Question For People Involved In Re-homing

[KizzyKat]

I browsed various dog rescue sites recently and I noticed that 99% of the dogs looking for new homes appear to require homes with older children and no other pets. I just wondered if those of you involved in rehoming dogs (not just cockers) could tell me if you actually come across dogs that are suitable for re-homing to families with young children and other pets? Is it a case of most dogs would probably be fine but it's not worth taking the risk or the result of assessment?

Melanie

[Luvly]

 

[Laura]

a friend of mine has just got an 18 month old rescue dog.  She was turned down time and time again as she has 3 children - a baby aged 10 months and 2  of school age.  She finally found a rescue centre that would entertain her - and the rest is history.  He is gorgeous and has settled in just fantastic    

[Sass]

Six years ago we adopted two Labradors (brothers) from the RSPCA. At the time my children were 3 and 7. The RSPCA actually wanted them to go to a 'family' and were delighted when they had some young playmates
Please don't give up  
 

[padfoot]

Hi there,
My youngest child is 2 and I have a cat. I have four rescue dogs including two cocker spaniels  
Most rescues will rehome certain dogs with young children and other pets. I foster dogs and cats for rescues and all of my fosters have (obviously) been suitable to go to homes with young children (providing the new home realise the time and effort involved) and other animals.

Sometimes the reason dogs cannot be homed with under 5's is that no history is known. I have occasionally taken in these dogs under strict conditions if they have been briefly child-tested, as have a few other parents of young children, BUT only because we now have enough experience to manage the situation and make careful introductions.
The problem is, there aren't enough fosterers, and more specifically, when fosterer's are available, there aren't enough experienced fosters who have children. Rescues can't hand pound dogs to foster homes with kids unless they know the person very well and have proof of their experience. This sadly means that many rescue dogs will never be tested around young children.

The best option in your case is to get in touch with rescues who do have foster homes where young kids reside, or look for a puppy, rescue or otherwise. My cockers came to me at 6 mths and 15 weeks..it is very possible to find pups in rescue as so many people buy a pup without realising what a lot of work it is and it ends up at the local rescue centre.
Obviously there are drawbacks though..for instance you will never know much about the background of most rescue pups, so the health and adult temperament of the dog can only be guessed.

[Cob-Web]

My cockers came to me at 6 mths and 15 weeks..it is very possible to find pups in rescue as so many people buy a pup without realising what a lot of work it is and it ends up at the local rescue centre.
Obviously there are drawbacks though..for instance you will never know much about the background of most rescue pups, so the health and adult temperament of the dog can only be guessed.

I wish I had read this last year  

I was advised by a Cocker Spaniel Rescue representative that Cocker puppies are NEVER available through rescue, and she agreed that with a young child a puppy was the only route to take    

Oh well; you live and learn  

[PennyB]

It's not unheard of for pups to come into rescue (and to be honest if you look at the free ads a lot more would do but its obvious these owners woud rather get their money back rather than let them go for free with a rescue that homechecks).

I met a gorgeous 6 month old black cocker called Henry on a walk the other week who had just come into rescue as he had allegedly nipped a child. To be honest mother wasn't in the room at time and no mark on 3 year old at all. He was a lovely boy and now in a home where they would now have time for training him (which other home hadn't done), and to be honest he was better behaved than mine were!

Also cocker rescue don't take in every cocker so you'll find cockers needing homes from other rescues around Britain.

[Jane S]

Cocker Rescue do take in puppies - I know the Southern Co-Ordinator has re-homed one or two recently & know of other cases too, one last year was as young as 9 weeks! Penny is right though - owners who need to rehome a pup for whatever reason are often going to return their pup to the breeder (if reputable) or try to sell him/her if not to recoup some of their initial financial outlay.

Jane

[padfoot]

I (naively) hadn't thought about the money aspect. I must admit I've seen quite a few cockers of 6-12 months on free ad sites before   I suppose some of the people selling them must have genuine reasons and may look for suitable homes, but I worry about the others    

[Hel]

I (naively) hadn't thought about the money aspect. I must admit I've seen quite a few cockers of 6-12 months on free ad sites before   I suppose some of the people selling them must have genuine reasons and may look for suitable homes, but I worry about the others  

Around the September time, there are always loads of 14/15/16 week old cockers for sale in the free newspaper ads by their owners - presumably bought for their children during the summer holidays and unwanted/too difficult to cope with when everyone goes back to school and work   .

[Cob-Web]

I (naively) hadn't thought about the money aspect. I must admit I've seen quite a few cockers of 6-12 months on free ad sites before  I suppose some of the people selling them must have genuine reasons and may look for suitable homes, but I worry about the others 

Maybe, but I'm not so sure.....before I found COL I responded to a classified advert for a 8 month old cocker x King Charles, (£350) that her "loving owner" said she was reluctant to part with but a split relationship meant she had to go back to work full time.

I asked some questions, and got e-mailed a photo - the poor dog was the most sorrowful, skinny, sick little pup you could imagine, with sores and ribs visible   .

While I deperately wanted to rescue her, I knew that (at the moment) we could not offer her the kind of intensive support that she would need to recover from her ordeal - and I still feel sooo guilty  :: . I did forward the picture to the RSPCA but they indicated that there was very little that they could do  

[Paris69]

Also you see ads that say "dog needs to be re-homed as new baby on way",i have two young children and pets,i wouldn't dream of giving up my pets at any price.

[tiggerbabe]

Totally agree - anyone taking on a dog at any time should be well aware that it could be a 12-15yr (or even longer) committment.

If they are even thinking about having a family in the future - they should bear this in mind!    

[Luvly]

 

[Cob-Web]

Anyone who gives there dog up that easy cant be attached to it in the first place

I think there are cases where a genuine, unexpected change in circumstances leads to an agonising decision being made by the owners to give to dog up in the hope it will be rehomed to a more suitable environment    Debilitating illness of a family member often leads to the rehoming of a dog, as does redundancy followed by a 'new', less dog-friendly job   If a relationship breaks up where both parties had a responsibility for the dog, it is not always possible for one partner to manage, either    
There are also cases where the dog has been a five-minute novelty and once this has worn off, and the owners think it is totally acceptable for the pet to be given up for re-homing   I just wanted to point out that not all 'rehomings' are like this  ::

I was evicted from my flat several years ago, while caring for an ex-boyfriends Maine Coon cat on a semi-permanant basis. I was unable to take her with me to my new address (despite searching high and low for another landlord which allowed pets) and ex-b'friend couldn't house her so I had to take Scruff to the RSPCA  - I sobbed my heart out - and always wonder where she ended up