Hello there. I've not posted in this section before so please be kind!
I've been thinking for a while that I'd love a dog. I grew up with dogs, but have never owned one. I'm thinking that this is the year that we get a dog. So if you could help me think it through, I'd really appreciate it.
Here's my situation: I'm going to be a lone parent soon, with dc aged 10 and 9, and two cats, whom we all adore. I work full time, but based out of the home and flexible hours, and there are plenty of people around me who've offered help wrt dog-walking etc. The dc have wanted a dog for ages, and would shower a dog with love and affection. We live in a detached house with no immediate neighbours, (the nearest are about a 3 - 5 min walk away, and well out of earshot of our house) so one of the reasons for getting a dog would be as a deterrent to burglars and so on.
So we would like a dog who is okay with dc and cats, okay to be left for a couple of hours at a time (but no longer, really) and with a decent bark 
. I'm wondering about Shetland Sheepdogs; what do you think? I had a look at rescue dogs (our cats are rescues) but because of the dc and the cats, and because we haven't had a dog before, I'm thinking that we need to choose carefully. How do you recommend going about looking for a dog? Thanks in advance for your help.