Older children taking the Staffy for a walk !!

Hello Everyone

My daughter is 11 1/2 years and she often walks Tilly when I'm busy or away , more often at the moment as my wife has a pot on her leg , yet I have been accused of being irresponsible by someone that doesn't know me , live near me , know my daughter or my Tilly. When she walks her it's always on the lead , never off the beaten track for her safety and Tilly's safety , never far from home , in fact everything her friends do with their family dogs because they all love their dogs and want to earn their pocket money !!! I'm even looking for a local obedience class where she can take Tilly to learn more about good handling .
Does that make me a bad dog owner , irresponsible parent ?? Please give me your honest comments as I am now really questioning my abilities as an animal lover and a parent

No to the bad dog owner and No to the irresponsible parent! .. you are teaching your daughter how to act and handle dogs and tilly is obviously quite happy been walked by your daughter.
The only thing id ever worry about would be that if someone was to come up and want tilly, your daughter wont really stand a chance of keeping them from getting her, BUT if you say she is with other people i dont see a problem :S.

I don't have kids but imo not all! Whats the harm, the only thing I would be worried about is if another dog attacked yours and would she be able to cope. But nowa days I can't tell ages apart anyway!! Xx

I agree with you not being either an irresponisble owner or a bd parent. I think I would have concerns over her being able to cope if a dog attacked Tilly. But this is only because I myself was wondering what I would do if a much larger dog attacked my dog whilst out. This is only because there are so many dogs left here to wander the street so there would be no owner to call the dog away. You know your area though, the dogs around and the places where your daughter is allowed to walk Tilly. So I would say if you are happy for your daughter to walk Tilly then keep doing so, nobody else should have a say in the matter! Just ignore what others say, if they have no idea of the circumstances in which you allow your daughter to walk Tilly then they have no right to judge you.

staffy-lover89 wrote:No to the bad dog owner and No to the irresponsible parent! .. you are teaching your daughter how to act and handle dogs and tilly is obviously quite happy been walked by your daughter.
The only thing id ever worry about would be that if someone was to come up and want tilly, your daughter wont really stand a chance of keeping them from getting her, BUT if you say she is with other people i dont see a problem :S.

I agree the only thing that would worry me if someone wanted to take Tilly but apart from that no problems

I wouldnt say you were irresponsible, or a bad parent, but i would say my only comment on the matter is that although your dog is well behaved and your daughter knows what shes doing, if she came across another dog and or there owner and either a. the dog wasnt on the lead and decided it didnt like your dog or b. was dog aggressive and decided to attack your dog although it maybe the other dog or owners fault, but if your daughter didnt fully know how to react the situation could become worse than it may have done with you walking it or you may find your dog feels the need to protect your daughter and fight back.

just my thoughts on the matter, i wouldnt personally stop your daughter from walking the dog.

haddy wrote:I wouldnt say you were irresponsible, or a bad parent, but i would say my only comment on the matter is that although your dog is well behaved and your daughter knows what shes doing, if she came across another dog and or there owner and either a. the dog wasnt on the lead and decided it didnt like your dog or b. was dog aggressive and decided to attack your dog although it maybe the other dog or owners fault, but if your daughter didnt fully know how to react the situation could become worse than it may have done with you walking it or you may find your dog feels the need to protect your daughter and fight back.

just my thoughts on the matter, i wouldnt personally stop your daughter from walking the dog.

I'm thinking the same. Tbh the above is what I fear when I walk my dog and I'm a grown up! My eldest is almost 8 and in my opinion too young and no where near mature enough. Ultimately you know your daughter and your dog best

I don't see anything wrong with it. You are just allowing her to become a responsible handler.

i agree with the rest, my other half is the same on her days off she likes to take alf out for a walk while im in work, but all i worry about is another dog going for alf beacause when another dog goes for him while he is on the lead all he wants to do is get out of there, she never takes him off the lead where as i only put him on if there is someone he is going to run and make a fuss of, or when we get to the main road to get to our house, ok she is a 3rd dan black belt in tae kwon do, but when it comes to any other dog apart from alf big or small she is terrified of them,

I think people worry too much, is it because its a staffy that they think it is irrasponsible? or just any dog? because I was walking my dogs alone around the neighbourhood when I was 10 years old and perhaps under I cant remember but i just know I got a dog for my 10th bday (not a staffy though)

so yes, I think it is just fine to have an older child walk your dog! if you're worried about dog attacks etc, just give your daughter an idea of how you would like her to deal with it incase it does occur.

my childhood would have been boring and sad had I not been allowed to walk my dogs, my dogs and the neighbourhood dogs were all my best friends!!! (now that sounds a little sad) haha

I am in a very similar situation to you also, and I would agree with all the above comments......NO you are NOT an irresponsible dog owner or parent.
You know your dogs personality/behaviours better than anybody, and as a parent you know your daughter better than anybody too.

