MASRescue is great. We rescued our dog from them although it may be a bit of a haul from the DC region. A closer option would be Pet Rescue Alliance. Honestly, puppies are so much work but yall do you.

Low-shed small dog? Are you going for a mini doodle, in other words?

Many organizations that rescue puppies are actually fronts for puppy mills. Further, they tend to spay/neuter too young which causes lasting problems for the poor animals. Some push pit mixes on unsuspecting families that are not prepared to manage a grown pit bull. This is based on three "adoptions" by friends/family.

We adopted a puppy from petfinder.com. The mother was rescued down south and a volunteer drove the litter to a location in the DC area. Someone already mentioned this in the tread. It took 3 months online to find a good fit, after researching breeds and knowing what mixes would work. Then there was only a 2-3 day window on petfinder for the paperwork adoption, but we are very happy with the new addition. Best of luck.

Most rescues have foster to adopt programs so you can make sure the dog is a good fit. There are tons of dogs under a year, check out City Dogs rescue

OP, I was like you a couple of years ago, except my child was a bit younger (almost 6). I really wanted a low-to-non-shedding, small dog. We got a puppy from a breeder. Long story short, after a few months of training and living with the dog, we had to return it to the breeder because it was resource guarding (food). A well respected trainer who owns a very well known training facility in the area advised us that it was dangerous to keep the puppy in a house with children because a bite on the face was a real possibility.

Fast forward, we went to a shelter looking for just a friendly dog after that nightmare. Temperament was our only criteria. Got the best medium sized 6-month-old hound mix who loves everyone and everything. I have found that a special brush called the Furminator does wonders with keeping shedding down.

After our situation, we will never get a puppy again. Like people, they are born with their personalities. Going to a shelter and finding a young, special dog is a great option. Unless the shedding thing is a huge hangup for you, you might find a treasure of a family dog at a shelter. Good luck with your search!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Can't you get a rescue puppy?

These people rescue puppies and pregnant dogs from high kill shelters. They always have TONS of puppies and adoption events every weekend. I got our pitbull mix puppy from them (she was 8 weeks) AND a low shed poodle mix (sooo cute at 12 weeks). I wanted a low shed mix but had to wait like 4 month until they had one. Then I had to go to their adoption event at the crack of dawn to make sure I was first so I had first pick. My neighbor got pre registered by them and stalked their facebook page for 6 months and finally found a low shed mix (airedale Terrier).

The fact that you had to get there at the crack of dawn suggest that PP was right that there is not an excess of kid-friendly small non-shedding dogs available through rescue. Young friendly dogs get adopted easily.

Anonymous wrote:There aren't really that many dogs that need homes. Shelters and rescues are importing dogs from all over the country because there aren't enough dogs to meet the demand here.

It's not easy to get a puppy from a breeder, but that's the route I'd go if I was picky about what type of dog to get. We got a rescue puppy last year but we'll get out next puppy from a breeder.

And you run the risk of getting a pit bull breed or mix.

Not worth it.

I would look at breeders so you at least know what you are getting.

Good luck getting a small non shedding dog from a rescue with a 7 year old in your house. We tried to get a dog from a rescue but the requirements were ridiculous. We did not want any dog that any pitbull mix and some rescues didn't like that we were so adamant about that. I think they now tend not to disclose some dogs are part pitbull because they get adopted out faster. We didn't want a chihuahua or a hound dog. Around this area more and more people are neutering their dogs so there just aren't a lot of puppies at shelters. Irresponsible people own pitbulls and don't neuter them so that is why there are so many pitbull puppies available.

So we ended up getting a small, non shedding puppy from a breeder. Why shouldn't we get to pick what breed works best for our family?

OP here. I’ve been checking petfinder every week or two for several months now, as well as a few breed rescue groups. I haven’t seen any younger than 6 that didn’t have serious health or adjustment problems. The small non shedding dogs are few and far between. If I wanted a lab mix it would be no problem. I will keep looking, thanks.

If you're in the area, try Lucky Dog or City Dogs.

We adopted our lab mix from Lucky Dog. He'd lived with a foster for about a month. She was able to tell us so much about his temperament, how he was with kids, what he liked to do, etc. It was great. The rescue itself interviewed us and did a home check; they wanted to make sure this was a good fit on both ends.


Our awesome dog was about a year when we got him. He's a medium shedder. He was completely housebroken (but few rescues will ever "advertise" that because it is possible that a dog will have some accidents when they're adopted to a new place). And they were right -- his leash manners were awful! But we fixed those.

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!

I don't know where you get this idea. I have rescued several dogs, all 2-3 years old. They have lived long and healthy lives.

There is no way I could deal with a puppy at this point in my life. Why go there, if you can adopt a healthy 2yo that is already housebroken and civilized?

Petfinder.com let's you look specifically by breed, age, gender, house trained, child friendly, location, etc. It's a great way to find exactly what you want but still support rescues rather than puppy mills. I adopted the sweetest Cavalier King Charles Spaniel years ago and have never regretted my decision.

It's not true that REAL rescues leave out details about a dog's special needs. They are the most motivated to find exactly the right home for that particular dog so that it doesn't re-enter rescue if there's an issue. My dog was in rescue for 9 months before we adopted him, with multiple adoptions falling through or being turned down by the rescue. He had very specific needs. Also, there are plenty of rescues that are young. Ours was 4, but also that's part of the proper placement. You want a younger dog. So you search and WAIT for that right combination to come along. Don't take the easy way out with a breeder.

Rescues really want the adoption to be a permanent success and are all about disclosure. They don’t want the dog back so will make sure it’s a good fit.