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19 minutes ago, Bee said:

We have a sort of collie cross who we rehomed - home visit, check the garden etc. and she has a brilliant time at home but the 3 months a year when we are on the boat she is not quite so relaxed, getting on and off the boat is awkward, she hates pontoon moorings with slatted wood walkways and the heat is a problem (boat is in France) so some dogs, in some situations might not fit with boat life quite so well. 

We were a little concerned with how Sydney would react to being on a boat again as he was abandoned on a narrowboat and essentially left to die.

 

He doesn't seem to associate our cruiser I'm the same light as he did the narrowboat and loves being out on the water. Which is lucky for us really. Not sure what we would have done if he hated it!

  • Greenie 1
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Chris and I fostered many dogs and ended up with 4 dogs which were never rehomed, we adopted them. We moved aboard with a GSD, a Beardie, a Border Terrier X and a Yoodle. They loved the boat. However as the years passed so did the dogs and when the time came no rescue centre would entertain us despite our provable record of caring for dogs so we had to resort to buying a dog or two.

Phil 

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1 hour ago, Phil Ambrose said:

Chris and I fostered many dogs and ended up with 4 dogs which were never rehomed, we adopted them. We moved aboard with a GSD, a Beardie, a Border Terrier X and a Yoodle. They loved the boat. However as the years passed so did the dogs and when the time came no rescue centre would entertain us despite our provable record of caring for dogs so we had to resort to buying a dog or two.

Phil 

Bloomin ridiculous. As with most things people who live in houses simply have such a restricticted view on life they are incapable of thinking oiutside the box. Perhaps we could pin a thread with the names/places of rescue centres that are inteligent enough to realise boats are a fantastic lifestyle for dogs? That would save others time by eliminating the numptie centres that are clueless?

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15 hours ago, Jennifer McM said:

Was going to suggest a greyhound. I've heard they are very affectionate, plus they don't moult. Living with a very hairy GSD (rescue) on our boat, not moulting appeals. ?

 

 

I'm no dog lover, but I've always found the idea of a rescue greyhound rather appealing. It is scandalous that the racing industry can simply discard them.

15 hours ago, Boater Sam said:

But if you don't get on with your greyhound you can't run away from it.

Don't know about you, but I doubt I could outrun any dog, even the tiniest of hand-cosies.

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10 minutes ago, Machpoint005 said:

 

I'm no dog lover, but I've always found the idea of a rescue greyhound rather appealing. It is scandalous that the racing industry can simply discard them.

Don't know about you, but I doubt I could outrun any dog, even the tiniest of hand-cosies.

There was a feature on Good Morning yesterday which featured a plea by an organisation (I forget the name) that takes in and re homes retired racing greyhounds.

 

They had one in the studio who was a delight both in temperament and appearance. The lady with him pointed out that although they have a very competitive life when competing when they retire thay are surprisingly docile, calm and actually quite lazy and don't demand huge amounts of exercise.

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16 hours ago, mrsmelly said:

Some, especialy some of the bigger named rescue centres do not allow it as they havnt a clue what they are doing. They will let a bloke in a flat with a postage stamp back yard have a rescue dog but not someone living on a boat with miles of towpath and fields outside their door. Our present dog is a rescue dog and the sensible place we got it from were dead chuffed it was going to have such a fantastic lifestyle.

Perhaps the 'miles of towpath and fields' would be considered an issue in some cases. Farmers are not well disposed to dogs being left to roam freely across their fields, especially those with livestock but I guess they'd not be too pleased with arable fields either. The question might be interpreted in the context of a 'secure' space. That said, plenty of boaters do very well with liveaboard dogs.

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2 hours ago, mrsmelly said:

Bloomin ridiculous. As with most things people who live in houses simply have such a restricticted view on life they are incapable of thinking oiutside the box. Perhaps we could pin a thread with the names/places of rescue centres that are inteligent enough to realise boats are a fantastic lifestyle for dogs? That would save others time by eliminating the numptie centres that are clueless?