My Roxy is an extremely friendly girl (aged 9months) and does not have a nasty bone in her body and I have NO problems allowing my daughters take her out for walks. They know they are not allowed to let her off-lead ( her recall is needing work )
My only issue is allowing my yougest (age 12) to take her walking by herself. NOT because of RoXy........but in case there are other dogs off lead who are not quite as friendly. She would have no idea what to do if anything was to become "un-friendly" with another dog and because she is not the biggest of girls, she would'nt have the strength to do a lot. In short......my Daughter would "freak out" if there was a dog or person who was un-friendly. This is my concern........other dogs and dog owners, which is a shame because she would REALLY like to take RoXy out for a walk around the neighbourhood by herself .

YOU are the one who knows YOUR dog and YOUR daughter.....not the person who thinks they have the right to give you a hard time and label you Irresponsible. YOU are the one who knows if your daughter is capable in certain situations, so in my opinion if you know your daughter is capable and you know Tilly is friendly and well behaved then why should'nt they be able to walk together. It's the other Irresponsible folk out there that you need to be worried about.

Sorry if this appears to be a ramble.....i've just typed as I went.

I agree with the comments above, even I have fears when walking mine on my own due to other dogs behaviour.
I don't have kids but I remember allowing my friends son to walk Kita around the block where they lived as I knew exactly what she was like on lead, the area they were going and most of the neighbours knew her anyway. I wouldn't allow a minor to walk Izzy as she is a totally different dog in her behaviour (she pulls on the lead and is a lot more energetic than Kita ever was).
As Lisa said: you are the one who knows your dog etc, so do what your feel is right for you and your family.

Uh-oh. I'm gonna disagree here. I don't think you are an irresponsible parent or owner, but I personally would not allow an 11 year old to walk my dog on their own. Many things can go wrong, as pointed out by others, dog attack, idiots wanting to take the dog etc, and an 11 year old is not mature enough or strong enough to deal with any of that. If you want your daughter to become a good dog handler, i'd show her how its done by going out with them. But, as has already been said, you know your dog and your daughter better than anyone and I am not in any way knocking you as a parent or owner.

I agree and wouldnt say you were irresponsible, or a bad parent, but i would say my only comment on the matter is that although your dog is well behaved and your daughter knows what shes doing, please keep in mind if there was any kind of an incident then under English dog law.....

Animal Welfare Act 2006
Duty of Care (s9)
You commit an offence if you don't take 'such steps as are reasonable in all the circumstances to ensure that the needs of an animal' for which you are responsible' are met to the extent required by good practice. You are responsible for an animal if you are the owner, in charge of it, a parent or guardian of someone under 16 who is responsible for it.

So thanks to everyone for your constructive comments , they are all basically around what I thought myself already and may I make a few points clear.
1) We never have loose dogs walking the streets around my estate / area and this is as far as my daughter is ever allowed to go with her, so as long as Tilly is on a lead she is never really exposed to dog attack and as everybody says she wouldn't be able to deal with it effectively so this is why I assess her walking routes, she knows which dogs are friendly so they can have an "on the lead kiss and sniff" and which ones aren't so can be avoided.
2) As far as people wanting to take Tilly then again this is the reason we have the rules as in 1) and to be honest as an extra bonus all the youths in my area know exactly who she is and who her "respected" big brother is so it is unlikely she would ever have any trouble apart from maybe out of towners, and in those situations if there were a few of them and only 1 of me then I'm not sure I could do that much about it myself , but it would not be for the want of trying :-)
3) She is a very mature and level headed girl and not what I would call petite, Tilly is only a diddy little Staffy, though still powerful I am quite happy my little girl has enough strength to pull her back in a situation.
4) We spend many hours walking Tilly off lead together and she is always picking up the tricks, when I have to and we are together Tilly goes on lead and I educate her in the best approach, though with my comment about obedience training I want to develop their relationship further so when she is older and more confident she can do the further afield off the lead walks that Tilly loves so much , for the moment these will be on lead and extender with her mum when her foot gets better.

