I don't know what to do. Lost our dog, new dog, small children

[mangocoveredlamb]

Our dear dog died on 11/1, she was nearly 6 so very young and it was a horrible horrible shock. We miss her dreadfully.

So we are now dogless and I hate it. My gut instinct is to start thinking about getting another one straight away. The huge problem is that we have two very small children. DD1 is nealry 4 and DD2 is 15months. Barley was not yet 2 when DD1 came along and it was a nightmare, she was barley out of the puppy stage and I was very very anxious about the whole thing. When DD2 came along it was completely fine as Barley was much calmer, and used to having a child around the house.

I have enquired with a few local rescues, but we are not suitable due to DD2 being so young.

Would I be mad to consider a puppy?

We got Barley from what turned out to be a puppy farm and she was very difficult to train and had a few health issues, so I'm wary of that. And I remember how hard it was having a puppy and that was before children. (admittedly I worked a lot more then, I now do three short days term time only) But the empty house is awful and the children miss her loads.

Oh I'm so sorry ..I lost my dog nearly a year ago..I understand your loss...we waited 8 weeks before we got our new addition..it does help your heart heal..but my kids were much older..we wanted to rescue a dog but my youngest was 7 and we got absolutely nowhere with rescues.even though he had been around dogs his whole life ,we couldn't get a rescue due to him being 7. So we got a puppy..we couldn't wish for a nicer dog ,she's lovely with everyone..the weeing indoors has been the hardest bit,she's not keen to wee outside in the rain or dark...so I suppose you would have to think about all the puppy issues ,and how that fits in with a dog or a puppy .

So sad your lost your pup :(

Do sign up with some of the rescues, they will get small child friendly dogs and puppies in BUT they'll be reserved pretty much before they even get there. Sadly a lot of the other dogs have come in because they haven't been trained properly around dogs or other children, or have been tormented by grabby kids, which is why they're for teens or adult only homes. It's not impossible to find small child friendly dogs but it can be hard work on your part to find them. Like Bella here, apparently can go with children over 5 (but that might be flexible for children who are dog savvy)
www.dogstrust.org.uk/rehoming/dogs/dog/filters/~~~~~n~/1182150/bella

If you go for a puppy, pick new breed and breeder carefully. If they're not on the KC Assured breeder scheme, be mega wary. The KC Assured breeder scheme isn't fool proof sadly but they're more likely to be a caring and ethical breeder. Be aware that some breeders may not rehome puppies to families with small children either!