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need a new dog - can I travel to collect one?

Loads of rescue dogs need rehoming
Your local centre will know what the guidelines are

Punt around but be careful
 
timH said:
“Need” a new dog - hmmm. Not an essential purchase methinks.
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I'm guessing you're not a dog person. I wasn't until we had our first Labrador, Toby. He passed away 3 years ago and left a massive hole in our lives. We got two rescues not long afterwards. You cannot underestimate the value of a dog for companionship and, more importantly, the reason to get out of the house in these trying times.
 
dogs trust has quite a nice set of FAQs on rehoming rescues if you dig around on your website. It is reasonably clear that they will come to you, and that each centre will only rehome if they are within an hour of driving....
 
We have a dog too, a lovely Golden Labrador called Ella; I can't imagine what it would be like if we lost her.
 
According to The Dog's Trust, 31 out of the 32 dogs they have available for rescue in Liverpool and Manchester cannot live with other dogs. Some of the rescue centres have to be a bit less rigid or dogs will remain 'in care' for a long, long time. Unfortunately, I now know of people turning to rescue centres abroad and who are now offering lovely homes to dogs having been unable to rescue in the UK.
 
When we got our rescue Yorkie we had a home visit to vet us as suitable eg private, secure garden, make sure we weren’t both out all day etc.before we ever got to meet the dog.
 
It can be quite difficult to get a rescue dog if you don't have experience (or already have a dog or have kids in the house). When we were looking a couple of years back the rescue places had plenty of dogs but none they were willing to rehome with us, so it looked like were would have to get a puppy instead (which at that time were generally around £1K). We did eventually manage to get a rescue though (a lovely Labrador) although there was a lot of competition for him as he's very well house trained etc. and doesn't have any noteworthy behavioural issues. I had to do a very good sales job to make sure he was given to us!

Easy to rehome dogs like our Labrador are rehomed very quickly, but the ones that tend to be in places like the Dogs Trust for a while have often been rehomed unsuccessfully previously and they're way of placing them with anyone without what they regard as enough experience.
 
Bob McC said:
When we got our rescue Yorkie we had a home visit to vet us as suitable eg private, secure garden, make sure we weren’t both out all day etc.before we ever got to meet the dog.
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same here, we went to Blue Cross, wouild always try here first. which rescue centre did you go to?
 
1964meb said:
Hi Folks

We lost Lily, our beloved Jack Russell Terrier on 5th Jan. She had been ill and naturally she was "a very good dog".

We are now looking for a replacement, but no a pup - have you seen the silly prices! I could renew and upgrade my DV20 (or car) for that sort of money.

The question is are we allowed to travel to collect the new dog? We are in S Notts and possible dogs are up to and over 200 miles away

Any clarification is welcome.

Thanks

Mike
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Well within your 200 miles limit you couldn't come here to Scotland to collect a dog, it's simply not in the list of defined exceptions and hence is unlawful - we have a well defined travel ban. Whilst I sympathise with your situation as we also lost our dog recently, I personally think it's not responsible to consider such a journey as 'essential'.

CHE
 
Vinny said:
See post #8. Rescue centres have no dogs - it even made for a discussion on Womans Hour.
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The Dogs Trust place in Loughborough that was mentioned has 11 dogs listed as available at the moment. They also mention that they can start the re-homing process via Zoom meetings.
 
I know someone who took a return four hour flight from one US state to another then a four hour car journey to pick up a new pup, with an overnight hotel room on the return leg.
 
SteveG said:
The Dogs Trust place in Loughborough that was mentioned has 11 dogs listed as available at the moment. They also mention that they can start the re-homing process via Zoom meetings.
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Well anyone wanting a rescue dog near Loughborough is very lucky aren't they?

All of the rescue charities etc. have been in print and everywhere else saying that they have no dogs, which I am sure does not mean every single last solitary one, just the huge majority. Or maybe they are/were just making it all up.
 
TheDecameron said:
I know someone who took a return four hour flight from one US state to another then a four hour car journey to pick up a new pup, with an overnight hotel room on the return leg.
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They will do that for a couple of hours skiing too.............................. What happens in the US is no guide for what happens here in the UK
 
Looks to me like people think they're being invited to define 'essential' according to their own criteria. Not sure that's the case. HMG's guidance says: ''You must not leave your home unless you have a reasonable excuse (for example, for work or education purposes). If you need to travel you should stay local – meaning avoiding travelling outside of your village, town or the part of a city where you live.''

Note the use of: 'You must not'. Ultimately, if caught, a Police officer may give a fixed penalty notice- which to give its correct term is 'an offer of fixed penalty'. You can request a court hearing and contest it. Maybe that's the way to consider this - what would it look like in court? Is it essential to travel that far and could you reasonably be expected to wait?

I have every sympathy with the OP and the loss of a dog. I'm a dog lover so I certainly understand the desire to find another, no question.
 
I’ve been chatting to a friend today who is still recovering from COVID, he and his wife are only in their late 30’s. I wouldn’t wish, what he told me about what they have been going through, over this past couple of weeks on my worst enemy. So, although I am sympathetic for your loss (being a dog owner) I personally wouldn’t deem this as being ‘essential’. Stay at Home means exactly that, we’re supposed to be locked down, so only going out for work (if it can’t be done from home), daily exercise or food shopping!

If, as a country we are ever going to get back to a better a way of life we ‘all’ need to be disciplined. I hate being stuck indoors for the majority of my time, but have no desire to catch COVID (experience the god awful symptoms my friend told me about) or worse, to pass it on to anyone else...
 
Vinny said:
Well anyone wanting a rescue dog near Loughborough is very lucky aren't they?

All of the rescue charities etc. have been in print and everywhere else saying that they have no dogs, which I am sure does not mean every single last solitary one, just the huge majority. Or maybe they are/were just making it all up.
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The Dogs Trust seem to have lots of dogs available across their UK locations. The one nearest to me is West Calder and it has 25 dogs listed as available. The next nearest one is Glasgow and that's listing 17. Nationally they are showing 275 dogs as being available for re-homing at the moment.

I'm also very close to the SSPCA rehoming place in Edinburgh and it has 21 dogs available. The Edinburgh Dog and Cat home on the other hand is showing as closed, with no dogs available.
 
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