With a rescue dog at lest you can meet the dog and make some sort of judgement on temperament before you adopt. With breeders you just get a puppy and who knows how they will turn our. We adopted a super sweet 8 month old rescue from lost dog / lost cat and her personality won us over right away. She was friendly, non-aggressive, great around other dogs and with our young kids. Sure a pure bred puppy might have been those things as well but you never know.

Our criteria was:
1. No pit bulls
2. Allergy-friendly
3. Puppy or at least young so we could do the training

All the dogs in surrounding shelters were adult pits, so we went the breeder route. No regrets.

I was pretty open when I started searching, but realized really fast that I wasn't going to get a shelter dog because they're mostly pitbulls, German shepherds, and cattle dogs who all have high energy needs. I couldn't get one through a rescue because I live in an apartment instead of a house with a fenced yard. That left purebred.

I researched breeds that had the characteristics I'm looking for in terms of size, energy, good with kids etc and narrowed down to two based on cost and availability (I didn't want anything that wasn't in driving distance, no backyard breeders or puppy mills.) I really didn't want a puppy because I don't know how to train them, nor do I have time, so I started emailing breeders to ask if they happened to have an adult who was retiring soon. That's how I got my dog!

We chose pure bred. English Lab. He’s very sweet.

Rescues can be difficult to work with and may not be willing to adopt to a family with kids. When we were looking for a golden retriever, we were told by one that they wouldn’t adopt any dog to a family with kids under age 6. Our youngest was five. Another would only adopt to a family where one adult could take a six week leave of absence to be home with the dog. We ended up going with a breeder and got an amazing puppy who grew up to be an amazing dog.

The reason that shelters are filled with pit bulls, huskies, GSD and chihuahuas is that the rescues swoop in and grab all the more adoptable dogs.
The rescues can charge much higher adoption fees and seek out the purebred dogs. This does give the shelters more space for less adoptable dogs but it makes it harder for families willing to take a rescue dog.

Rescues also don’t put all their dogs up on petfinder because they do matching and will call people on their list. This can sometimes work great but not always. I had a friend who was constantly being pressured to take dogs that she really didn’t want and made to feel guilty about it.

Anonymous wrote:We ended up with a purebred because my husband had very specific breed characteristics he was looking for (Big, lazy, not drooling). We felt that we really need an a low energy dog to be able to deal with our very hectic lives.

Also, with everyone adopting a pandemic dog/puppy, the majority of the dogs in shelters right now are pitbulls and pit bull crosses. I don’t think that’s a workable breed for our family.

I was all for shelter dog, but in the end my husband went out because I am not up for a pitbull.

you preferably described a rescue greyhound

We were looking at purebreds but ultimately got a rescue puppy this summer. We wanted to get a puppy before work from home ended for us and all the breeders with available dogs were giving serious puppy mill/backyard breeder vibes. I would rather have a healthy mutt than an inbred purebred with issues. We would've probably gotten a purebred if we had felt better about the breeders with availability. For the record, she is 9% pit bull per the DNA test. You can't see it in her at all.

If you're looking at adult rescue dogs, make sure you understand what their issues are. There are some perfectly behaved dogs with no reactivity/aggression/etc that are victims of circumstance, but generally there is some reason they are being rehomed. For example, a friend recently adopted a 2 year old shepherd mix who is a nice dog, but they had to work through a lot of reactivity issues. She is still unpredictable around strangers and will growl and bark at people who are larger than average, or are male, or are wearing a hat, etc. Basically, in might be easier for you in the long term to get a puppy (rescue or purebred) that is a blank slate for you to socialize and raise in your family. It's a lot of work upfront but you aren't working against an unknown upbringing that can cause long term issues.

I have 2 awesome rescue dogs so I am all for rescues - our first one was a foster so we knew he'd be a perfect fit for our home already, and had a chance to see his personality and energy level. It was so great to have him already be potty trained and know most basic commands. The second one we got as a puppy from a pregnant rescue, and she also turned out amazing, but of course it was all the work of any puppy at the beginning.

Also keep in mind that just because you go to a breeder doesn't mean the dog will be how you think it will be - I know quite a few people whose dogs have some major behavioral issues, despite them thinking they'd get this amazing personality and healthy dog from a breeder.

Anonymous wrote:We ended up with a purebred because my husband had very specific breed characteristics he was looking for (Big, lazy, not drooling). We felt that we really need an a low energy dog to be able to deal with our very hectic lives.

Also, with everyone adopting a pandemic dog/puppy, the majority of the dogs in shelters right now are pitbulls and pit bull crosses. I don’t think that’s a workable breed for our family.

I was all for shelter dog, but in the end my husband went out because I am not up for a pitbull.

+1, which is how we ended up with a purebreed this time around. We tried adopting a "lab mix" from the shelter and he really looked like a lab. Weeks later...he looked much more like a pit, something the vet confirmed.

If you go the purebred route, make sure you find a very high quality breeder. My xH purchased one from a backyard breeder (I know, I know, he wanted one in time for Christmas) and she ended up having multiple problems. Unfortunately, good breeders often have a 2-3 year waitlist.

For a rescue, don’t look at the dogs beforehand because you’ll pick the “cute” one and not the one that fits your family best. Find a rescue with an actual behaviorist on staff (as in, with actual credentials), explain your lifestyle and what you are looking for, and let them come up with a few options. I’ve seen so many rescues adopt out dogs to inappropriate homes, like a couple I know who are elderly and have been hospitalized for severe falls had a rescue convince them to adopt a very energetic and aggressive 1 year old male dog that they couldn’t even walk.

PP again - I should add that friends have adopted some great dogs recently, they are just harder to find. Usually it’s either someone who is fostering dogs and adopts one, or friends of a foster parent.

We ended up with a purebred because my husband had very specific breed characteristics he was looking for (Big, lazy, not drooling). We felt that we really need an a low energy dog to be able to deal with our very hectic lives.

Also, with everyone adopting a pandemic dog/puppy, the majority of the dogs in shelters right now are pitbulls and pit bull crosses. I don’t think that’s a workable breed for our family.

I was all for shelter dog, but in the end my husband went out because I am not up for a pitbull.

We are rescue people for many reasons, including that many amazing dogs needs homes and we feel goood about saving a life; it’s cheaper than buying a dog; there are lots of bad breeders out there; just because you get a purebred doesn’t mean it will grow into being a good family dog. I’d recommend going to a dog adoption fair and start meeting rescue dogs, or puppies, and see if you can find a good fit that way. I’d think I’d only go the purebred route if there were allergies, etc that came into play.

1) You can get a rescue puppy, so it the subject question isn't the same as your question in the post
2) Fostering is a good way to try out what might work well for your family
3) It doesn't matter what the kids want unless they are old enough to do all of the work, and house training is only the first part of it (and house training involves getting up every 2-3 hours over night for at least a month)

How did you decide?

Kids want a puppy but I have to say, I like the idea of adopting an older dog who is already house trained.