Anonymous wrote:I know the knee-jerk answer is “rescue!” but help me think this through:
Kids are 7 and 10, begging for a dog. I SAH but might be going back part time in a year or two. DH and I raised a puppy once early in our marriage and our dog ended up awesome. But that was 14 years ago and I didn’t have any kids then. Here are my thoughts in no real order:
Rescue is cheaper plus there are so many dogs who need homes
I’m worried about problems the rescue group leaves out or doesn’t mention (not interested in special needs dogs)
Many rescues are 6-8 years old, leaving a remaining life expectancy of 6-8 more years (we are looking at low-shed small dogs) - is that fair to the kids to not have the dog longer?
Puppies are more work but kids will get to experience “having a puppy”
We will get to have the puppy longer (this can be good and bad)
Thoughts? Be kind please!
We ended up with breeders after trying rescues.
Basically, not all rescues will make great fits with families. And some pounds won't let you even have a dog if your children are under such and such an age. A breeder we could meet the parents and get a sense for temperament and be matched a little better than rescue. And the dog grows up with the children.
It worked for us.