Is this a good reason to rehome adult dog?

[user1489844432]

I am looking to get adult dog. I can't go to rescue as my son is only 4yo old so I need to buy privately. I also don't want a puppy due to my little ones age.

I found an ad online where they selling 4yo old dog. They claim they had him since 12wks old and reasons for rehoming is it doesn't get on with their other dog. This dog would be perfect for my family but I struggle to understand reasoning they gave me. Surely if you getting another dog and it doesn't get on with previous one you would rehome new one not the one you had for years.

Go to a registered dog rehoming centre . You know nothing about this dog and don't want to be second guessing the rehoming reason with a 4yrs old .

Quite often they’ve bred the shit out of the poor thing and it’s now surplus to their backyard greeder requirements.

I volunteer for a rescue and one thing I have learned is most people lie when they are rehoming dogs. If they are selling them to rehome they are almost definitely lying. Many rescues will rehome with young children as long as your family fit the dog. If the rescue don't want to give a dog to someone with a young child it is for a damn good reason. Buying an older dog is very risky.

Do not go private they will tell you anything !!

A rescue centre rehabilitates dogs and matches dogs to family life and circumstances

If you struggle finding a rehoming centre who will give you a dog due to having a child, try your local retired greyhound trust. They're much more willing to help you find a greyhound who will be safe with your family rather than just ruling you out. Greyhounds are great pets and good with children!

There are very good reasons why most reputable rescues don’t rehome where there is a young child. You have no idea of this dogs background or temperament and it’s too risky with a 4 year old around

Personally I wouldn’t rehome with young children

I’d wait until they were old enough & get a puppy or old enough to safely be with a rescue dog

There is no way I would take that risk with a young child. You don’t know anything about the dog.

Smaller rescues consider the individual dog and potential adopter's circumstances. Our dog was advertised as being suitable to live with children as she had lived with children previously. We don't have children, mine are adult now but Bella is a very calm and gentle dog and I wouldn't worry about her around children.
Don't rehome privately you have no idea of the truth about this dog or any other and you could potentially be putting your child in danger.

Bluntly op but are you bonkers? Unknown adult ddog and a 4yo?
Just no.

People don't always tell the truth when they are rehoming a dog.

Sometimes this is because they want to offload the dog and know no one will touch it if they are honest. Sometimes there's several things going on and they pick the reason least likely to provoke judgement. Sometimes the dog will have an undeclared and expensive medical issue. Sometimes they're just a bit ignorant and can't identify the issues their dog has.

Unfortunately when you rehome privately, you get absolutely no independent oversight, and are dealing directly with someone who has an incentive to lie. I adopted my dog privately, from a friend, and if I didn't know the dog before adopting I would have been in for an unpleasant series of surprises as friend & former owner was just oblivious to what was in front of his eyes - a reactive dog with resource guarding issues!

If you're anywhere near South Wales, the pair of dogs called Sam & Evie look fantastic and are specifically listed as being good with children, but according to the rescue haven't had any applications whatsoever. They look like a fantastic pair of dogs that happen to be unfashionable breeds! www.hoperescue.org.uk/dogs-for-adoption

You can't rehome for good reason. Rescue dogs and four year olds are unlikely to be a good mixture.

Please don't go and meet a random dog from the internet. They could be saying anything in that advert and you're potentially putting yourself and your child in danger by bringing an unknown dog home.

Wait until your child is a lot older and try again with rescues or a breeder.

I wouldn't go down that route. Advertisers can say anything and you have no comeback. Some individual breed rescue organisations rehome with young children on individual assessment so it might be worth looking at policies on websites.

"Doesn't get on with the other dog" could be code for "this dog is reactive to hell, will try and kill other dogs, we've tried shouting at him and walking him on a short lead, can't afford those behaviourist things, so we're selling him on a freelisting so he's someone else's problem". Definitely NOT something you want around a small child.

There's always a good reason rescues are cautious around small children. Yes they do get dogs who could go to an (experienced) home with young kids, but those dogs will have absolutely no issues being rehomed and get dozens of applications.

