hi
we have been looking into getting a dog to join our family
we started off looking at puppies but then decided we would like to offer a dog in rescue a new home.
the problem we are coming across is the fact we have 3 children age 14, 7 and 4.
most of the places we have looked at say they will not re home a dog with small children.
while i understand the reasons behind this it is a little frustrating knowing we have the right family for a dog to be part of and knowing there are all these dogs wanting a forever home.

I suppose we will keep looking for a dog that has a history and hopefully the right dog for us will come along

wish us luck in our search x

i suppose if you think about it from a rescues point of view they wouldnt want to rehome a dog they know little if anything at all about with small children ,its a very big risk
while i suppose a lot of the dogs would be ok ,a small percent wouldnt .
and the risk is deciding which wouldnt nobody can tell.

There's sometimes dogs in rescue that have a known history - not common but if you keep looking you'll find the right one.

How about this wee girl? Apparently she's good with children.

http://www.rainrescue.org.uk/?page_id=1605

I've met her - she's a lovely sweet dog bless her.

Or this one? Apparently been good with kids he's met, and is only 8 months so young enough to learn:

http://www.rainrescue.org.uk/?page_id=1610

i know of a german shepherd pup needing a home, not a very young pup but a pup all the samex

thanks but i was looking for something a bit smaller than a gs

I would phone The Mayflower - or go over and visit during their visiting hours
They are a nice small rescue - I don't know what their ages are that they rehome to, but they may have something suitable

Whilst we have sometimes rehomed dogs into families with children under 8 - we normally rehome above - this is for a number of reasons.

We don't have anything at the moment, that would be ok to be rehomed with a 4 year old - Bessy may be - but she is still under assessment. I know she has lived with a family - but not your family - if you know what i mean. Some dogs are fine with their own children they know - but not necessarily with others.

Whilst its great for us to find homes for these dogs, we want it to be for the best for all concerned. We try our hardest to ensure the dogs are never up for rehoming again - and also that no person gets hurt by a new dog coming in. Believe me - its not easy to do and in this world of litigation that is society today - rescues try their hardest to do all they can to not get sued.

If only more homes would offer to foster dogs - so that we can try them out better in different situations- but sadly - people don't very often offer. Why not find a friend who would become a fosterer who doesn't have children? That would probably be a big help.
Keep trying - don't rush - the right one will come along.

thankyou
yes its not something i want to rush into, like you said it important for my family aswell as the dog to get it right first time.

i encountered the same problem, i have young children who were used to being around our japanese akita, when we had to have our dog pts we looked around the rescues and saw a small king charles at the rspca which they said had to be rehomed with children 10 or above despite the fact that it was the softest dog in the world, in the end we gave up and bought a dog privately as it looked extremely unlikely that we could have one from rescue

http://www.secondchancerescuekennels.co.uk/

What about trying this one?

They have some smaller breeds in.

you could also try the breed rescues (is there still a link list on rainrescue?)

often they have dogs listed for rehoming who are still with their original owners so have a known history

Are your kids experienced with dogs btw? do they all know the 'don'ts' of how to treat a dog?

CONGRATULATIONS :) Its lovely first of all to see someone posting about getting a pet before getting one! and secondly someone considering a rescue dog. You've made my day. If you have a particular breed in mind you could register with the breed rescue's as that'll give you a good chance of re-homing an animal with known history. But don't give up on the rescue centre's they all work differently and if the right dog comes along they may consider you. Or try Dogpages as there is a section for private homings FULL of dogs suitable to live with small children ect.

All the best in your search and I promice you once a rescue, always a rescue :)

Try breed rescues - some have more fosters than "regular" pounds and rescues, although loads won't entertain children under 8. Why an 8 year old behaves better than a 7 year old is beyond me.
Try taking a rescue for a walk, you could start introductions off in the view of the kennel staff and increase the interaction time for the rest of the school holidays.

I've just homechecked and approved a fosterer with a 3 year old.

I really don't like the blanket 'we don't home to families with children under 5/7/8' rules, partly because that implies that a child over that age limit is automatically fine with a dog (when really it's not about age, it's about behaviour) and partly because there's absolutely nothing to say that a couple without children aren't going to have a baby 9 months after adopting the dog anyway.

Although the charities I work for do have rules on children, they do tend to take the more sensible approach of looking at the individual circumstances rather than just putting a number on it all.

Obviously with working with GSDs there is an issue with big and powerful dogs with small children, but most of it has really very little to do with the size of dog or the children themselves and lots to do with the adults in the family and how they approach everything.

Putting an age on when a child is ready for anything has always been a difficult issue (just look at the debate on the parenting group about whether children are ready for school aged 4) and I agree that there are children who are really carefully parented with regard to animals and who are ready much earlier than the average, just as there are 8 or 9 year olds that aren't suitable to be in control of a cuddly toy, let alone a real live animal.

My advice would be to start with making sure that your children really are ready- visit people with dogs, go out for walks with them, see how your children react and talk to them about why we act as we do around the animals.

Once you're sure about that then there are lots of smaller charities which have flexible policies based around much more than simple ages, and in the current financial climate I think that many of them will at least discuss things with you and consider your family, not just rule adoption out automatically on age.

And yes, thank you for considering a rescue pup :)

my kids are real animal lovers always have been.
what started us thinking about getting a dog was about 4 months ago we found a staffy running around with no collar, the kids were at school so i brought her home and contacted the rspca. they asked if we could keep her until her owners were found.
she was adorable and great with the kids (always under close supervision never left the kids and the dog alone)
we had her for almost 2 weeks before the owner collected her and the kids were heartbroken to see her go.
ever since they have been asking about getting a dog, i thought it may be a fad but they are still asking when, we have sat them down and spoke about the does and donts and the pros and cons.
I will contact a few rescues and see what their opinions are and maybe they could keep us informed if a dog they think would be suitable comes in