We had been thinking about getting a dog since this summer, when we thought my friend's dog would be having puppies this fall. That didn't happen, so we had to find a dog elsewhere.
We found one online and started pursuing its adoption through a rescue, "Association Adoptions Sans Frontières," who turned out to be a royal pain to deal with. They were entirely anti-crate-training, for starters. Next, besides an EIGHT-page pre-adoption form, they then wanted a phone conversation, and a home visit. We did all that, but even though they "gave in" and agreed to let us have the dog despite our terrible, cruel idea (according to them) of crate training it, we then decided to end the proceedings. Part of their conditions were that you send them a vet report every year, and that you give them news of the dog regularly, and they retained the right to take the dog back at any point they deemed necessary.
Since they thought crate training was such a terrible thing, we felt that might decide it "necessary" at any time. So we let them know we were not going to continue with them. (And that is fair warning to anyone in France who finds a cute, adoptable doggy through this association. Just say no!)
Instead, we found another that someone was giving away, and Tuesday Frédéric and I drove 2.5 hours up near Dieppe to go pick her up.
Gala is an 18-month-old cocker spaniel / spaniel mix, and is very affectionate. She's already housebroken, which is definitely a plus, but she does need more obedience training. Her crate arrived today, and she has warmed up to it quicker than I thought she might. She has some separation anxiety, so we'll be working on the crate training a little more slowly than we might have otherwise.
She adopted us from the minute we walked into the home we got her from, and the boys have gotten more into the idea of having a dog, and are enjoying her (except when she jumps up on them, but we are working on that). They love to pet her and brush her.
