Rescue dog and young children?

[spidersweb]

Hi, we've been thinking of getting a dog for a while and may get one in the next year. Not looking to rush into getting one in the immediate future. We have a 2.5 year old child.

I would prefer not to get a puppy due to the intensive training needed, but when I look on rescue websites ALL of the dogs are listed as unsuitable with you kids. Some say adults only and others say may be ok with older kids, but none suitable for living with younger kids.

Am I wasting my time looking for a rescue dog? Perhaps we should wait a few years or perhaps the puppy route would be better despite the intensive training needed?

You might do better going via a breed specific rescue or any rescue that fosters the dogs in people's homes. They often have a much better idea about the dogs they have.

Thanks! Will take a look

Personally, I wouldn’t have a rescue dog with young children.

I absolutely appreciate that some of the adult dogs in rescue will have come from family homes and be absolutely fine with children but ultimately you don’t know the full history of any dog there.

People can, and do, play down or outright lie about behavioural issues their dog may have when selling or re homing and rescues don’t always temperament test thoroughly enough.

Additionally, a dog in kennels will be stressed, it’s not uncommon for a wild, frenetic dog in kennels to turn out to be super chilled and calm in a home environment or for a super placid, lazy dog in kennels to turn out to be a super bouncy, lively handful in a house environment.
You aren’t seeing the ‘true’ dog in a kennel environment imo.

I also think that young children generally are stress inducing for most dogs; they are loud, have quick and erratic movements, don’t always respect personal space, can scream and shout in tantrums etc.
I think family dogs that have grown up with children tend to tolerate a lot more from their ‘own’ children than perhaps they would from a strange child.

We have a 2.5 year old child

Oh also, I missed this bit.
I got my dog when my eldest was 4.
I then went on to have two more children so dog was here since before they were born.

While she likes them and has never shown any aggression to them I really really regret getting her at the time I did and would never, ever advise anyone to get a dog, regardless of it’s a puppy or adult with children under 4 or 5.

Some people cope fine but I’ve found it really stressful at times and my dog is a very calm, gentle, ‘easy’ dog.

Children are messy and I have had more than a few heart attack moments witnessing my youngest children, for example, leaving things like Easter eggs on the floor then buggering off.
Chocolate is poisonous to dogs and while my dog won’t take food off the floor next to the children she will definitely eat food that’s been abandoned.
Spilling an entire cup of raisins too, again, poisonous to dogs.

Young children tend to leave toys everywhere too then go mental if they get destroyed.
My dog isn’t much of a chewer so hard toys tend to be safe but she’s stolen countless cuddly toys off them then slobbered all over them.
They never come out the washing machine quite the same..

She doesn’t like it if I tell them off which happens a lot with very young naughty children..
Doesnt like it if they argue or temper tantrum.

Imo, dogs and children under 4 or 5 aren’t a great match.

That's interesting thanks! We would be happy to wait a bit longer to get a dog, till our child is 4 or 5. It sounds like that might be a good idea. Thanks

My dog came from a very loving home but she still had a lot of issues with settling in. I would not let my grandchildren touch her or leave them alone with her until she had been with us for a year. This was easy to manage but would have been impossible if they had lived with us permanently.

There is a good reason why Rescues are not housed with children. They may be perfect but the unpredictability is too much of a risk.

Thanks, yep I see what you mean. We have too much going on between working and having a young child to deal with a puppy just now. Sounds like a rescue wouldn't be a good idea tho.

We will wait till our child is older when we will have sufficient time for a puppy.

Thanks everyone 🙏