Talk To Me About Rescue Dogs?

My tiny Ewok

It’s been two months since we lost our girl, and it’s getting close to the time when I feel ready to bring another dog into our family. I needed a minute to recuperate after Lucy died – emotionally, of course, but I also needed a second to breathe, because the last few months of her life were…a lot. Besides the logistical work – vet appointments, messes to be cleaned – I worried about her all the time. I’d wake up in the middle of the night to check her breathing, or terrify myself imagining the worst when she didn’t run up to greet me at the door when I came home (which, towards the end, she never did).

I was exhausted from the sheer volume of care she required – that on top of the care required by the other living things in my household – and honestly? I wanted to rest. But now my kids are starting to mention wanting another dog, and not just that: They’ve taken on a bunch of pet-related responsibilities (scooping the litterbox is one of them, thank Jesus) to try to convince me that they’ll help out with the walking and training and such, and I want to reward their efforts.

I also kinda want another dog: A companion for my beach walks, someone to get me walking around my new neighborhood and meeting people.

BUT. Here’s my conundrum. I’ve never rescued a dog before – Lucy was sort of abandoned at my house by a girl I knew, and Kendrick found Virgil at a pet shop in Ohio in the years before internalized the importance of rescuing versus purchasing. Our cats are rescues, but cats are a whole different thing: Other than the length of their hair, they’re all sort of just…cats. Dogs come in twenty bazillion sizes, shapes, and personalities, and yes, I know that I’ll love whatever creature we end up with…but I still have a few personal boxes that need to be checked before I can feel rock-solid about expanding our family again.

Here’s my criteria:

I’d like to go for either tiny and snuggly (a.k.a. Lucy-ish), or a medium-big, bouncy beach dog (like a golden retriever, say, or a husky).
I tend to prefer a little fluff on my fluff-babies – I don’t want dog hair everywhere, but I don’t mind some grooming in exchange for furry cuddles.
I know, I should be a wonderful person and adopt an older dog, but sue me: I want a puppy. And I know that’s what my kids want.
I need to find a breed that is good with children and is at least somewhat trainable (because I do not enjoy being awoken by drooly tennis balls in my face).

I’ve been hunting around on Petfinder (where you can search rescues by everything from location and age to size and hair length) and have found some strong contenders, but if any of you have thoughts about rescuing in general, or about any specific breeds to keep an eye out for, I’d love to hear your thoughts.

(And just because it’s always fun to look at puppies, want to see a few of the adoptable ones I found this morning on one of my Internet rambles?! Of COURSE you do.)

rescue husky puppy