After months of reading up, and contacting people, and collecting loads of information, and most of all, getting excited about rescuing a shelter dog -- because you should seriously consider that option first -- we were herded toward the other route of finding a family with puppies.
After getting to know the ropes, when I let it known that M. is allergic to "certain" animals and we're trying to be careful, sadly we got kicked around a bit. People are people, even good-hearted animal rescues, and we've gotten harangued and told off for even "daring to offer a dog a home" in our circumstances.
Visiting a shelter became a non-option. We tried. The allergy bomb from fifty+ cats and dogs, their fur and dander combined was instant, and pretty painful.
Worse is when you've fallen for the dog after several visits. My sweet Iggy Pudd. He was a mill rescue, and I felt the shelter wanted to keep him safe with them forever. (we got denied several times, but because they cared)
The shelter insisted he needed another happy dog at home before they would consider it. He's a Shiba Inu, and I figured the breed's independence and need for human-bonding over time would work, but the shelter thought not.
