A good friend had a dog (collie) from a rescue place, it was still very young but it had been found locked in a freezer in a skip so who knows what it had been through, he has had it for years and it’s always been snappy and confrontational around new people, initially they had a very old dog that had always been in their family from a pup who had a very different temperament and when he passed away they bought a Labrador pup as well who despite being daft as a brush, has a lovely temperament, last year they had their first child and the collie is no longer trusted in the house, they thought about giving him to a rescue centre but realised they’d never be able to get him rehomed, he now has a lovely run in the garden and gets to come in at night when the baby is in bed. It’s a shame for the dog but when faced with your child’s safety what else can you do, he still has a very happy life but it does go to show that rescue dogs are likely to have been abused, and you’ll never completely know what you’re getting until potentially it’s too late.
I have a five year old collie myself, we had him from a pup from a farm down the road, they breed both collies and labs, both sets of parents are family pets and the pups all go to good homes, usually other farms, there was talk when we first had him of using our collie to breed but he kept disappearing and after the second pick up from swan pit, he took a little trip to the vets.
He is and has always been an outside dog in the summer as he goes to work with my husband and sits in or chases the diggers/bulldozers/tractors then comes back most days covered in god knows what but despite the obvious hygiene issues I’ve never had any cause for concern when it comes to my three year old daughter.