Thinking of adopting

so me and hubby have been talking about adopting another dog into our home being able to give another poor dog a loving forever home... but i really dont know where to start...

ive read that they would need seprate sleeping areas and seprate feeding dishes but thats all i know... but also what worries me is that a lot of dog either dong like other dogs or are not allowed to be with younger (under children but i have 4 children between the ages of 2 and 9 i have another dog already who is also still a pup in himself and i also have cats and a parrot so i do have a busy household... my hubby is the one who is at home except for the school runs and maybe popping into town to go and pay bills... althought i feel we would be a good placement for a dog to give them a forever home i just know that having a very "active/busy/loud" family that we might not be considered...

i keep looking at the boards and althought there are some lovely dogs there that do need forever homes firstly as i said before we dont match there "crteria" and secondly there just so far away for us (we dont drive either)

anyone got any suggestions???

Breed specific rescues can be less rigid. What type of dog are you looking for?

Preferably something a bit older as we already have apup and i know a lot of people go after puppies as there cute and tiny but dont realise the upkeep and traning... i think we would preferably go with an older dog but still with a bit of life in it so maybe about 3-4 years old again im only going on assumpitons... and a family dog so i would guess as i have herd SBT are family orientated that they can be quite good with familys...

what are your thoughts on this and if im honest i need all the help i can get so any questions would be welcome

SBTs are fabulous family dogs and there are hundreds in rescue to choose from so you should be able to find one that meets your requirements. Have you thought of rehoming privately, or would you prefer to deal with an actual rescue organisation? SBTs have lots of breed specific organisations that should be able to advise you. One of the members on here works for a Staffie rescue in Scotland. What area are you in?

this is where im not sure... i dont know what would be best... and i live in the Cambridgeshire area which is quite aways from Scotland... so as i said before getting to places is quite difficult...

oh don't worry, there are lots of Staffie rescues all over the country. I guess the advantage with going through a rescue is that (hopefully) the dog will have been assessed by a behaviourist before rehoming, or will have lived in a foster home so the rescue have a good idea of the dog's likes and dislikes etc. If you rehome privately you may be lied to, but then again you may just find a gem.

How old is the dog you have already? How do you think he/she will take to another dog in the house?

have you tried wood green?

and i guess this is what im worried about as i dont want to bring a dog home and to find it is aggressive then have to take it back to a rescue center... i dont know what else to do

My pup is only 10 months which is why we said eventually we just want to know where to start really... he is a beagle as said in original post but also when were out for walks he seems to be friendly with other dogs and wants to play hes friendly with the kids but as he is a puppy he can get himself over excited... but this is not a problem...

we have had (in the past) friends work in wood green and they have told us that they just say anything that there good with familys and such to so that the dog will go... how true this is NOW we dont know and i guess this is what is scaring us in to rehoming from wood green...

also the "deposit" price im not saying we struggle with our money as that makes us sound like we cant afford to look after our children or animals but we havent (who has) got £100+ to just give to a rescue shelter as a "donation" again this is what put us off going down the rescue route... again more money that could go onto buying to "adopted" dog things that he/she needs instead of going into the rescue and i understand that the shelter need the money aswell for feeding other dogs and keeping them warm

now i just sound like a boring old woman...

sounds like malicious gossip to me.

if anything ive heard they are too strict.

they have lots of behaviourists on staff as well