To think buying a puppy is far more sensible for most people than rehoming a dog

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I’m a big advocate of animal welfare but AIBU to be concerned at posters who relentlessly push people considering having a dog towards rescue?

For one thing I don’t even know any rescue centres who will rehome to families with young children. But mn insist that they do.

Greyhounds are often pushed on here as an ideal first dog. They are absolutely huge. We would need a new car if we adopted a greyhound. Then it’s insisted they don’t have a strong prey drive. Er - they were bred for hare coursing. I’m sure there are some exceptions, just like there are some Labs who hate water and some stupid border collies, but it’s in the breed descriptor.

Looking on the dogs trust website, out of hundreds of dogs available for rehoming there are nine who can live with primary aged children. Add cats to that filter and there’s none. Zero.

It’s bloody heartbreaking. A MNetter linked someone yesterday to what she enthusiastically described as a brilliant rescue centre in my area so I had a look out of interest. Every single dog was reactive and had a history of biting. I can’t believe she suggested it to a woman with a 7 year old.

Rescue is one of a number of options when it comes to dog ownership and AIBU to think it’s daft and irresponsible to make people feel bad about not rescuing when there just aren’t suitable dogs available?

I find the same with cats. I wanted a rescue kitten during lockdown. Contacted several places, no rely from a couple, none available from another and a waiting list and huge list of criteria from the others. I ended up getting one privately really quickly as I didn't want to wait and was unsure who could actually fulfill that criteria anyway.

Looking on the dogs trust website, out of hundreds of dogs available for rehoming there are nine who can live with primary aged children. Add cats to that filter and there’s none. Zero

Agree that on the web there can be nothing. You have to go in and talk to the people who know the animals.
If you have a cat then a puppy might be better as some dogs are like our old girl who got on great with our own cats who I think she saw as honorary dogs but looked on cats she saw on her walk at cats that needed to be chased.

Rescues do have puppies but they aren’t advertised and you have to register your interest and when a puppy comes in that would be a good match, then they call you.
I suppose some dogs might not get advertised as the rescue might have a perfect match for them on their books already.

got on great with our own cats who I think she saw as honorary dogs but looked on cats she saw on her walk at cats that needed to be chased We had the same thing with our first spaniel; he was fine with our cat, but saw her out on the pavement once and tried to chase her, (On the lead, so he couldn't get far) He suddenly realised who she was, stopped dead and looked very embarrassed!

I would have agreed with you about rescues being overly strict OP prior to our own experience. We hold our hands up entirely to our over-enthusiasm and naivety playing a huge part. But we adopted a 4 month old pup from a UK based rescue that didn’t really do any kind of “matching” between dog and owner at all and had zero advice for us when we immediately encountered issues that then continued despite input from trainers and vets. They then “matched” her with another family for rehoming but luckily we were able to meet them and give them a true reflection of her personality/behaviour and she has now settled a bit better in a very different household. The same rescue placed her sibling in another household which has also proven to be unsuited (a breed with a very high prey drive in a house with a cat, plus lots and lots of anxiety issues as a result of their first few months in kennels and being transported a long distance) and it’s causing the (experienced) owner no end of heartache. I have a totally different view of the restrictions put in place and understand now why they’re there even when they seem OTT. I would echo those who say approach small local rescues who use foster rather than kennels, and rehome local dogs rather than dogs from abroad or from far away in the UK. They generally have excellent relationships with local vets and local behaviourists and can provide much more support to settle a dog in. Many also offer a foster with a view to adoption option which gives everybody time to assess the suitability of family to dog

Yabu. Of course rescues have dogs with issues but they also have loads that don’t and even have puppies. Larger rescues tend to have blanket policies about not rehoming with young children but smaller rescues are more likely to look at individual dogs and families. Most won’t rehome larger dogs who haven’t lived with children previously to a family with young children but that is just sensible. DS was 9 when we got out first rescue. She had been in foster with a family and they were happy for us to have her. She was a Romanian street dog but came to England as a puppy. She had previous form for escaping so a secure garden was a must. She was 10 months old when she came to us. Foster based rescues are good as the dog will have been assessed in a home and issues can be highlighted so you know what you are taking on.

When looking you need patience especially if you are wanting a puppy but the perfect dog is out there waiting for you. There is no need to go to a breeder.

Our dog is from Dogs trust and they were flexible with us. Dog was on website approved for age 11 and older. Dd was 10. We met dog and all had a chat including Dd. I was upfront about dds age and lady just said it’s not an issue at all, DD looks/acts older and was interacting with dog in sensible fashion. I suppose if she had been silly they may have stuck to rules. I wouldn’t dismiss on website info we found them very helpful eg we did both visits one day, dog adoption class at our nearest centre not where dog was etc. We love him and are glad we could give him a happy life.