I'm trying to get as many opinions on this as I can. I posted this in the Moms forum, and I'm going to post it here as well, to try and get a wider variety of answers.

I just wanted to know all y'all's opinion on something.

A friend of mine is looking into getting a new dog, and I recommended going to the local humane society. That's where I've always gone for a pet in the past--all of like... three times--and I've had wonderful experiences.

She insisted that she wouldn't be able to do that, though, based on uncertainty of "triggers" that the animal might have, had it been abused in the past, or whatever. So she's planning to breed her parents' pedigree lab with another pedigree and take one of the puppies.

While I understand her argument, I believe, if you look through the dogs, not all of them are going to have frightening triggers, and if you speak with the workers at the shelter, they usually have a pretty good understanding of each of the animals there, and which ones might be better suited to homes with small children, such as the ones that my friend and I have.

What would you do in your situation? Would you forgo the humane society in favor of a new puppy? And if you would, would it be for those reasons, or just because you wanted the puppy?