That's a great idea and prompted me to write to Dog's Trust mentioning this forum thread. It would be great if they would confirm and advise.  People retiring and living on narrowboats could be a perfect match for many dogs.

 

 

Edited by Jennifer McM
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17 minutes ago, Jennifer McM said:

That's a great idea and prompted me to write to Dog's Trust mentioning this forum thread. It would be great if they would confirm and advise.  People retiring and living on narrowboats could be a perfect match for many dogs.

 

 

It depends on the dog. Some just wouldn't cope well with the constantly changing surroundings.

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21 minutes ago, Naughty Cal said:

It depends on the dog. Some just wouldn't cope well with the constantly changing surroundings.

Yes, there's that problem. Though inside the boat, where their bed, and where their food bowl is, including where their owner lives and sleeps will not change. 

 

Wondering if anyone has had a dog that found continuously cruising a problem? When we were looking for our boat, we couldn't get Rusty to jump on a trad style boat; being a big dog, and cautious, he needed more space to land when jumping onboard.

Edited by Jennifer McM
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1 hour ago, MJG said:

There was a feature on Good Morning yesterday which featured a plea by an organisation (I forget the name) that takes in and re homes retired racing greyhounds.

 

They had one in the studio who was a delight both in temperament and appearance. The lady with him pointed out that although they have a very competitive life when competing when they retire thay are surprisingly docile, calm and actually quite lazy and don't demand huge amounts of exercise.

That's what I envy, our cat lazes around all day and can spring into action immediately, no stiffness or fuzzy head, from sleep to fully awake and bright eyed. Mind you I was a bit like that when I was sixteen, puzzled by folks having 'indegestion' - 'bad back' - 'difficulty sleeping at night' or even stranger 'afternoon nap' 

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9 minutes ago, Jennifer McM said:

Yes, there's that problem. Though inside the boat, where their bed, and where their food bowl is, including where their owner lives and sleeps will not change. 

 

Wondering if anyone has had a dog that found continuously cruising a problem? When we were looking for our boat, we couldn't get Rusty to jump on a trad style boat; being a big dog, and cautious, he needed more space to land when jumping onboard.

Liams last dog a border collie didn't like it when touring with the caravan even though the inside always stayed the same. He was an odd dog in some ways.

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1 hour ago, Naughty Cal said:

It depends on the dog. Some just wouldn't cope well with the constantly changing surroundings.

Sure, but good rehoming centres take care to match the dog to the prospective adopters anyway. Burton RSPCA shelter certainly was boater friendly, but has had a change of manager a couple of years ago, so can’t be sure how they are now.

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2 minutes ago, BruceinSanity said:

Sure, but good rehoming centres take care to match the dog to the prospective adopters anyway. Burton RSPCA shelter certainly was boater friendly, but has had a change of manager a couple of years ago, so can’t be sure how they are now.

If I remember correctly, Burton RSPCA shelter is in a field that runs down to the T&M, so you might hope that they are used to both canals and boats.

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5 minutes ago, BruceinSanity said:

Sure, but good rehoming centres take care to match the dog to the prospective adopters anyway. Burton RSPCA shelter certainly was boater friendly, but has had a change of manager a couple of years ago, so can’t be sure how they are now.

You would think so. However one RSPCA shelter was going to send an aging gentleman not in his prime home with a young , very boisterous and very strong male Akita. We convinced him it wasn't the right dog for him!

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So far we have had 62 different greyhounds ( 8 of ours and 54 guests) on our boat, only two were not keen.  Remarkably easy dogs, I can write for days about them but if you want more information get in touch. Or try talking to Graeme Marsh, Greyhound Trust Head Office - he used to live on a narrowboat before he moved south away from the canal network.

