Generally, in all of your experiences, do these dogs turn out to be good dogs or do they have personality issues, things like that?

We had a rescue dog when I was a teenager and she never snapped or gave us any problems.. but now with a little girl and the pounds being so leery of adopting to us (anything older than a puppy) because of our 2.5 year old, it kind of concerns me.

I think it's important to give the doggies a chance. I think it's a good idea to observe the dogs for a bit. Do they allow you to take the dogs home for a few days, a weekend maybe?

I think that you should be around the dog for awhile and let the dog get to know you and your family before taking the dog home. I think that the people at the shelter knows if the dog is good around kids or not.

three of our rescue dogs were fantastic; two were more challenging (hyper personalities, etc.). I think part of the reason the challenging ones were particularly hard for us is that we fell in love with them, but didn't really take as much time to analyze if their personalities were good fits in our household.