I think my little family are finally ready to get a puppy to add to our family. Im thinking I want to go through a rescue but still get a puppy as my daughter is autistic and can sometimes struggle with boundaries so feel it will be better to adapt with a puppy than an older dog. I just don’t know how to go about it, I’m not wanting to get it right now, but rather towards the end of the year as I’ll be changing areas at work and my hours will be easier to manage with a puppy. I’m just not sure the process to go about it from here. Do rescues allow you to pop your name down for later on in the year or will I just have to go off what’s available when the times right? Does anyone have any tips or advice please.
11 Replies
It's your decision entirely of course but I actually feel like an older dog or at least a dog that's out of the puppy stage may actually be more tolerant.
Puppies can be nippy and a bit rough!
I also think you need to think about breed as well, for example, my aunts little malteese shitzu has absolutely no tolerance for children but people tend to automatically assume little dogs are good with kids. Look for a breed that tends to have a more relaxed temperament, staffies for example are often demonised but can make awesome family pets!
I guess my best advice is do your research and plan ahead. Good luck 🙂
Little dogs are the spawn of Satan
😂mine certainly is. Hes such a tiny little jerk.
Big dogs are much harder work. They can be really stressful. Little dogs are more like having cats, it’s very different.
That's why I have medium sized dogs lol.
Start watching the rescue pages in Facebook so you get an idea of what’s for adoption and how much they ask and what restrictions they place on it (it’s pretty tough). RSPCA website has a search function too. I would say start looking but just looking had me with a dog by the end of the week, so be careful , it probably is too early and you don’t need to do anything until you’re actually ready.
Puppies come with lots of chewing and biting. So if you don’t think that’s something your child can tolerate I’d go for an older dog, tested with children.
Look for a rescue that does temperament testing and allows you to do a trial period.
Wait for the right dog. That dog may not look like anything you thought it would, and may be any age.
All dogs need to supervised around kids though and it’s good to have a dog safe zone. As an adult I need a break from people sometimes and dogs need one too! My dogs safe space is his crate.
Different rescues will have different processes.
I think if you want to get a puppy, skip the rescue idea and research breeds that are tolerant and great family pets and then find a reputable breeder.
But if you go with the rescue idea, get a adult dog who has been temperament tested.
You usually can get pre approved with a rescue and tell them what you're looking for and they will contact you when one suits. That's how it works with ours anyway.
My biggest regret was getting a puppy.
It’s honestly worse than having a newborn.
They whine. They bite. They piss and shit everywhere.
If I could do it again, I 100% would adopt an older dog that has already been ‘broken in’.
There’s nothing worse than getting your children their first puppy but they get traumatised by it because they get attacked when it’s ‘playing’. Puppies aren’t gentle.
So if your daughter has autism, could she cope with all of that?
An older dog out of the feral puppy stage, may suit her a million times better than a puppy.
The problem getting an older dog is you don’t know the dogs past, training, why it was given up. We had a boxer when our kids were little and they’d crawl all over this dog, pull in it’s lips and she was only ever gentle. She would also stand between my kids and other people protecting them.
Friends had a staffy and it was not a dog I ever trusted around my kids.
Don’t generalize small dog verse big dog as it’s a breed and a temperament not a size thing.
Yeah chihuahua is nippy and not a kids dog, but a dachshund is totally different natured dog and great with kids. Maybe a poodle cross Labrador.
Really do the research on breeders too as some are just awful and some are great.