 

In order from south to north you can try any of the following rescues: Greyhoundhomer (Essex or Suffolk), Accolade Hounds (Stoke Bruerne), Perry Barr, Greyhound Gap (near Red Bull) or Tia Rescue in Doncaster. Those know about narrowboats but you could just try the nearest rescue to you, if they don't know about boats then just point to any of the dog blogs on indigodream.wordpress.com, navigate there, type dog blog in the search box on the left and a selection should pop up. Suggest not looking at any of the links with dates in the title.

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8 hours ago, Jennifer McM said:

That's a great idea and prompted me to write to Dog's Trust mentioning this forum thread. It would be great if they would confirm and advise.  People retiring and living on narrowboats could be a perfect match for many dogs.

 

 

I believe a specialist member of staff at the dogs trust lives on a boat and sometimes takes a dog home with her for a night or two so it would be rather sad if they did not rehome to boats. When we approached them (8 years ago now) they were happy to rehome to a boat.

 

................Dave

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8 hours ago, Naughty Cal said:

It depends on the dog. Some just wouldn't cope well with the constantly changing surroundings.

The only thing that I have noticed is that when we moor up the dog is very keen to get out and have a good sniff of her new home. I ponder whether she would be happier in a fixed location as dogs do rather like routine and familiarity, but ours appears to have learnt most of the canal system as whenever we return to a location she instantly knows all the little gaps in the hedges and routes down to rivers and streams etc.

 

...............Dave

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Looking forward to picking Sydney up from the dog sitters later today. We have missed the little cheeky chap.

 

Mind you with the updates and pictures we have been sent during the last week he might not want to come home. He might prefer it with Uncle Pierres and Auntie Helen!

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54 minutes ago, Naughty Cal said:

Looking forward to picking Sydney up from the dog sitters later today. We have missed the little cheeky chap.

 

Mind you with the updates and pictures we have been sent during the last week he might not want to come home. He might prefer it with Uncle Pierres and Auntie Helen!

I recall many years ago when we left our Yorkie with the father-in-law for two weeks. He was glowing about how much she had enjoyed her stay, how she’d completely settled into a routine with him. As we left he announced “I think you’ll have problems with her settling back with you, she’s been very happy here”. When we got her home she was straight into her usual routine, jumping into her bed, looking at the cupboard where we kept her treats etc.

 

When we informed abrupt Yorkshire F-I-L the following day about how happy she was back at home he harrumphed and said “Yes, well, very adaptable little dog that. Very adaptable.”

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I could have sworn I added the response I got from Dog's Trust.... maybe I put it on another thread? Senile moment, probably.

 

The email is mainly a generic one.... but nevertheless, they mention narrowboats:

 

Quote

Hi Jennifer,

Thank you for your email. It's fantastic to hear that you are considering offering a Dogs Trust dog a forever home!

Our website is updated frequently with new arrivals. You can find photos and profiles of the ones looking for their Special Someone here:- www.dogstrust.org.uk/rehoming/dogs/filters/~~~~~n~

Unfortunately due to lack of time and resources we are unable to contact individuals about their requirements.  All of our dogs go through an assessment process as to what type of home they require  with our qualified behaviourists. Some dogs may well be able to live in a boat environment and some not.

As things change so incredibly quickly at our centres, if you do spot one on the website that you feel may be suitable for your household, please telephone the centre directly to check if he or she is still looking for their forever home. Please note reservations can be done in person once suitability has been confirmed and we are unable to take telephone or online holds on our dogs. 

You do not need to make an appointment to visit your local centre during opening hours and you can find details for your local centre here:- www.dogstrust.org.uk/our-centres/

Please note, if you live in council or rented accommodation we will need to see written proof that you are allowed a dog on your premises, if applicable please take this along on your first visit.

You can also find more information on our rehoming process here:- www.dogstrust.org.uk/rehoming/faqs/

Good luck with your search and I hope you find your new family member soon!

Kind regards
Michelle
Dogs Trust Contact Centre Team

3

 

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