Jilly… just a thought… We have lots of dog lovers on the Forum… what sort of dog do you have ? 
Might be some useful tips available, to getting dogs settled in a foreign land… 
She is a Weimaraner. 2yrs. I’ve had this breed for 42 years where ever I’ve lived and worked. They are me in dog form. When I returned to UK I had a family of five. 3 sisters, 1 brother and mum. After my accident I decided to have a litter as I was home bound in a wheelchair. Nothing like getting your legs to pay attention, except she had 14!!! Year of Foot & Mouth, finding the right homes very difficult so kept 2 girls and a boy, then 18 months down the road one of the owners (Couple) took their own lives and so had this girl as part of my agreement if owners situation changes, divorce etc… I didn’tmean this sort of change, ALL very sad. They were the best thing that ever happened to me… Mum (Isla) was 17 half when she passed and the siblings all lived to 13 and 15. I took up gun dog training with this “crew” and loved it. Went to South America for 6 months when the last 2 passed, had no plans to have another puppy as I didn’t want to be tired down. 3 years went by and 5 days of returned from Ecuador to UK I was in Devon looking at another litter. So I have this gorgeous girl called Inca. She’s a doll. Will get another when I’m settled in France. I come from 3 generations of vets and doctors, so animals are in my blood. So glad you mentioned this, as I don’t want Inca to go top many days without seeing and playing with other 4 Legged pals. Phew… There you go…
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My word… you certainly don’t do things by half do you… wow… what a story…
I reckon we might need a photo… of this gorgeous doll 
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I know exactly what you mean about being in love with a breed…I’ve always had Border Collies and couldn’t imagine life without one…x 
I have no experience of renting as I flew over once to view one property…signed to buy it…flew home and spent the next 3 months in a total whirlwind learning as much as I could about living in Brittany…x
Fortunately my impulsiveness landed me and my beloved Collies in a perfect location…for us…and once I’d secured the boundaries with deer mesh and erected dog panels front and back we soon settled in…One of mine is a car-chaser so even though there are hardly any cars round here it was essential for me as she thinks nothing of standing in front of/staring down a tractor either… of which there are plenty…! x
I’m 3 miles away from their vet in case of emergencies…the vet doesn’t speak English but the receptionists do so between us all I feel they are in good hands…
My family know I’ll be totally lost when I have to say goodbye to my two…and my son has said he will drop everything to bring me a Border Collie puppy over from Uk…
I support a Border Collie Rescue here in France and sometimes browse litters for sale just out of interest but it’s a big country and I’m unfamiliar with health testing here although I guess it’s similar to the U.K. kennel club recommended health testing…
My car chaser girl doesn’t like any machinery…my boy is much more laid back…or so I thought…I was out in the front garden strimming the other day…I’d left my girl as usual in the panelled off area I put up in front of the house so she can see the strimmer but not attack it…and had my boy in the front garden with me…I’d forgot about the post lady though…and caught him out the corner of my eye trying to stop the post van reversing out of next doors drive…so it looks like even after 3 years of careful management…if she can’t round up the vans and tractors then he’ll step in and do it for her…x
Wishing you all the best for your move here…! x
Lovely story. Jilly
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Ive recently returned from Verteuil in the Charente. A lovely and picturesque village with quite a lot of Brits who were all very welcoming and helpful. I could live there!
You certainly wouldn’t need to learn french !
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Hummm not what I really want, assuming your joking!!
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I’m afraid i’m not really joking.
I spent twenty years there and thereabouts.
We have no shops, but two restaurants, one of which is starting up a cabaret!
Trivy is well known for its jazz concerts.
They are held in the church, which is small so everyone gets packed in on the hard pews.
We went once, but the tickets are thirty euros each and though they have excellent performers, our backs suffer afterwards.
Wow… sounds wonderful fun…
Shame though… when things are priced a bit too high… 30 euros each is a lot to pay … unless it was for Tom Jones perhaps…
I saw Tom Jones on the Central Pier in Morecambe.
We had a French girl staying with us at the time and she had missed him in Paris, so she was well pleased to catch up with him in a much smaller venue.
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I once worked with this French guy, he was the groundsman and I was a bit scared of him at first - big and gruff and macho and tattooed and tanned, you know the type. Eventually we got talking and I said I came from Wales and it turned out he was a huge Tom Jones fan, he’d been all over Europe to see him. Astonishing, not your typical Tom Jones fan I would have thought.
How about the Aude or perhaps even further south ? Property cheaper here & although there are a English scattered around the villages it isn’t “Little England “. We came last year. Decided we could end up spending £000’s on renting & we actually bought the house I’d seen on the internet & loved at first sight . Don’t regret a minute of it. We’ve made fabulous friends with a couple in the village who run a large gîte. She is a translator and they’ve been so helpful. On my own I’d possibly choose to live closer to a larger town - I’m 63 my husband is 50 , This text will be blurredbut we are only 10 mins from a town with doctors , vets , dentist, supermarket so for now it suits us fine.
Dear Vanessa
Thank you. I have looked at Aude, but will go back after your information.
Hi Jilly - welcome! Have you looked at the Vendee region (85) by any chance! It’s a micro climate! We love it here! Been here just over 2 years now! We are in the countryside a few minutes by car from our village! Only 3/4 English peeps around here but if we needed help in anyway there’s always someone who can help with language barrier if we are stuck! We are an hour from Nantes and La Rochelle airports and the beach! 10 minutes from the local town. 30 mins from larger town! It suits us! I think everyone has boxes to tick when making that first move and we checked all of ours! Good luck with your house hunting and enjoy! 
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Dear Lynn
Thank you… I’m take a look.
@incabinca I have sent you a private message about what we discussed a week ago.