Adopting a dog when you've got a child

[libbylove]

I'm in the North West. We want to adopt a dog but we've got a three year old and a cat. I've owned dogs before but not had full responsibility since I was living with my parents, over a decade ago. My husband also grew up with dogs.

I badly want to get a rescue (we've even been to the Cheshire Dogs' Home rescue centre, which was heartbreaking but also a but miserable as none of the staff would give us the time of day, there were maybe three dozen dogs and most were taken/unsuitable) but it seems everywhere I look, the young dogs are all taken and besides, rescue centres won't re-home dogs with children under sixteen. I get it, but also feel I'm up to the task of training a dog and teaching my daughter to be respectful of it. My cat is also very bold and has been around dogs - he isn't afraid of them or aggressive towards them, just curious and playful.

Please help me. I got so desperate earlier in the week (we've been thinking about this for two years and looking online for months) that we had decided to go to Douglas Hall Kennels or Kelly's Kennels on Saturday, but after a bit more googling I discovered that they're puppy farms. But we so badly want a dog! And now my daughter vaguely understands we plan to look at puppies at the weekend. But puppy farms are awful. Argh!

Help me. I don't want a purebred posh dog. I just want a healthy crossbreed rescue dog. Staffie, lurcher, spaniel. Whatever. A dog we can take on holiday. I can get a dog walker to walk it while we're at work and we'll walk it at least two times a day. I can afford grooming, I'm happy to train a puppy. I just want a dog. Help me find a dog! Argh!

Have you spoken to all your local rescues? My collie came from the Sspca when my dd was 3. They were not going to rehome with children so we committed to travelling to the rescue centre weekly for 6 weeks and working with them to get him used to my daughter and for them to feel assured he would be safe for us to bring home. Speak to them even if centre policy suggests it'll be a no

You could look at smaller rescues who have more flexible rehoming policies. We adopted a dog on Saturday, she was cleared for being adopted by someone with children (although my children are 15 and above) When the dogs have been in foster homes for a while they are able to better assess the dog's needs.

If you’re north west based, have a look at Dogs4rescue. They are an amazing kennel free rescue based in Manchester.
They are committed to finding the right dog for you, provide tonnes of backup and let you take the dog on a trial basis until you are sure you’re the right match for each other.
They take dogs from the U.K. pounds and also from abroad. All sorts of breeds, but lots of staffies as they are the most frequently given up and harder to rehome.
They obviously do all the usual checks etc but I found them a pleasure to work with. My kids are slightly older though (late primary) but it wasn’t viewed as a problem.
Good luck!

Evesham Greyhound and Lurcher Rescue EGLR rehome all over the country, and home to people with cats and children - everyone is taken as they come. Pilgrim is a lovely puppy, and though Marvel Mouse has an issue with his mouth, he is an absolute sweetheart and they don't think it will cause any long term issues apart from his toothy grin

cmot - EGLR thought I was too old to adopt. But maybe they will be more flexible in the case of children/cats. They also have dogs mostly in foster homes - fine - but it does mean that prospective adopters have to travel sometimes long distances (not always possible) and still be rejected.

How far are you willing to travel? There are plenty of great rescues in the Lake District - Eden Animal Rescue are really good, and often have dogs for rehoming on their website, though they may be too far away from you.

Please don't go to Kelly's or any other large scale breeder. I've got a Beagle and on one of the breed-specific Facebook groups I joined, lots of people went to Kelly's and discovered their dogs had false pedigrees, illness and weren't even the breeds they were supposed to be. I know I you don't care about pedigree but please don't go to a "kennels" that has such appalling welfare standards.

Drearydeadre - the age of adopters will depend on the age of the dog, your health, and whether you have a solid support network around you. Theres no hard and fast rule, but someone in their late 60's looking to adopt a puppy, we'd have to think about them being late 70's and what would happen to the dog then - its really, really hard for us to rehome old dogs.

For people travelling long distances, we do everything we can to assess homes in advance , but yes, you might find they are't the dog for you when visiting. The dog has to come first though