why get a puppy?

[VickyG]

Hi all, hubby and I are in the first stages of thinking about getting a show type cocker  we both work from home, are active walking most weekends, live in a small town in a lovely country location so have lots of green for walks  have no kids, one very spoilt 7 year old cat who has never even seen a dog closely before!
But we have never owned a dog before (since kids) so I'm wondering what are the pro's and cons of getting a puppy vs a rescue cocker which I would very happily do.

1.why should we buy a puppy?
2. why should we get a rescue cocker?

Just interested in any thoughts out there, thanks in advance 

[Winnie]

Hello Vicky, and welcome to COL.

I am sure you will get lots of different answers to this question, but I am a big fan of rescue dogs (I adopted Winnie, a 1-eyed 8-year old last year). Looking at your lifestyle, the advantage with a rescue dog is that it could join you on your active weekend walking from day 1, whereas a puppy's development will be damaged if you over-exercise them.
The difficulty may be your cat, which will be very jealous of a new arrival, but might respond better to a 'baby'.
Some people think puppies are better because you have a different bond with them and they don't come with 'baggage', however you can never be 100% sure how they will turn out whereas with a rescue dog 'what you see is what you get' and a good rescue centre will be able to advise you on the dog's personality. Saying that, you can get a pretty good idea about how a puppy will turn out by meeting it's parents.
Some rescue dogs are already housetrained and can obey basic commands, others not. If you take a look at the 'rescue cockers' section you will get an idea of the sort of dogs that come up for adoption.
Adopting a rescue dog is very rewarding. They are on best behaviour for a week or two and then their personality starts to shine out, their confidence grows, and they relax at home and become devoted companions.
If you decide to go down the puppy route, then the most important thing is to get one from a good breeder and know what questions to ask etc. There are lots of experienced people here who can advise you.

Good luck, whatever you decide.

[emderpenguin]

I have the most wonderful non-cocker rescue in the form of Kye, my german shepherd cross.

However, while he's great in the house, outside it's taken a GOOD year + to get him to walk without pulling ALL the time (he does still pull) his recall around other dogs is still terrible (and he knows when he's on a long line and does PERFECT recall when he knows i'm in range of it but still bombs off if i'm slightly out of range to stop him) he doesn't 'talk dog' very well, has a fear of kids and bikes (runs away from thank goodness rather than go for..)

all in all walking him is a bit of a pain.. we have to travel a good half hour before we can get to a park big enough for me to let him off lead and know seeing another dog means he's not 90% in danger of running across a road in front of a car to say hello.

I wouldn't change him for the world tho, and while i'd not gat another rescue while he's here, thats due to his attitude towards other adult dogs (very submissive) i'd certainly try another rescue.

I've actually HAD 2 other rescues here while i've had kye, but one had seperation anxiety and my then job didn't allow me the freedom to deal with it in a manner that would have worked (and does work in her new home) and the other just didn't like Kye.

Having said all that, if there were kids involved i'd be very wary about the whole thing of a rescue, just because you never know what's happened in the past.

[*sammy*]

we had a puppy. mainly because we have connor whos 4 now. was 3 when we got sam. sam is also my first dog and i wouldn't have felt confident then to deal with any problems a rescue my come with however now i would def consider a resucue now connors a bit older. i'm sure people on here will have experience of both though.

what ever you decide, good luck

[Nicola]

I have both, in fact I have 3 options so I've really covered all my bases    Alfie was my first working cocker and the only one which I got as an 8 week old puppy; Tilly is a rescue and I adopted her when she was 2 years old and finally Rodaidh also came from a breeder but at 6 months old rather than 8 weeks so I bypassed the young puppy stage with him. Out of the three I have to say my least favourite experience (NOT least favourite dog, I adore them all!) was Alfie coming home at 8 weeks. I'm not a huge fan of the young puppy stage and he was a nightmare for chewing stuff although he housetrained very quickly and easily and was of course extremely cute and all that. I adopted Tilly when he was 10 months old and as I said she was 2 and she's just been a dream dog and a joy to live with from the moment she came home, she and Alfie clicked immediately. Anyone who thinks that rescue dogs always have issues etc. needs to meet her because she genuinely does not, she was fully trained when I got her, is so well behaved and has not caused me a single moment's trouble or worry since she's been here. I was very lucky but if I got her then there are others like her out there, it's just a matter of looking and choosing carefully. Rodaidh again has been a very easy dog, he wasn't fully house trained when I got him as he'd been living in kennels before then (he came from a gundog breeder/trainer) but it didn't take him long to get the hang of it. Again he settled in very quickly and we had no chewing issues, no 'teething problems' as such and I was able to get stuck right into his training which was great and he's done very well. I'm definitely not more bonded to Alfie than the other two because I had him from 8 weeks and I don't feel like I missed out on anything with the other two although I would love to see a photo of Tilly as a puppy. 