*** This all came about when I spoke to someone that runs a Breed Rescue as I wanted to make enquiries about a rescue playmate for Tilly. I don't know if I caught them on a bad day but when I filled them in on the background as in my wife is a childminder and my daughter shares the dog walks (BTW she would NEVER walk 2 dogs together) I was told

A) Never ever have 2 staffords together when you have children !
B) Never have 2 dogs together (we already knew this one) - they will kill each other
C) Never have 2 bitches together - they will kill each other
D) Never go out and leave 2 staffys together - they will kill each other
E) My wife should not be allowed to have a Staffy and be a Childmminder ( I think she might think this is a rule in their area but certainly not mine ?
F) How will the parents react to the Staffy - they already know as the most of the kids came after Tilly and the ones that didn't were the reason we got her in the first place as they own Tilly's best buddy ! and if future parents object - thn they know where the door is.
G) Finally the irresponsibility of the daughter comment.

I was absolutely gobsmacked and if I didn't know this person was a Staffy Lover?? then I would swear I had one of the Staffy Ignorant people on the other end of the phone. Consequently we are having serious 2nd thought about looking for a rescue which means another lovable dog without a home , hence all my questions


Sorry about the rant and the really long post but I just appreciate other peoples opinions and you need to know the facts !

volsung wrote:I agree and wouldnt say you were irresponsible, or a bad parent, but i would say my only comment on the matter is that although your dog is well behaved and your daughter knows what shes doing, please keep in mind if there was any kind of an incident then under English dog law.....

Animal Welfare Act 2006
Duty of Care (s9)
You commit an offence if you don't take 'such steps as are reasonable in all the circumstances to ensure that the needs of an animal' for which you are responsible' are met to the extent required by good practice. You are responsible for an animal if you are the owner, in charge of it, a parent or guardian of someone under 16 who is responsible for it.

Fair comment , but what's the solution , does this mean anyone under the age of 16 that has a dog that is anything other than a chiquaua (is that spelt right) with its teeth removed should not be allowed to walk their family dog

davemck3834 wrote:Fair comment , but what's the solution , does this mean anyone under the age of 16 that has a dog that is anything other than a chiquaua (is that spelt right) with its teeth removed should not be allowed to walk their family dog

Wasnt saying anything bad at all against you or daughter, just making you aware of current law, in case anything was to happen (hope it wont) whilst daughter was out with dog, as we all know there are some strange & stupid laws in uk.

volsung wrote:

davemck3834 wrote:Fair comment , but what's the solution , does this mean anyone under the age of 16 that has a dog that is anything other than a chiquaua (is that spelt right) with its teeth removed should not be allowed to walk their family dog

Wasnt saying anything bad at all against you or daughter, just making you aware of current law, in case anything was to happen (hope it wont) whilst daughter was out with dog, as we all know there are some strange & stupid laws in uk.

I didn't think for 1 minute you were . Just pointing out that if we lived life by the rulebook and didn't use some common sense at some point then we would be too scared to leave our homes on a daily basis for fear of a criminal lawsuit or something , it gets crazy sometimes

I honestley dont think that they is any thing wrong with your daughter walking tilly whatsoever.The only thing that would worry me would be if someone took tilly of her.Two young girls who live around her take there grandmas staffy for a walk and they are younger than your daughter,My daughter leah is same age has as your daughter i wouldnt let her walk milly has milly pulls and is way two strong for her to handle but my daughter is very small for her age,If she was a big 11 year old then i wouldnt have a problem with it

Lol Dave, so basically having 2 staffs=Death?!? What a silly person, I can understand what they are getting at but what a load of cr*p!

janey wrote:


Lol Dave, so basically having 2 staffs=Death?!? What a silly person, I can understand what they are getting at but what a load of cr*p!

I know Janey , my thoughts exactly , so how is this person supposed to be so good at rehoming staffies, I'm struggling with this one, obviously I wouldn't get one from here due to the fact that our large family home with lots of love , no long times away , big enclosed garden and a very faithful playmate are deemed to be totally unsuitable, I really want a rescue this time but if this is the attitude then it looks like we have to go down the buy a puppy route and its a shame as I had my heart set on a rescue

Don'y give up! You can rescue, just not from this particular place which have guidlines such as that. I struggled to rescue too as they all had to be in a multi person household and I live on my own, but I found Moo and rescuing is the best way to go even if it takes a little more time

