Looking to rehome a retired mini

[rooney_golf]

Hi everyone. We've been thinking of a dog for a year or so but waited till our daughter was a bit older...she's 5 now. We are in northern ireland and wondered if anyone had a retired mini needing a loving home?

[zeta1454]

If you are looking for an older dog that is no longer being shown or bred from, you are probably best contacting the schnauzer breed clubs who have rehoming officers who match up potential homes with dogs whose owners have died, become ill, or who may be looking to rehome an ex-show dog.

It may be better to go through a Club rehoming process unless you know the person privately looking to rehome a dog as, especially with you having a young child, you do need to be sure that any older dog you adopt is relaxed and safe around children. With a puppy, you can usually quickly accustom them to living with a child safely even if they have not been reared in a home with children. An older dog, however well cared for previously, will always have something of an unknown past and because you do not necessarily know what experiences the dog has had, you will need to be extra careful about bringing one into your home with a very young child. Any rehoming procedure should include the dog being fully assessed as regards its behaviour and experiences before it is placed in what should be its new forever home.

Good luck in your search. I am not sure of the contacts for Northern Ireland breed clubs but you should be able to find these online. The UK Kennel Club has contacts for mainland Britain:

http://www.thekennelclub.org.uk/service ... breed=4096" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;