To think dogs trust make it very difficult to adopt a dog?

[Beautifulblue]

We have made the decision after lots of discussions to get a dog. We understand the commitment & are very happy to take it on, we will be good pet owners. I'm also passionate about adopting a dog who needs a home where possible over buying a puppy. But after searching through our local dogs trust website I cannot see 1 dog out of 43 that could live with children. Though I understand a number of dogs can't & shouldn't live with children for a number of reasons I can't believe all 43 dogs are incapable! They often request the new owners live within an hour of the shelter & that they don't even have children visiting the house too. Are they not asking to much? I think it's such a shame, a dog would make a great companion growing up with my daughter & would be well cared for but instead they may sit for months even years in a kennel waiting for an adult only home! Has anyone managed to adopt through dogs trust with children? AIBU?!

Go and talk to Dogs Trust, we got our by from them last year and whilst we don’t have children ourselves yet my nephew is a frequent visitor and he was 4 at the time, we discussed it with staff and from the list of dogs we had expressed an interest in thought our boy was the best match.

We don’t live within an hour of the Centre so they couldn’t carry out the home check however they asked for photographs of our home and gardens and were happy with those.

Our boy is a Lurcher and whilst he does have some issues (lead reactive) he is just an amazing dog and so loving despite a traumatic past (based on injuries he had suffered as a pup) they make wonderful pets and Lurchers and greyhounds tend to be overlooked in rescues so could be good options to look at

Good luck OP

A huge amount of the dogs they have coming in will be from people who may have had good intentions getting a dog but who go on to have kids and don't have time for the dog or realise the dog hates being at home all day while they are at work. Why would they put a dog back into that position/situation? They are working from experience.

Our rescue came from Dogs Trust and had been with them about 5 years on and off via about 3 or 4 rehomes that had not worked out..
Yes she's a nutcase, fear aggressive, lots of not good traits eg when we got her would spin round and chase any passing vehicle - solution keep practising and reward every time she ignores passing traffic, or water bowl would splash it everywhere - solution was to use 4 water bowls with less than an inch in each. No way could she be rehomed with a child. She was destructive in other peoples houses hence coming back to Dogs Trust.Never been an issue for us, but we're mostly about or in and out so she can#t get bored enough

Have you emailed them? I emailed them when we were thinking about getting a dog to ask about rehoming with young children and try said if you see a dog you like either email or phone as they judge each case differently. I have seen dogs before that can be regimes with children, it could just be the dogs they have in at the moment are all just very timid and be a case of you waiting until your perfect match comes in.

I agree it's frustrating. However they have to be incredibly careful. Two small children have been mauled to death by rescued dogs in my local area in the last two years. It's incredibly rare and the causes were no doubt complex but it shows why rescue centres are very cautious.

Unless they have satisfactory proof that a dog has previously happily lived with children the cautious centres will not rehome a dog into a home with kids. Nor will they rehome a dog with any trace of resource guarding to a home with children.

Some issues can be addressed, some dogs can be retrained- but it's hardly ethical to wheel in a load of small kids in an attempt to establish how a Dog feels about them. It's even less practical to try to retrain a dog to be ok with kids....

I appreciate how frustrating this is, but look at it from the rescues' angle.

I agree it's frustrating. However they have to be incredibly careful. Two small children have been mauled to death by rescued dogs in my local area in the last two years. It's incredibly rare and the causes were no doubt complex but it shows why rescue centres are very cautious.

Unless they have satisfactory proof that a dog has previously happily lived with children the cautious centres will not rehome a dog into a home with kids. Nor will they rehome a dog with any trace of resource guarding to a home with children.

Some issues can be addressed, some dogs can be retrained- but it's hardly ethical to wheel in a load of small kids in an attempt to establish how a Dog feels about them. It's even less practical to try to retrain a dog to be ok with kids....

I appreciate how frustrating this is, but look at it from the rescues' angle.