random thoughts dogs and children?

[ruledbyheart]

Sitting here bored and just wondering about my dogs.
I have 3dc and am pregnant with my forth and it got me thinking, these rescue centres that don't rehome to homes with children for example Battersea dogs home won't rehome the majority of their dogs to people with DCs under 10yrs old, what do people then do if they get pregnant?

If you rehome a dog not suitable with children to a couple who then goes on to have children do they then have to give the dog up or do they just train it to live with children?

If its the latter then why have the rule in the first place when the owners can then go on and have children who are obviously going to be less than the stated age suitable.

I was fortunate to find a great rescue who doesn't have a blanket rule on children and very lucky to be matched to my dogs who are great with children who at the time were all under 4yrs old.

[Beamur]

We got a rescue dog from the RSPCA - DSC's must have been 10 & 12 maybe at the time? We've since had a baby (now 6) and they didn't swoop round and take the dog back.
Our dog didn't have any problems around children though, so wasn't really an issue. We have trained our new child how to be around a dog.

[tabulahrasa]

The bigger rescues don't rehome with children unless they know absolutely that dogs are good with children and have lived with them. some of them also don't like to rehome puppies with children because too many people don't cope with normal puppy behaviour around children.

The chances are that most of those dogs are absolutely fine with children, but they treat them as if they aren't unless proven otherwise if you see what I mean.

[DeepRedBetty]

The thing is a new baby normally gives you about eight and a half ish months notice, and then when it does arrive it's fairly static at first, it's quite a few months before it starts doing things like poking the dog's bottom with a pencil etc, so everyone's got plenty of time to adjust.

[HotPinkWeaselWearingLederhosen]

The lady we got our pup from knew I had a toddler. She had refused two other families before us, based on the behaviour of the parents around the children with the dogs.

I do think good rescues are right to leave the rehoming of puppies to families at their discretion, but a blanket rule seems harsh if a young family do have the right set up and devotion to have a puppy.

[Beamur]

The RSPCA knew our dog had come from a home with children (sadly dog rehoming was a result of the family splitting up) and she is very good with kids.

[neepsandtatties]

I've often wondered whether many rescues have a policy of not rehoming to families with children under 5, because most people leave a shorter age gap than 5 years between children, so chances are, if the only or youngest child is 5, there aren't going to be any babies coming along (and new baby is frequently the reason dogs end up in rescue). So the rule has nothing to do with the suitability of the dog with a 3 year old versus with a 5 year old (let's face it, there isn't a huge difference between those ages), but more to do with stability of the family set-up?