my mom got 4 of her dogs from a rescue group. She told thm that she wanted medium sized dogs and that they would be around kids...so they helped pick out the dogs with her and they also drove 3 hours to meet her half way with the dogs. They were all up to date with their vaccines, fixed, and kennel trained. They keep them in homes until they are really ready to go to someone. They make sure of it. She had great luck doing it that way and she got them when they were a little less than a year old so they were almost out of the puppy stage. If my cats ever decide they will allow a dog in the house, I would do it that way.