My son at around 14 used to take our dog roller blading every night for a 4 mile run I wasnt worried about him being taken as they would have had to catch them first but was so glad when they got home but bonding between a child and dog should be incouraged. I now have my grandchildren walking the dogs with me 3 and 4 they hold our old girl and they love it.
I came across a young girl around 11 and she had the family dog I crossed the road to avoid them the dog eyeballed mine and came across the girl couldnt hold on and a massive fight the young girl was inconsolable the next day I went banging on the door and the mother got both barrels how she was irrisponsible putting her daughter in that position.
And finally about the breed rescue, the people that run them know the breed traits so well they have been around staffords a long time they know how hard play can easily turn into a full on fight they never underestimate what the breed is capable of .They have rehomed dogs to have them brought back so many times when situations arise. They have rescued dogs in the most appaling condition and situations unless they knew that you have experience in the breed then its policy to not rehome with another or recomend that you buy another and they will give you the worst possible sinario. For them its not about finding any home its about finding the right forever home thats what sets apart a breed rescue from a multi breed rescue.

Gem that's terrible, I hope no-one was hurt too badly. Was the parent apologetic? My DH had a very similar experience where the other dog (boxer) crossed the road to get to our old boy and the girl of about 10 couldn't hold it. It had to be struck with a spade before it let up I gave my husband a bo*locking for not taking the girl home to make sure she was alright and inform her parents of what happened. He rightly so pointed out he didn't want to walk the dogs together, to follow a young girl home plus he wanted to check our dog over thoroughly - I see his point on every count lol!

Also does anyone know...did my 2nd post on this thread not work or was it removed?!

It wasnt as bad as it could of been mine was okay but I got bit on my arm and when I went round the next day all the bruising was up as well as the bites she said he had never gone for another dog before and was usually good with dogs I didnt persue it cause her daughter was so upset but the neighbour told me a few weeks later that they had the dog put down because it had biten someone

glad you were all ok but sad though x

I don't think you are either, either! You know your children and your dog and you have rules in place, my step-children take ruby out, but there are rules in place also x

Ruby&Me wrote:I don't think you are either, either! You know your children and your dog and you have rules in place, my step-children take ruby out, but there are rules in place also x

Thanx

In regards to children walking staffys all i have to say is that on a personal note i would absolutley never ever allow it. Staffs are too strong in every way to have a child be responsible for them imo. I am not saying anything about u personally as a mother or dog owner as i dont no u lol but i must admit when i read it it made me raise my eyebrows a bit.

blaze wrote:In regards to children walking staffys all i have to say is that on a personal note i would absolutley never ever allow it. Staffs are too strong in every way to have a child be responsible for them imo. I am not saying anything about u personally as a mother or dog owner as i dont no u lol but i must admit when i read it it made me raise my eyebrows a bit.

Ditto.

shontelle wrote:

blaze wrote:In regards to children walking staffys all i have to say is that on a personal note i would absolutley never ever allow it. Staffs are too strong in every way to have a child be responsible for them imo. I am not saying anything about u personally as a mother or dog owner as i dont no u lol but i must admit when i read it it made me raise my eyebrows a bit.

Ditto.

Thanks for the comments. As you say you don't know me , my dog or my children. Some staffys are big , some staffys are amall , as are children. Tilly just happens to be a little diddy thing though well formed (I'm her daddy I'm bound to say it :-) ) I am quite happy on the strength side that my daughter can control her fine , but I do give a lot of consideration to the what if's . Consequently we have made the sad decision that we will not take another dog from rescue and Tilly will be our sole companion. I really can't do with the thought of people looking at me (Staffy and non Staffy owners) and condemning me because of the what if's. We thought we were doing a good thing to give Tilly a playmate and another dog a forever home but if its not to be because of other people and their opinions I'd rather settle for the easy life

Oh no please dont misunderstand. You would be doing an amazing thing to rescue another dog and provide a loving home for it and a playmate in Tilly. Our views on children walking staffs should not affect the way you feel about rescuing. As I said in my previous post, and Blaze said in hers, we are not knocking you in any way as a parent or as an owner. Its just that we personally would not allow children to walk our dogs. But as you can see from all the other comments, Blaze and I are very much in the minority with our opinions. I'm so sorry if I offended you in any way, and please don't give uo the idea of rescuing, it really is an amazing thing to do.

shontelle wrote:Oh no please dont misunderstand. You would be doing an amazing thing to rescue another dog and provide a loving home for it and a playmate in Tilly. Our views on children walking staffs should not affect the way you feel about rescuing. As I said in my previous post, and Blaze said in hers, we are not knocking you in any way as a parent or as an owner. Its just that we personally would not allow children to walk our dogs. But as you can see from all the other comments, Blaze and I are very much in the minority with our opinions. I'm so sorry if I offended you in any way, and please don't give uo the idea of rescuing, it really is an amazing thing to do.

