Dear Golden: It is nice to see that your family would be willing to rescue a purebred Golden rather than purchase a young puppy. But the fact that you have two young children is not a good reason to get a younger dog. In fact, your reasoning about taking an older dog should be reviewed.

With two young children, one a toddler, I would strongly recommend that you get an older dog rather than a younger one. Actually, I would really recommend that you wait until your two-year-old is at least five before you consider adding a dog to your household. People want a young dog to grow up with their kids and be with the family for a long time. This is a recipe for disaster, since getting a younger dog it is like adding another littermate to the mix.

Here are the benefits of getting an older dog, especially if it is the first family dog around young children. Besides the obvious reason of being housebroken, many have already gone through some obedience and have lived with children. Teaching your kids how to handle a dog will be much easier if you have an established canine with a history of ownership behind it.

I’m not suggesting you go out and adopt a 10-year-old dog, but there are many in rescue between the ages of three and eight years old, which could bring your family years of happy ownership. I know you are thinking that you will get all attached to the dog and then it will die. Well, yes, that happens with any pet, but having an older dog to learn the ropes with will prepare your family for getting a nice young puppy of your own in several years when the kids are teenagers and better able to help “you” take care of “their” dog.

Purebred Rescue

The first place I would visit is the Yankee Golden Retriever Rescue website at www.ygrr.org. This group is a 501c(3) non-profit that operates in the six New England states. It is a very professional and dedicated organization and a great place to start to look. However, again I would caution you to wait a few years for the toddler to grow up as its policy for households with children less than ten years old is, “the number of Goldens available to go into these homes is low while the demand for them is high. Therefore we have found it necessary to decline applications from applicants with children five and under in the household.”

If you really want to do the right thing for your children and your new family pet, wait a few years, I’d hate for you to adopt a dog right now only to have to give it up. From my own experience as a breeder, selling puppies to young families with infants is difficult at best.

Lisa’s Pick of the Litter

I am happy to report that Jingle Bells, the Norwegian Elkhound featured in this column a few weeks ago, has been placed in a new home.

Through the tireless efforts of Cindy Edgar and her work with Southbury PALS, he has found a new home in New York. If you remember, this dog came from a home where there were children under the age of five also.

It is important to note that rescuing dogs is always a team effort, from the owners giving up the dog – taking the time to place it in rescue instead of dropping it off at the pound or worse – to the many volunteers who have worked hard and spent their own time and money. There were at least three “case workers” for Jingles, including Cotton Silverman in Massachusetts at the Norwegian Elkhound Rescue and Referral, Inc. Because of their endless love for dogs I can bring you this happy ending!

Lisa Peterson, a breeder and exhibitor of Norwegian Elkhounds, is a Delegate to the American Kennel Club. Reach her at ask@lisa-peterson.com or Dogma Publishing, P.O. Box 307, Newtown, CT 06470