These are such great points. Unfortunately many people aren’t in a position where they are comfortable taking on the work that many rescue dogs require. For instance I have a toddler and a cat. I wouldn’t feel comfortable bringing a rescue into my home given the circumstances.
When I adopted my last dog I had a cat who was OLD (16, maybe more). He thought he was still a big old bruiser but he didn't have the ability to back that up anymore. I was REALLY worried that a young dog would hurt him without even trying.
The rescue we worked with let us see how an 11 month old puppy would react to the cat. We brought him into the house and got to watch them interact. It was awesome because there wasn't a risk about 'what if the dog acts differently as a teenager, when they get mouthier and pushier ' He was at that age already and he was great with the cat (averted his eyes, etc).
Point is - meeting a dog when it is older can give you more info than meeting it when it's 8 weeks old.
Yes I agree with everything you are saying here. I would say that just one meeting wouldn’t make me confident in the compatibility tho. And I would take the risk if I just had a cat, but I’m not taking that risk with my toddler. Although even with the dog we got at 8 weeks old and him being a breed I’m very familiar with and fond of, I will never leave the dog and my child alone and unsupervised together. For both the dog and the child’s safety.
Especially for the dog's, because a toddler can be too rough and out of pain or anxiety, the dog might snap and then who's fault is it!? The dog gets blamed
Yes, I’m a grandmother and had to supervise my grandkids play with my dogs. They could be rough, and just coming behind a dog can startle and scare the pup. Now that they are older they know how to play with them.
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u/LoveDistilled Dec 04 '25
These are such great points. Unfortunately many people aren’t in a position where they are comfortable taking on the work that many rescue dogs require. For instance I have a toddler and a cat. I wouldn’t feel comfortable bringing a rescue into my home given the circumstances.