You've not offended me , just made me think. and to be perfectly honest though we would love another Staff I couldn't do all the walking alone as even if I had the legs then my job doesn't allow me to be at home all of the time and then I have to rely on my daughter and sometimes mum when she's not got a pot on her leg to do the honours. It's bad enough with the idiot people around making their comments on stuff they know nothing about . I wouldn't want to be the one to set the breed back even further because I'm deemed irresponsible.

I really wouldn't worry about what the idiots say, if they weren't having a go at you, it would be the next staffy owner they saw. That's just something that we all have to put up with and I can't see it changing anytime soon unfortuantely.

If it just isn't practical for you to have another one, fair enough. I just would hate to think that anything that was said here contributed to your decision to change your mind about rescuing.

shontelle wrote:I really wouldn't worry about what the idiots say, if they weren't having a go at you, it would be the next staffy owner they saw. That's just something that we all have to put up with and I can't see it changing anytime soon unfortuantely.

If it just isn't practical for you to have another one, fair enough. I just would hate to think that anything that was said here contributed to your decision to change your mind about rescuing.

To be perfectly honest and please don't think I am trying to make you feel guilty it's more than practical, big house , no money worries, great garden (well what's left of it after the Staffy raves that Tilly seems to hold every night) , somebody home all day, and most important lots of Staffy Love. My only concession is sometimes I can't be the one to do the walking due to my job , we got the dog as a family and share the responsibility as a family . I have grown up with Border Collies all my life , when I was 6 and my brother was 9 my dog was my best mate and we roamed the streets together (as you could in them days) My cousin had a staffy and we loved her to bits , real family dog. So this time round we got Tilly and are so happy with her its unbelievable . As Jenny has got a little older she takes her mainly for the top up walks as her Mum would normally fill the days in . Last few weeks her mum had a pot on her leg so Jenny had to do all the walking when I was away , which I honestly did not see as a problem, but I am apparently wrong. So like I say it makes you think

Oh no, I'm so sorry. Like I said, Blaze and I are very much in the minority with our opinions, everyone else here thinks that your daughter walking Tilly is completely fine. And just because my opinion is different, doesn't make it right for anyone else. It really is completely up to you whether or not your daughter walks your dog, and if you are happy with it and feel that she is safe, then that's your call completely. Look back on all of the other comments, and please please understand, my opinion is just that, just an opinion and my personal preference would be to not have a child walk my dog, but I am most certainly not condemning you in any way, and I can't speak for Blaze, but I'm sure she wasn't either.

I agree with the above statement that there is no Right or Wrong outlook to be taken on this issue. You {Your Family} are the only people who can judge the temperament of your Pets and personality of your Children and whether or not the bond between them is strong enough to take that next step.

When I was younger our Family Staffy/Lab Cross would walk my brothers and I to Pre-School every morning, he would scale our back fence and follow behind us until we reached the school, then take himself off to the butchers who would give him a bone and its off home again and most nights he would be waiting for us at the school gate to finish.

He was kind of a hobo dog that had the street smarts when we found him, he would sit at the corners and wait for the break in traffic without anyone telling him to. He go for walks with you without his lead and knew the ins and outs of our town and its people better then we did.

He was that one of a kind personality that didn't have an evil bone in his body and our parents had total trust when he and us kids where playing together.

I guess after my long winded rant {sorry guys} I am trying to advise that each situation is going to be different, and what might be right for you, may not be right for this other family and their situation. Know your animals, Know your children and Know the risks involved when making a call like this and you be the judge.

SKOOOTAROOOTA wrote:I agree with the above statement that there is no Right or Wrong outlook to be taken on this issue. You {Your Family} are the only people who can judge the temperament of your Pets and personality of your Children and whether or not the bond between them is strong enough to take that next step.

When I was younger our Family Staffy/Lab Cross would walk my brothers and I to Pre-School every morning, he would scale our back fence and follow behind us until we reached the school, then take himself off to the butchers who would give him a bone and its off home again and most nights he would be waiting for us at the school gate to finish.

He was kind of a hobo dog that had the street smarts when we found him, he would sit at the corners and wait for the break in traffic without anyone telling him to. He go for walks with you without his lead and knew the ins and outs of our town and its people better then we did.

