Hi all, I have a 9 month old black lab who is perfect. I'm at home so she doesn't spend much time alone but she loves other dogs so much we're considering getting a second. Is it better to rehome a rejected guide dog who will be about 18months or wait a year and getting a new puppy? I like the idea of giving an older dog a forever home but we want Luna to be 'top dog' if you know what I mean. Thanks for any advance you have x
It might still be possible to have Luna as 'top dog', depending on the dogs themselves and on how you treat them too. We've always treated the dog that we've had the longest as 'senior dog', putting food down first, giving treats first, etc. When we adopted a dog who was older than the two we already had he became third in line for everything. It worked well for them, so it might work for you too.
Thanks. Nice to know it worked out for you. No harm in putting our name on the guide dog wait list and see what happens.
They are very strict and they do not rehome where the dog would be left any more than 4 hours in 24 - dog sitters/walkers are not acceptable, they need to be with you as that's what they've had all their lives. Withdrawn pups are also rehomed. The rehoming officer would visit to check if your present dog was suitable etc. But there's no harm at all in asking. One tip - the waiting list is re-drawn every 3 months so you have to keep applying. They don't have long term lists. Here is the link - http://www.guidedogs.org.uk/supportus/rehoming-a-guide-dog/rehoming-guide-dogs-faqs#.WKrY1JHfWfA ...
Thanks for the link. There is always someone in the house already so no problems with the 4 hours max. Good to know they visit for withdrawn pups so we can make sure the new dog and Luna would be a good match. thanks for the help
One of hour neighbors got a reject from "Dogs for the Blind" in Oregon. She wanted him to be a running companion, but he had been conditioned not to run, so that didn't work out. He was a very nice dog, and I expect he could have been retrained to run, if they had worked harder at it. I'm not sure we have much to do with which dog is the top dog in a group. I think the dogs sort it out on their own. In our family Cooper, the pup, is the top dog now, mostly because of her size and agility. They both get along together and play fight quite often, usually lying down. They will even share the same plate, if we put down one plate for them to "pre-wash".
