Why is it so hard to adopt?!?

[WestieW0man]

We've decided we would love to add a second doggy to our family. We have a 10year old Westie and two children aged 4 1/2 and 6. I wfh most of the time and we walk our dog each day at the large park round the corner from house. We have a large enclosed garden.
I am a qualified behaviourist, albeit human behaviour- the principles are the same!. Our dog is well trained, calm and sociable.

But apparently this is not compatible with adopting 95% of dogs up for adoption! I've been searching and searching and SO many dogs need an "adult only home" or to be "the only pet" in the household. Some even go so far as to say no males or females!

Is it just me or is this a bit restrictive in terms of potential adopters? I'm on waiting lists for Westie adoption but they won't let us adopt until our youngest is 5. And even then it will probably be an "adult only home" or something.

I don't particularly want to go down the puppy route, and I do understand the terms are to keep the dog and humans safe and prevent distress. But surely looking at individual family set ups and not having generic broad stroke criteria would help?

Just feeling frustrated after looking through the rspca/dogs trust websites for the zillionth time!

We got a greyhound for this exact reason.
Everywhere else wouldn't let us have a dog with a primary age child

We're so glad we did, she's amazing. DS loves her, she's his best friend.
As a breed they are known for being laid back and good with children. We obviously didn't take any chances but 8 weeks in we've never seen any hint of aggression.
They also don't bark or shed much, ours gets 2-3 walks a day of 20-30 minutes, is fine in the car and doesn't have a problem being left for a couple of hours (we asked the neighbours to check on her)

Slightly different but we adopted 2 cats when dc were late primary age. We happen to live near the national centre of a large rescue and all the cats they struggled to rehome were sent there. Our cats had been there over a year (and were about 10) The Centre reluctantly said they thought these ones might be ok as dc were calm around them. When we got full file of info- they had been living with toddlers (family emigrated) and enjoyed cuddling up at story times with previous owners. The cats have let dc pull them around and dress them up (nicely) there is nothing about them unsuitable for living with children. I think it’s easier sometimes if they go to an adult only house.

Apparently the numbers of stray dogs in the UK are going down, which is a good thing. But of those still being abandoned, perhaps a higher proportion have behavioural issues.

Thanks for all the feedback- but as a behaviourist with an international level qualification- I really feel like this should be taken into account! Right now I'm happy to wait though as I understand the system and why it is how it is. A bit of flexibility would be beneficial though I think.

@WestieW0man

Thanks for all the feedback- but as a behaviourist with an international level qualification- I really feel like this should be taken into account! Right now I'm happy to wait though as I understand the system and why it is how it is. A bit of flexibility would be beneficial though I think.

Unfortunately everyone else thinks they need to be at the front of the queue too. Maybe the next family are all pHD's, and the next person a family of vets, and the next people are Doris and Dave in their little bungalow who retired last year, love to go hiking and actually their quiet little lifestyle is better suited to said pup than a busy kiddy one so that's where the dog goes.

I think if everyone who wants to adopt spent a day in a rehoming centre dealing with enquiries right now, they'd realise what an absolute nightmare it is. They get torrents of abuse from people who they've had to say no to :(

Despite what MN say you just can’t adopt a dog with children, IME. I’d look at getting a puppy.

@teawithbetty

As owner of rescue dogs for more than thirty years and working in rescue at the sharp end for thirteen years of that, I can assure you that's categorically not true.

our local rescue is fine with adopting to families with kids, but to be honest, after knowing them a while, I don't think they ar egreat at assessing families or dogs.

So you can get your dog, but you can't be sure that they have assessed them right.

[quote Shambolical1]@teawithbetty

As owner of rescue dogs for more than thirty years and working in rescue at the sharp end for thirteen years of that, I can assure you that's categorically not true.[/quote]
Yup!! It's definitely not true. I know several families with rescue dogs. It's all about whether the dog is the right fit. Trouble is for every dog that could work with secondary or primary school age children, there's at least 100 families that apply and could be suitable. This is where people get frustrated and feel like they've been "turned down because they have kids", actually they've been turned down because there were 100 other identically suitable homes and the rescue can only pick one of them. It's always the rescue's fault though -shrug-

Well I’ve yet to hear anyone of being approved to adopt with primary aged children but I bow to your superior knowledge!

@teawithbetty

Despite what MN say you just can’t adopt a dog with children, IME. I’d look at getting a puppy.

mine were aged 9, 12, and 14 when we adopted. The rescue was wary of little kids, pre-school age, but was fine with older ones. We fostered for them before we adopted and gave them lots of feedbakc on the dogs we fpstered. All would have been fine with kids, with some reservations, eg one was huge (teenage great dane) and lovely natured but 100% untrained, so she would have been fine with a family who had space and time to train, but may have inadvertantly tramped a small child initially.