Me and DH have decided we would like to add a dog to our family. Currently we have a rescue cat (she's about 6 yrs old and is pretty assertive) and 3yo and 4.7yo. Our friend has a 2yo rescue dog which has stayed with us on several weekends and we have been really pleased with how the chikldren and cat have responded to having the dog in the house (i,e. very calmly).
We'd like to get a young rescue dog. I'm not too bothered about getting a very young puppy and in a lot of ways would prefer one that is already house-trained, but am open to all options.
Our situation: I work part-time. My DH is self-employed and intends to have the dog with him most of the time (I think this is very realistic and he runs his own building firm). We own our own large-ish house with a safe, fully enclosed garden. We live close by to lots of wilderness and nice parks and the dog would get at least one long walk a day- more on the days when I don't work. It wouldn't be left on its own for longer than a few hours during the day.
We live in west London. I've looked at the websites of the local shelters and none of them ever seem to have dogs that they will place with homes that have young children or cats in. Is this the norm? Will we struggle to get a dog through a shelter?
I've spotted dogs in shelters that are further away from where we live, but they won't let us adopt their dogs, because of the home visits/ distance issues.
I'm open to advice on the breeds we should consider, but would ideally like a mongrel and not a Staffie or Rotty.
My questions is how do I start? Are we likely to be considered for a dog given the age of our children? Is there any way of adopting a dog from further afield than our local shelter?
God- this is a blummin' essay! Sorry and thanks to everyne who got this far.