# debating on a rescue dog/vs a puppy



## afchicky (Mar 27, 2013)

Hi, My family and I have decided on a Golden as our family companion, done research, are finacially stable, etc. We will be ready to get our forever friend in July/Aug timeframe. I am in KS, but am willing to travel and I have a house with a fenced yard and a vet lined up, no other pets except fish(but I have had dogs previously). I had been thinking puppy but now I am debating whether getting a rescue would be better? Has anyone had a bad experience with a rescue? which is what I am mostly worried about. I have 3 children, ages 12, 6 and 1, so the dog will have to be good with being loved on excessively by children. It will need to be healthy, because I want to jog with it and not too old as I don't want to lose it within a couple years. Is that too much to ask in a rescue or should I just shoot for a puppy? Suggestions/opinions please. Thanks!


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## MyBentley (May 5, 2009)

Rescues can come from a variety of backgrounds. The more you know its history and the more you know about the organization you're rescuing from, the better. But there will always be the element of the unknown. Personally, with three children and a one year old in the house, I'd be more inclined not to rescue - even though rescuing is a wonderful thing to do.

With a puppy there is all the obvious intense training time and nights with little sleep at the beginning, but it's also a very rewarding time. And if you find a breeder that does all the appropriate health clearances, there is good chance the dog will be able to jog with you. With a rescue, it may be a lot of behavioral issues to deal with - not all of them known to you when you initially bring it home.

I don't mean too sound too negative about rescues because many times it works out beautifully. It just seems that it may not be the best fit for how you describe your circumstances. I'm thinking back to when my daughter and her DH rescued a 1 1/2 yr. old border collie mix. It was a sweet girl and came from a farm home. But the behavioral issues they ended up having to deal with were enormous: separation anxiety and extreme jealousy once their baby arrived.

I hope other people will post their views also; because it's not an easy answer.


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## dogloverforlife (Feb 17, 2013)

I would be finding a Golden specific rescue that has Goldens in foster care. A foster parent can tell you all the quirks about the dog they are fostering.
Maybe even look for one who has kids. 
Just my 2 cents.  my plan for when I search for my first GR someday.
Sent from Petguide.com Free App


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## MyBentley (May 5, 2009)

Good suggestion dogloverforlife.


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## BajaOklahoma (Sep 27, 2009)

We got Banker as a puppy. Puppies are hard work - potty training, teaching manners (no biting) and obedience.

We are currently looking for a rescue. The bad news is you don't know their background, but the advantage is they have a variety of ages. The rescues in our area foster the dogs for a few months and then decide on the right family situation to fit the dog. So they know the dog. With a 1 year old child, you may be happier with an older dog (2 years or older), who has calmed down a little and is passed the nipping stage.

We have had three dogs for most of our married life, so my three kids have grown up with big dogs - both adults and puppies. And my dogs have always been house dogs, so I had to keep an eye on the kids and dogs to prevent accidents. I also believe that my kids had to learn how to treat the dogs from a very early age, which also helped prevent accidents.


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## GoldenMum (Mar 15, 2010)

I think either can be challenging with you kids. I agree that a Golden who has been fostered in a family environment is where I'd be looking. With the economy today, many wonderful dogs, with no issues end up in rescue. A puppy has quite a long Land Shark phase, which can be tough, especially with young children. I have 4, two were rescues, three I got as puppies......keep us posted!


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## ZeppGold (Aug 9, 2009)

Our three are all rescues. We adopted two of them when they were 7 months old and one was 18 months. We had the background on all of them. Two were given up because they had health issues that the owners could not deal with. They have all been wonderful dogs for our family. They are great around my almost 2 year old grandchildren. No dog is prefect, but puppies seem to be a lot of work with young children.


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## afchicky (Mar 27, 2013)

Thanks guys, I think I'll keep looking at both and hopefully find the right fit. The biggest problem I'm initially seeing with a rescue is a lot of the rescue places want to come see your home, which I have no issues with! But there isn't a lot of options for golden rescues in Kansas and as I go to websites I see that they only want to adopt out to local areas. I think I may have to travel to get a rescue, which I don't mind, but how would they do a home visit? I like the idea of skipping the land shark phase with my son so little, but if I get a puppy it will be exercised and taken to training as much as possible to help. My other dogs in the past I have gotten as puppies and they eventually get potty trained and start behaving haha, just like human kids


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## SheetsSM (Jan 17, 2008)

afchicky said:


> Thanks guys, I think I'll keep looking at both and hopefully find the right fit. The biggest problem I'm initially seeing with a rescue is a lot of the rescue places want to come see your home, which I have no issues with! But there isn't a lot of options for golden rescues in Kansas and as I go to websites I see that they only want to adopt out to local areas. I think I may have to travel to get a rescue, which I don't mind, but how would they do a home visit? I like the idea of skipping the land shark phase with my son so little, but if I get a puppy it will be exercised and taken to training as much as possible to help. My other dogs in the past I have gotten as puppies and they eventually get potty trained and start behaving haha, just like human kids


SGRR in Oklahoma does adopt out to Wichita families--there is a previous adopter in the Wichita area who does the home visits.

As for the puppy route--keep in mind golden puppies are like no other when it comes to mouthiness--spend a little time in the puppy forum.


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## smithfamily (Dec 17, 2012)

You might consider advertising (craigslist, etc). When we were looking to rescue we realized that there are a lot of owners out there who either have their own health issues or their family situation has changed (divorce, job change, moving, etc), but they don't want to take their dog to a shelter. They want to know where their dog is going and have some control over the situation. That's ultimately what worked for our family, our almost 11 y.o. GR is an owner surrender due to medical issues (for the owner not the dog). He was 6 y.o. when we got him and still had energy and wanted to play, but also had manners and was well trained. He is an AKC registered GR and although he didn't live with children, the owner's small grandchildren were often around and he was very used to them climbing on him and pulling his tail, etc. It was a great fit for us. We now have a puppy and I can tell you that there is no way I would get a puppy with small kids. Not only is a puppy a ton of work, with plenty of sleepless nights, but it takes a long time to train them to stop jumping and biting when they get excited, which would be really hard on the little ones. I would consider getting an older dog now (if you can find the right one) and then getting a puppy in a few years. Our older dog helped train our puppy (housebreaking, etc), it was the ideal situation! Good luck!


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## MyBentley (May 5, 2009)

SheetsSM said:


> SGRR in Oklahoma does adopt out to Wichita families--there is a previous adopter in the Wichita area who does the home visits.
> 
> As for the puppy route--keep in mind golden puppies are like no other when it comes to mouthiness--spend a little time in the puppy forum.


Bentley is my golden but I also have a 5 year old labrador retriever. Previously I've had shelties and Aussies. Individual differences always exist, but none of my puppies even approached the mouthiness of my lab when she was a puppy - plus it lasted longer also.

Anyway, suffice it to say, mouthiness is a stage for all puppies.


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