Buying a dog..

Hormonal Filly

Hormonal Filly

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Right, long story short. Father in law is a huge dog lover. He owns a farm and is a farmer, so lovely life for a dog. He had dogs when he was younger but his last died 20 years ago in a tragic accident at only 5. Mostly all collies, his mothers dog died 5 years ago at the brilliant age of 14. He hasn't had another since and purely down to the fear of losing it again.

This year he’s overcome cancer and was given the all clear 2 months ago. Hes early 60’s to add. He loves our dogs and worships them, always asks if he can look after them but my spaniels a bit difficult without me. When I bought my spaniel 2 years ago as a pup he was absolutely in love. We moved out 2 years ago and his highlight of the week is us going around theirs as of our dogs, their house is so quiet without a dog and even they admit that.

He’s an amazing man, I know him well and hes helped me/done a lot for us endless times over the years. Works on his own most of the time outdoors and I really feel a dog would give him more in life, it would be with him all the time. I have mentioned it to him before and he says ahh I can’t, it’s the heart break of loosing them. I found a few litters of collies local to us yesterday and was showing him he said how lovely they were but mentioned how expensive £500 was for a collie.

I have noticed this morning a listing for a 14 week collie as they no longer want it, as have realised in the last 3 weeks of ownership they can’t walk it with their work hours and have a flat (yep, crazy!) Its toilet trained, less than £200 and just looks absolutely adorable. I would collect it this evening without a doubt, although it might of already been re homed.

Ideally I would give it to him as a surprise and really think he would get quite emotional and fall in love very quickly. Worse case scenario we’d have to take said puppy on (not a problem) and speak to the landlord.

Am I suddenly completely off my rocker for even considering this?
 
Lovely idea, but yes off your rocker. When I lost my previous dog, we were without for 11 years.
My daughter in law tried her best over that time to get us one, I would have been livid if she'd just presented me with one!
As it is, nearly 4 years ago I took on a rescue, who is the complete opposite to anything I've had before, not a gsd, nor a rottie, nor a collie nor a jrt x. I've had 2 at a time in the past.
Shes a toy breed and I just knew when I saw her that we clicked.

OP, he needs to come with you, us oldies don't like surprises like that. If he won't, then put the idea away x
 
I’d never give a dog as a surprise. You are denying him the chance to choose his own dog and for the dog to choose him. (Anyone who’s ever bought a puppy knows the excitement of it).

Get his confirmation that he wants a dog then help him choose. It’s worth pointing out to him that if anything happens you’d take on the dog as a lot of older people worry about this so much they think it’s best not to have one.
 
meleeka said:
Get his confirmation that he wants a dog then help him choose. It’s worth pointing out to him that if anything happens you’d take on the dog as a lot of older people worry about this so much they think it’s best not to have one.
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He did worry about his age and we did say we would take it on if anything happens although he us married, his wife works very few hours now. Shes also a big dog lover.

He has always been practically given puppies and thinks any price unless over £200 is expensive, thats why the only way I think it would happen is us buying it for him.

Just noticed that poor collie puppy has been rehomed, hopefully to somewhere good. Its just trying to convince him to take that step, it would do such good for him.
 
amymay said:
Look at collie rescue. Or your local vets for older dogs looking to be rehomed. A client has the most fantastic ‘failed’ working dog. He has a wonderful temperament, is very well trained and just a joy to be around.
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He said previously he'd want a puppy to train/ to bring on from a young age which is why up to about 6 months is ideal. He has the time and capability to bring on a pup, hes so active. He has sheep so theres always the possibility of working it if the dog had the interest. Could be worth looking into a older dogs though, hadn't considered it before.
 
A lot of sheep farmers will retire old working collies to a quiet life, so an outdoor retired farmer type with afew sheep sounds perfect, they also don't charge most will happily give a dog to a recommended home.
We have an older bitch who will be looking for a home but not for 12 -18 months yet. She is a good calm dog to have around the place, quiet in the house and clean, takes a while to bond but is not off with people you just know when she has finally taken to you. She will be about 9 when she retires and we will have at least one dog retiring at about the same time.
They are plenty out there but you need to get chatting to farmers and shepherds, often the dogs are fine for park/field work but not up to gathering the hills any more and not ready to retire completely.
 
ForbiddenHorse said:
Right, long story short. Father in law is a huge dog lover. He owns a farm and is a farmer, so lovely life for a dog. He had dogs when he was younger but his last died 20 years ago in a tragic accident at only 5. Mostly all collies, his mothers dog died 5 years ago at the brilliant age of 14. He hasn't had another since and purely down to the fear of losing it again.

