Hehe - love it!! Steer clear of QAWS!! Oh geez get a life - don't you have anything better to do then stir sh*t?

You've clearly thought long and hard about getting a dog and I applaud you for that. As you are living in an apartment with a small child I would advise you to steer clear of high energy dogs such as beagles. They can get very boisterous and a small apartment means they're likely to accidently bump into the child when playing.

We have several older dogs that are house-trained and would be suitable for living in an apartment. My children are 4 months and 18 months and go to the shelter a lot so all the dogs at the shelter are used to being around babies. We can guide you to the dogs that would be great for younger children.

We have quite a lot of puppies available at the moment as well but please consider the fact that they are not house-trained yet.

My recommendation would be an older, quieter dog who would be loving but won't need to be exercised for hours a day. Please don't be put off by size either - generally smaller dogs need more exercise and some larger dogs are definitely suited to live in apartments.

Please go to wwww.qaws.org to have a look at the dogs available. Thor, Cracker, Emmy, Sally and Lizzie would all make great pets for your family and we have several new dogs not yet on the website that might also suit your family.

Sandman's right - we are strict. We have been rescuing animals for 8 years in Qatar now and our success rate is fantastic. Very few of our animals are returned back or dumped because we won't just let anyone take any dog. If a dog is not suited to your family, we will not let you take him or her. The fact that you're asking this question shows me that you've taken the time to weigh up all your options.

Why not foster one of our needy dogs for a couple of weeks and see how you cope with a dog and a baby?