To expect to be able to re-home a rescue dog when I have two children?

[Wadingthroughshit]

Two children, We live in a rural area, have front and back gardens, my youngest starts school this summer, my eldest is nearly nine and I work PT. There are kennels are dog walkers in our area which are reasonably priced. We are a quiet home, there isn't much comings and goings. I think a dog would be hugely beneficial to all of us, especially my eldest who can be slightly anxious.
But, I have been looking for over a year, and I have not been able find dogs at any of the rescue centre which don't don't state 'adult only or older children'. I absolutely understand there is a reason for this. Should I give up looking and give in to buying one? We'd quite like an older dog, well, not a puppy at least.

We had this problem too. No one would consider us as we had a child under 5. We ended up buying a puppy from a family. My dd keeps telling us it’s the best thing that ever happened to her. He’s trashed our house whilst toilet training and chewing but we are over most of it now. Shame we couldn’t home a rescue it seems very unfair

I ended up buying a puppy as 3 dogs homes wouldn't entertain us (I originally wanted a senior dog) . My youngest is 8 so hardly tiny.

My friend was in the same position and ended up rescuing 2 dogs from abroad. They’re both lovely dogs.

Have you tried any of the greyhound rescue places? I see posts from Kent Greyhound Rescue on my FB feed, and they often say "suitable with children". They also rehome Podencos which are just gorgeous dogs.

Yep. IMO it’s a mixture between the rescues’ criteria being far too stringent on the one hand to most rescue dogs actually not being suitable for rehoming on the other. Would never rescue for these reasons.

Try this site. You can search by "Good with kids"
www.oldies.org.uk/2019/grigio-pawprints-to-freedom-fostered-hull

Also have you tried visiting local rescue centres to discuss? They may be more flexible if you meet them and put your case.

Some rescues will home with over 5's but yes, the rules do seem overly strict to me, especially when all that will happen is that people will go to a breeder, not wait until their youngest child is 12 or whatever! We rehomed a whippet with an 8 year old. He's been an absolute joy. (the dog, although the 8 year old can be very occasionally )

We struck lucky at the dogs trust. Our youngest was 2 at the time. We had to go to the actual rescue in person to find them though as the there are many more dogs in the kennels than on the website. We had a choice of 2 litters if puppies Or 2 x 1 year old dogs. We got a 1 yr old collie cross lab. It took us a while but the dogs trust are much more flexible than the rspca.

Some of the smaller breed specific re homing centres will re home where there are children. As someone mentioned above, Greyhound rescue is one such place.
Are you looking for a particular breed?

We had a similar issue with being refused from rescues.

We ended up going through the breed club and buying a puppy.

Use a smaller rescue. Ignore big rescues eg RSPCA and Dogs’ Trust.

Have you tried DogsBlog? They have dogs from many rescues on there so it’s a case of trawling through. Don’t know where you are but you could try Hope Rescue (Wales, although they will rehome all over) as they don’t have a minimum age but will try to be flexible. I know it shouldn’t be so difficult but please persevere and adopt rather than buy. And yes to going along and talking to them. Good luck.

Imo, Its not always better to adopt. If you have children its safer to buy a puppy and raise it yourself, so you have control over its training and socialisation.

Are you looking at the big, well known rescues like RSPCA, blue cross etc? If that's the case try local ones. I home check for many diff rescues and there are numerous ones (in this country and abroad) who would consider you.
Try one of these -
Good life dog rescue
Rescue Remedies
Sod Romanian rescues
Greyhound Rescue
Dun roamin
Margaret Green

YANBU

If you'd be interested in a lurcher or greyhound (aka best dogs in the world) give Lisa at Greyhound Gap a call. They re-home throughout the UK and will match dog with family. Lots of post adoption support.

NoCauseRebel I think you are being a bit harsh in saying that most rescue dogs are not suitable for rehoming. I have rescued numerous dogs over 30 years and have obviously been very lucky in that they have all been trustworthy and loyal companions. Clearly there may be exceptions to this but the rescue centres normally highlight any existing or potential problems.

I was refused a dog here as I have cats (!) Got my Podenco from Spain and he is totally wonderful (and no issue with the cats at all). Maybe look at the smaller charities - Dogs Trust etc just seem to be so rigid with their rules. Defo get a rescue, but be prepared to put the work in. Good luck, I hope you get a fab doggie soon

Try any of the smaller rescues, they’re desperate to get dogs into loving homes and are usually more flexible in looking at individual circumstances. There are countless pages on Facebook that you can tap into for these smaller organisations. Both my mum and I have Romanian rescues...nothing more rewarding than seeing these very badly treated animals come out of their shell and learn how to love ❤️

shelters are extremely fussy. Try a local newspaper or FB groups

Thanks everyone, really appreciate the response. I will definitely look into the rescue centres suggested and try and find other smaller rescues. We would like a Spaniel, or a lab ideally. I haven't actually owned a dog before which I realise puts me at a disadvantage, but I hasn't children before I had them and turns out I'm pretty good, well they are still alive !
I will visit the rehoming centre, not with my children because I don't want to get they're hopes up or upset them until I've found a possibility! Many though, seem to house Staffs, border collies or Lurchers, and anything other than this is snapped up very quickly, from what I've noticed anyway.
I just wanted to re-home as there seem to a lot of dogs from sale, that are very expensive, from places like gumtree. I'd love to give a dog a second chance.

I hope I didn't come across as naive in that post! I do not for one second underestimate the amount of work a dog is, I have spoken about it a lot.

Maybe they are just covering themselves rather than say good with children. Because I suppose dogs are unpredictable and there cant' be any guarantees.

It’s a risk issue isn’t it?! They aren’t going to take the chance that a dog whose background, training, socialization and experiences are unknown might react badly to something and cause some harm to a child. It’s impossible to predict how a dog that has experienced trauma can react in certain trigger situations. The kennels can’t possibly simulate every potential scenario to make sure the dog is fine. Obviously young children are vulnerable so there is a blanket exclusion with some more discretion for older children, depending where you go.

I have re-homed rescue dogs including one bigger and typically more aggressive breed (there was one specific aggressive trait it was impossible to de-program as he was too old) so I am not incapable of making a judgment. I wouldn’t risk it with a young child though. I would re-home from a friend where I knew the home environment was happy, but otherwise would go for a puppy where I could be certain they would be appropriately trained/ socialized.

Better safe than sorry.

most rescue dogs actually not being suitable for rehoming on the other.

I don't think that's true. What do you mean suitable?