, in a prong collar

 

I have emailed them to ask for it to be removed. Awful and upsetting to see. None of the other dogs seem to wearing one

 

I've heard from the rescue group that Helen @charlie recommended about Bruno and am making arrangements to go meet him once I'm back in Spain next month. Turns out he's only an hour's drive from my house. They say he is shy and wary of strangers, so that may be a no go in terms of succeeding in the assistance dog training, but I'm keeping an open mind (and crossed fingers). I will still also keep looking for breeders and on other rescue sites, but it would certainly be amazing if this could work out.

 

Gosh Emily! Only just seen this thread.
Wow!
Wishing you luck. Just wondering how you could say "No" if he wasn't right though

 

Fingers, toes and paws crossed Emily xx

 

I guess this might be easier than for your average kind-hearted person who goes along to view a rescue dog, because he needs to do a job. If he's not suited for that, then it's a non-starter, however lovely he is otherwise.

How exciting, though. Next month, so soon!

 

Yes, I know. I do feel a bit like I'm setting myself up for, at the very least, a gut-wrenching decision if not out and out heartbreak. But if I don't take the chance, I'll never know.

And I have to be realistic, being able to successfully train ANY older rescue as an assistance dog is making something that is already quite a gamble into really a "one-in-a-million-just-won-the-lottery-kind-of-chance" territory. But even if he's really not suitable, it still could lead to other things, such as making volunteering contacts near my home and Spain and being able to help local dogs in other ways, or ultimately feeling better about choosing to find a puppy through a responsible breeder vs a rescue, which continues to be a bit of a sticking point for me.

 

Precisely. Although (as you may have guessed by now) I'm a complete moosh-pot when it comes to any dogs. As a rule, I do NOT under any circumstances go into city shelters. It absolutely breaks my heart. Even when I did all my fostering, the foster director would pick up dogs for me to take home, I wouldn't go into the kennels myself. I can't deal.

So who knows how I'll manage this visit to Bruno, but as you say, I have to be a bit mercenary for his sake as well as my own. I need my dog to be an assistance dog and I want that dog to really love doing it and not be stressed out by it. So if he is truly frightened of new people (not just shy from lack of early socialisation), he simply wouldn't be happy with me and all the public interaction he'd get on a constant basis being my dog buddy.

But I really do hope I'll have a bit of doggie miracle happening in a month or so.

 

Oh how exciting, I will keep absolutely everthing crossed that Bruno is the perfect dog for you. xx

Just to update you all, I have received a reply to my email stating that it's NOT a prong collar that Bruno is wearing. They state that none of the dogs wear them. Bruno is also at the Council Pound xx

 

Just had a look at Bruno's page and details @Emily_BabbelHund

 

Just thought you might like to know that Tiago is now marked as "reserved" for adoption on the Spanish Stray Dogs website.

 

I thought I'd post a quiet little update here, as I'm absolutely keeping this quiet from everyone besides here the Forum. I stink at keeping secrets so hopefully sharing here will keep me from doing TMI in other areas of my life!

Anyway, waiting on my home check on Bruno (picture earlier on thread thread) and this girl just came up today on the same website/shelter. She clearly has nothing to do with a Labrador (maybe GSD with Spanish mastiff?) but her personality sounds more suited to assistance dog work than Bruno, so I may ask to visit her at the same time that I go to see Bruno (though fingers still VERY crossed for Bruno!) I'm more about the big black boys, but she just has a certain je ne sais quoi. Fiona @snowbunny would probably say it's the bandana.



And as I'm keeping ALL options open at this point, I've also got a breeder meet and greet next weekend here in Germany. The first one who actually totally grilled me on the phone about what I wanted to do with my puppy, my lifestyle, housing, etc.

So lots of hopefully possibilities in the works! Now I'll go back undercover and pretend I'm not even trying to look for a dog anymore!

 

Your secrets are safe with us.
Keeping lots of fingers crossed.

 

How totally, fabulously, exciting!

I hope you stick around, even if a Lab (or Lab cross) isn't your destiny.




It's definitely the bandana.