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I am curious as to what impact pets have had on your adoption process....specifically if you've had more than just one cat or dog. We are both in our 30's, very financially stable, own our house, etc. but the dogs are my biggest concern.
I ask because we have 6 dogs (all small breeds, 5-12 years old), due to us both bringing pets into our marriage. I'm wondering how this is going to affect our home study. We have thought about having a family member adopt one of our dogs if it came to that, but it would be very rough on us. Our oldest dog is 12, and honestly, if she's around another 2 years, I will be incredibly surprised (happy, but surprised).
There are areas of the house they're not allowed (bedrooms, family room), and they're well behaved/updated on shots & fixed. I vacuum often, and clean the carpets every few weeks just in case. Pets aside, I think we'd pass with flying colors, but I'm just so paranoid now.
Obviously we wouldn't inquire about kids with conditions that the dogs could aggravate (asthma, pet allergies).
Anyone else with something similar? Am I being paranoid for no reason?
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We have three dogs, aged five to 11, weighing from 25 to 80 pounds. We also have a cat.
Our home study social worker mentioned that we would want to make sure our pets were up to date on vaccines. They already were, we got records just in case, but she never asked for them or mentioned it again. We don't allow the animals into the nursery (though it sounds like you're doing foster?) and we have another gate already in place to separate baby from the litter box.
Before our home visit, we made sure to take our dogs out and exhaust them, but then SW forgot our visit and showed up an hour late, so they had time to recover. They were excited to see her, but we didn't allow them to greet her at the door; we made them wait behind the gate until she put her things down. Still, the best thing that could have happened did. When we all sat down, they lay down around us and didn't make a peep.
One of the SWs we have spoken to told us that only once had she had to turn down a family for a home study and it was pet related. The family had a lot of pets, more than a dozen, and the proposed nursery smelled strongly of cat urine. They were still given the chance to clean it to the SW's satisfaction. They did, were reassessed and then approved.
Good luck! Those pups have no idea what's coming! :D
We have a large Rottweilers ( who thinks she is a lap dog LOL) we had letters of recommendation for her! Our social worker cracked up - we used the vet and pet sitter we used for years. However, our agency required it a necessity and labeled our homestudy as "pet friendly" home. Use it as an asset! Our birthmother wanted pets in family.
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We just had to show that they were licensed (state/city requirement) and up to date on their shots.
I agree with the above posters, it can be a benefit. Our emom selected us for many reasons, but one of them for sure was that we had two black labs and her family used to breed and raise labs. It was a great connection to make.
We had 6 cats and 2 dogs at the time of our home study. It was no problem. Like others said, we had to show that the house was clean and they all had their licenses and shots.
Do be sure that any kids you adopt don't have known pet allergies, phobia of dogs, or any problems with acting out toward animals. Pets can be very therapeutic for traumatized kids, as long as none of those are an issue. :)