He was that one of a kind personality that didn't have an evil bone in his body and our parents had total trust when he and us kids where playing together.

I guess after my long winded rant {sorry guys} I am trying to advise that each situation is going to be different, and what might be right for you, may not be right for this other family and their situation. Know your animals, Know your children and Know the risks involved when making a call like this and you be the judge.

Like the comments. My childhood dog which was also my best friend we got when I was 4 and lost when I was 20 He cam e everywhere with us , until his later years always off the lead > When I went out walking as a kid if he heard a crack he was off and waiting by the door when I got home . When I started work he would walk to the train with me then send him home when th train arrived. The only time he was ever aggressive was when the big kid up the road picked on me and he let him know how the land lay. I would love to think that my daughter grew up with that experience of a real friend (but as in this day always on the lead !!!)

I would like to just add, my comment on the first page, that would be my answer to this question wether the dog was or wasnt a staffy.

haddy wrote:I would like to just add, my comment on the first page, that would be my answer to this question wether the dog was or wasnt a staffy.

If you mean my dog from my younger days then no he wasn't a staffy, he was a border collie, but still quite capable of all the evil stuff when he wanted to. My point is that every kid should have the dog they grew up with etched on their brain. It's really starting to anger me now how everyone does the kids gloves approach . Its like saying a lion is a great pet to have as long as you do it like this . She's a dog , a very beautiful and friendly dog and as capable of hurting somebody as I am of beating Steven Hawkin in an Intelligence test.

Great ending Dave Like it your dog is your responsibility only you can decide stuff what anyone says no ones buisness but yours

davemck3834 wrote:Hello Everyone

My daughter is 11 1/2 years and she often walks Tilly when I'm busy or away , more often at the moment as my wife has a pot on her leg , yet I have been accused of being irresponsible by someone that doesn't know me , live near me , know my daughter or my Tilly. When she walks her it's always on the lead , never off the beaten track for her safety and Tilly's safety , never far from home , in fact everything her friends do with their family dogs because they all love their dogs and want to earn their pocket money !!! I'm even looking for a local obedience class where she can take Tilly to learn more about good handling .
Does that make me a bad dog owner , irresponsible parent ?? Please give me your honest comments as I am now really questioning my abilities as an animal lover and a parent

When I started reading this I thought you were going to say something about being worried about letting your kids take the dog out in fear of other dogs/owners or theft.

It doesn't matter who takes the dog for a walk as long as both are safe and I actually think it's a good idea for you to get your 11 yr old involved in the care of the dog, it teaches them good responsibility. Ignore everyone else! They have no rights getting involved.

My 10 yr old and 12 yr old want to take our dog for walks but I'm unsure of it just because of other dogs/owners and the fear of someone trying to take the dog, not because I dont trust my dog or children.

Thanks Maxy

Hi Dave

My eldest daughter is 9 1/2 and I have been teaching her how to handle Ty. He is nearly 14 weeks old and I want him to know that no matter who walks him he behaves. She has only been in control of him while I'm with her. Yesterday I let all three of my children take the lead for a short while over the park, the youngest being 4, with me and wife close by. I had a family dog when growing up. She was a Heinz dog (57 varieties) but me, my sister and brothers would walk her reguarly. But, everyone is different and opinions vary. I can't see anything wrong with your daughter walking Tilly.

Jon, we're doing the same with our kids. Our oldest is 8, and we're teaching him how to handle Rascal. Luckily for us we live near a fenced sports oval so we have lots of space. At the moment, 'cos he's so young, we're very "hands on". Hopefully by the time he's 11 he and Rascal will be able to walk together. So far, we haven't come across many "off lead" problem dogs and the area we live in is pretty quiet. So Dave, honestly if you're going to let our opinions guide your decision, why not take on board the majority of us who say use your own judgement re your own kids and dog? All of us have stated what we would do in our own particular circumstances - why not go with those of us who would do what you're doing, rather than those who wouldn't?

If you choose to not rescue, that's entirely your decision, not ours. All any of us can do is weigh up our own particular issues and make a personal decision based on that. We can't put that decision onto others, believing "they" have somehow made the decision for us.

Thanks for the replies everyone , we are having a bit of a rethink at the moment , Tillys just coming out of her 2nd season so it will now be at least after xmas before we can give some serious thought but we will see how it all goes.
I still really want to rescue and know I won't settle until we have but we will see