To be honest I would wait until your kid is 5-6 years and has started school, saw a lovely Greyhound on Dogs Trust this morning who could go with children 5 years and over who don't mind big dogs.

my dog is from this scenario except someone was giving him away on FB.

had him 9 year with no problem at all. They said it was because the woman was pregnant & the dog didn’t get on with the cat.

he has been an absolute dream. I know this isn’t always the case but it can work. It’s just a risk, could be great, might not be!

I always have rescue dogs but now I have a 5 year old DD I just can’t get any rescues to consider me. Even though my DD is completely animal savvy & has grown up with our dog without problem.

on Dogstrust you can do a search & choose ‘primary school children’ as one of the criteria so it is possible with some rescues. Although they do go quickly.

Go to a registered rehoming Centre. There is a valid reason this dog is being palmed off. If they have had the dog since 12 weeks old and now its 4 and suddenly does not get on with other dog that's a red light for me.

I wouldn’t touch this with a barge pole. So many stories of these kids getting bitten and seriously injured come from people buying adult dogs online.
if this owner truly cared about their dog and where it ends up they would be taking it to a proper rehoming charity not selling it to a stranger on the internet- that’s your first clue that something isn’t quite right.

We rescued two dogs when ds was a toddler. It was from a small rescue and they had previously lived with a family with children, lovely temperaments and no problem at all with ds. They were both much older dogs which was perfect for us.

We have adopted our dogs from the RSPCA and a local rehoming centre both times with very young children. There wasn't an instant match either time, but we waited until a suitable dog was available. Getting a dog is always a risk, but that risk is much less if a dog has been fully vetted/tested by the rescue. We also had several opportunities to meet and assess our dogs before deciding whether they were the right fit for us. Any responsible owner wouldn't be trying to sell their dog online in my opinion.

i wouldnt buy an adult dog in this way. Its a common way for people to try and offload dogs who have bitten, because theyre too chicken to do what needs to be done.

Not all rescues are anti young children. You might need to take longer though.

Your number one priority should be THE SAFETY OF YOUR CHILD. Not what some random person has told you about a dog you know nothing about, or that you want to get a dog. This dog sounds perfect because its owner is telling you what you want to hear and if you believe whatever shit this person tells you and that dog then harms your DC you will be heartbroken.

Rescues are very careful about which dogs they match with families with young DC for very good reasons. Don't put your DC at risk and don't believe what randoms off the internet tell you.

I would strongly recommend going for a puppy with a small child. You dont know anything about this dog. People will lie to get rid of it quickly (not everyone of course, but theres a chance). We had 2 family dogs tht we got a bit older from private and both had issues.
one dog was extremely aggressive against other male dogs. My mum actually had to tie him to lamp posts because she had no control. I have no idea how we managed to have this dog for 10 years with no major incident (apart from the very first time he attacked another dog, which was quite a shock to us all).
The sellers were praising him to the moon and back, they even organised their friends with female dogs to meet us on our trial walks to show us how good the dog is with others.
At least with a puppy you can get them used to the child from a young age. You dont want any surprises.

Absolutely do not take on a dog that you do not know the history of with a young child in the house.

There are dog-rehoming sites on facebook. It is worth joining a group as I see a variety of dogs from different rehoming shelters around the country advertising the dogs they have. I have seen some recently that can be rehomed with children. Shelters are seeing a record number of dogs being given up because of the cost of living rising and people's circumstances changing after they impulsively got a puppy during covid lockdowns. This might increase your chance of rehoming a child-compatible rescue dog.

4 yr old child in the house. 4yr old dog needing to be rehomed with absolutely no proof that it isnt a ball of teeth and anger. Holy crap, why dont you just leave a load of razor blades lying around your house, it would be safer. AND you want to pay for the privilege.

There are reasons rescue centres make it difficult for families with young kids to not get rehomed dogs. Do you really want to pay someone to have that kind of risk?

I cant get my head around anyone having to pay for a dog that needs to be rehomed. If people are worried about dog baiting then fair enough, a suitable donation to the local animal rescue but in my eyes if someone has purchased a puppy and decided it doesnt work they have absolutely zero rights to get any financial return for the dog. The amount of doodles that were purchased in lock down, cant look after them now and people want money to sell a dog they have failed. Screw that.