This year he’s overcome cancer and was given the all clear 2 months ago. Hes early 60’s to add. He loves our dogs and worships them, always asks if he can look after them but my spaniels a bit difficult without me. When I bought my spaniel 2 years ago as a pup he was absolutely in love. We moved out 2 years ago and his highlight of the week is us going around theirs as of our dogs, their house is so quiet without a dog and even they admit that.

He’s an amazing man, I know him well and hes helped me/done a lot for us endless times over the years. Works on his own most of the time outdoors and I really feel a dog would give him more in life, it would be with him all the time. I have mentioned it to him before and he says ahh I can’t, it’s the heart break of loosing them. I found a few litters of collies local to us yesterday and was showing him he said how lovely they were but mentioned how expensive £500 was for a collie.

I have noticed this morning a listing for a 14 week collie as they no longer want it, as have realised in the last 3 weeks of ownership they can’t walk it with their work hours and have a flat (yep, crazy!) Its toilet trained, less than £200 and just looks absolutely adorable. I would collect it this evening without a doubt, although it might of already been re homed.

Ideally I would give it to him as a surprise and really think he would get quite emotional and fall in love very quickly. Worse case scenario we’d have to take said puppy on (not a problem) and speak to the landlord.

Am I suddenly completely off my rocker for even considering this?
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Genuinely, having gone through a similar scenario -my widowed Dad lost his JRT of many years, brother bought him a surprise puppy, it wasnt right, so brother took puppy on, and it was a bit hard on my Dad. You know "Never getting another dog, not ever!" sort of thing, with extra stubborn on the side :rolleyes:

So, I agreed he didn't need a dog (yeah, he really, really did), but it might be that the local adoption centre would have something he could help out by giving a nice loving home to.

He got Fred three days later and they totally bonded right through to the end of days for both of them

So, let your Dad think its his idea (I doubt he's less stubborn than mine was!) , and let him choose his own dog- by all means mention this one- but I really think the right one comes along when you're ready.
 
Tricky. Our 80 odd year old neighbour lost her GSD a couple of years ago and I was sure she’d get something else. She hasn’t and says it wouldn’t be fair on the dog-she can’t walk far, fair enough. She has our two round a few times a month or comes here and they just plonk themselves on her knee.

I think if you can persuade your fil to a rescue centre, it might work like a charm! Saying that, maybe he really can’t bear the thought of losing another.🤷‍♀️
 
As an older person in full possession of my faculties (I think) and with ageing dogs of my own I have decided I will not have any more when they go. I would not be impressed if my relatives decided I needed a dog and even less if they presented me with one. Sorry OP but in your shoes I would respect your father in law's wishes. His decision is probably based on more than one factor and it is impossible for anyone to know the strength of somebody else's emotions regarding any kind of bereavement. He may well change his mind one day when he is ready but it should be his decision.
 
I wouldn't. It's a very personal decision and not fair on the person or dog. If he really wanted a dog of his own I'm sure he'd get one.
Think its lovely you are thinking of him but talk about it before doing it.
 
It’s a bad idea to ever buy a dog for someone as an unasked for gift!

There are always options for ‘cheaper’ dogs, be that rescue or a breed rehoming scheme.

Last 2 dogs I have rehomed directly from their breeders aged 5 & 6 - one was a show bitch one was a working bitch. Both had litters and they cost me the price of a spey - for well bred, pedigree, trained dogs without any major issues. I did similar with a Burmese cat.
 
And don’t whatever you do rashly offer to rehome a terrierist from HHO, your ears will be ringing for the rest of your life 🙄😂

in all seriousness, it was lovely thought but I agree with others who have said its important that your dad is involved in the choice of any new dog. He is a mere youngster compared to my mum, who has 7 dogs and goes to shows most weekends at the age of 80, so I don’t think age is a problem at all 😊
 
My mother and her sister bought a puppy for my grandfather( my grandmother gave her permission, as they were going to get a dog anyway). My grandparents had bred Welsh Springers at one point and they preferred pedigree dogs. So with my grandmother they decided on a Labrador and found a good kennel and bought a pup. Unfortunately they bought a dog pup and my grandfather refused to have him in the house( I think he wanted to be the only misogynist arsehole in the house) so we ended up with him and my mother forever after went on about how much he was to buy. He was rehomed at about three when we moved to the continent as they thought he would be too old to do the quarantine when we eventually returned to the UK. He went to a local gamekeeper. When we got to the continent my mother was asked to take on someone's dog as they had to return to the UK urgently due a family accident. So we ended up with a dog anyway( and his collar, lead and a black and white portable! I think they must have thought we needed one though we never watched tv).
Wow that was a ramble but the point I was trying to get was that he may reject the dog for some weird reason.
 
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