6 month old rescue

[Indoctro]

Hello

We have always had rescue dogs and the last two being staffies and love the breed

Our last dog died when son was a baby. We didn't get another one as felt babies/ toddlers and dogs aren't a great mix

My kids are now 6 and 5 years old and we feel they are a better age to have a dog, both kids are very gentle with my friends and families dogs.

I felt bad as to not getting a rescue staff as so many needing homes but felt with kids I just didn't want to risk a dog with a unknown history so we had decided to look at getting a puppy

Out of the blue a rescue has contacted us getting about a 6 month old staffy

I don't think dog has had any training apart from house training. Stealing food and poor recall.

I have a friend who is a dog trainer so if we take it I will enroll straight away to puppy classes with her
Do you think there is any downside to getting a dog at that age who had missed out on those early few months training

The one other thing is I work mon/Tuesday for 4 hours

I would get a dog walker but would it be unfair on a 6 month old to be left then

My husband works abroad so he would be home for first few weeks while dog settled with us.

Although we had decided on a puppy it prob wouldn't of been till end of next year but this opportunity has come up and we think we should take it but just want to hear any negatives we might not of thought of

Thanks a lot

We got a rescue dog at 7 months old who hadn’t been walked properly or socialised with other dogs. He is 4 now and still has problems with how to greet other dogs, he rushes up to them and barks, which frightens a lot of them. He still pulls hard on a lead which may just be a collies thing anyway.
Other than that he is a brilliant dog and I would do the same again.
If you have help from a dog trainer, then even better. We took ours to a trainer initially, but didn’t like the methods he used, so stopped going.

I leave my 6 month old for 4 hours. It just depends on the individual dog and if this one has been used to being left at all?
I had about 6 weeks off work (Covid related!) do a lot of prep for leaving him though.

6 months old is not too old to train. I’ve had older rescues which have been perfectly managable however I would meet this dog first. All of my rescue dogs have had some issues no matter what age I got them, it’s not the end of the world but I know the problem probably wouldn’t be there if I had them younger. One of them was 9 months and ruined by the time he got here, he’s a lovely dog but it’s always there.

6 months is a funny age where they can start testing people out and between 6-12 months is generally teenage behaviour time. I would think a baby staffy is going to be quite boisterous and I would expect a lot of adolescent behaviour from a rescue dog of this age.
I would also make sure it’s animal tested as staffies they haven’t been socialised well as young poppies can be very prone to dog-dog aggression.

Can you meet the dog and make a decision from there as to whether you can cope with the work?

Dog currently lives with 3 other dogs and children and is being surrendered due to a family separation

Yeah I'm sure I can meet first and dog is on trial for 3 months before adoptions if formalised

I think it sounds like a good match 👍