So based on my experience while I would never rule out having a young puppy and I probably will again at some stage, if I had a choice of the three options and all the dogs were equally 'suitable' for my circumstances I would always go for the older puppy or older rescue before the 8 week old! It really is an individual choice though, some people love young puppies so that would always be their choice which is fair enough. If you want a puppy don't feel guilty because you don't get a rescue and likewise if you get a rescue don't feel like you're missing out on anything by not having a puppy because believe me if you get the right rescue you won't be 

[Cazzie]

Its always nice to have a new puppy

Ive had dogs from the ages of 5 weeks old right through to sweepie who was 14 months, Belle 12 months, Goose 7 months and Daisy & Otter were both 8 weeks old when I got them. A new puppy is a wonderful experience, hard work but such a special time as they are so cute and reliant on you for so much. Having a pup is a huge learning curve for both of you and is nice to watch them grow and develop into the adult dog you have trained and nurtured. 

However getting an older dog gives all the same experiences but without the puppy stage (chewing, toilet training etc etc) you love them just as much and the bond is deff the same as with getting a puppy (I find anyway). I would most deff get another older dog in the future and in my experience having older dogs around makes life a bit easier and rehoming one is a special thing to do. 

Everybodies lives and situations are different and you choose what ever is best for your lifestyle as either way the dog has to be cared for, trained and loved no matter if its young or old. Good luck in what ever you decide to do 

[emilyjw]

We got Bracken our cocker as an 8 week old puppy and we were lucky that our older dog helped train her, she was quick with toliet training and always had company so wasn't destructive.

We have a cat and he accepted her straight away.

We also foster rescue dogs and I have to say my favourite was a 5 year old lady who was a perfect dog in every way. She walked nicely on her lead, was house trained etc.

Out of our fosters we have had our cat was accepting of Alfie a 12 week old pup, Jay the 5 year old lady, was unsure of a 6 month old springer we had (i think as she could jump up onto his hidey places...) and was unsure of a collie x we had.

I think as long as the rescue dog is cat friendly and not intersted in chasing the cat it won't be a problem. A puppy may hassle a cat a lot more.

Some rescue dogs have issues, some none at all... you need to be clear with what you are ready to take on. As we are still relatively new to fostering and have only had two dogs, we foster dogs that don't have behavourial issues as we don't want to take on too much.

In terms of cost - from the right rescue you will get a dog that has been neutered, vaccinated, microchipped, assessed etc. Remember some rescues will also have puppies sometimes, last year there was a rescue near us with 6 chocolate roan cocker spaniel pups... though these may be hard to find.

If you go for a puppy make sure you choose a reputable breeder who does the relevant healthchecks, that you get to meet the mother (and possibly father) and that you know what you are getting. We hadn't found COL before we got Bracken and didn't realise that she was a mix of show and working cocker and therefore has a short coat.

[Joelf]

Our first lab was a rescue dog from Battersea; she had been found as a stray & I just couldn't believe that someone didn't want her........we wanted her & had her for nearly fifteen years & she was a lovely dog. However she was never quite so secure & confident as the male dogs we had after her as puppies.

All our other dogs we have had from 8 weeks; the main reason is that I feel that it is sometimes easier for the resident dogs to accept a young puppy although I actually don't really like the cute puppy stage at all & much prefer it when they get a little older. Also it's quite a long time before a pup can join in the long walks with the older dogs so that can take extra time exercising them separately.

Having said that our next dog will be a puppy!!