Getting custody and having dogs?

Question

We are trying to get custody and possibly adopting my nephew. I am sure they will do a background check and a home visit, do they care that I have 5 dogs. My dogs are my children and before we go forward with this I need to know. My dogs stay down stairs and his room would be upstairs. I will not give up my dogs.

Answer 1

I only have two, but they are very large dogs. During our homestudy they wanted the dogs vaccination records, but otherwise didn't seem to care. I have heard some states are more strict and want the social worker to meet the dogs to ensure they are well behaved etc.

Answer 2

It all depends.  How clean, healthy, well behaved, friendly and quiet are the dogs?  Are they up to date on all vaccinations?

You might want to have a letter from a vet who has treated them for years, stating that to his/her knowledge, the dogs have never bitten anyone, have a good disposition, and no diseases.  Give it to your Social Worker when she comes to do the first Homestudy visit.  

Then it will be up to the Social Worker who does your homestudy.  So, call and speak with several first to check out which are dog friendly and which are not.  You can call anonymously, if you like.  That's not a problem.

Then just make sure you have a clean house, and have a designated space for the family area, and a designated  space for the dogs.  With a few compromises and adjustments, you can have both!

Good luck!!

Answer 3

make sure that you are allowed by law to have that many dogs. i think 5 is the usual limit. as long as the dogs are not aggressive and are house trained it shouldn't be a problem

Answer 4

How big are the dogs? and how young is your nephew?I really wouldn't recommend a baby with a house full of dogs, since they brings in dirt, sometimes allergie, a baby gets sick so often, if he started crying, dogs will start to bark, especially if you guys work in the day time, you really wouldn't get any shut eyes.

Answer 5

first off 5 is alot and most citys have laws about how many dogs you can have at one time so i would check the law first so you don't get one taken away. hope you get custody

Answer 6

As long as the dogs are taken care of you really shouldn't have a problem.  They also should be fairly social and have not shown aggression to people and especially kids.  We plan on adopting and have two dogs and four cats, and I totally don't anticipate a problem.  

As long as your dogs are well behaved while the social working is doing your home visit, I think you should be able to go through with the adoption.  Also, make sure they are all up to date on their shots and that you have physical proof that they are, since I am sure the social worker will want to see that too.

Good luck!

Answer 7

We have three cats and have an approved homestudy.

Answer 8

Thats right-animals first!

Answer 9

Your dogs are more important than your nephew?  I hope you tell the social worker that. They should know your feelings.

Answer 10

When we did our homestudy there was no problem with pets, we just had to prove they were vaccinated.  I have friends who adopted a baby and they raise mastiffs.