Adopt A Dog

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JustDave

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Meet Kiwi:

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Today marks the 1-year anniversary of adopting our boy. He's a happy Border Collie/Aussie mix (we think), and based on the estimates of when he entered the shelter, we think he's around 1 year, 10 months old. We adopted him from a rescue organization that works with a kill shelter in Arkansas. When that shelter had to close for repairs, several dogs were put on the list to be euthanized since there was no room to place all of them in alternate locations. Kiwi was one of these dogs.

He's brought so much joy into our life and we're so glad we made the decision to bring a 3rd dog into our home.

So for those of you who are considering getting a dog, why not look to your local animal shelter? There are SO many great dogs out there who need a second chance in a loving home. Yes, dogs come with baggage just like humans, but with time and training they'll become part of the family and seem like they've been with you forever.

And if a dog isn't in your current plan, donations are always appreciated -- be it time, money, bags of food, blankets, etc.

And for those of you who have adopted a dog, thank you. I sincerely mean that.
 
Cute pup!

I've adopted two ex-racing greyhounds. Not the same as a shelter, but it saved them from a similar fate.
 
Hear, hear.

I heartily second your suggestion. Shelter dogs and "mutts" are the best dogs in my opinion.

Mine are part rabbit... ;)

Luna
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Queso
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I'm sitting here right now with my two "shelter pets"- a cat and my new dog. Toby has lived with us a grand total of 13 days now. Here's Toby (a yellow lab approx 10 months old):
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And here's Demoti (Maine Coon cat, approx. 3 years old):
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The beast at left <-- was a shelter find (not to last long there, as she is a cutie...!), and was "Puppy" originally.

Her job title is Therapy Dog (as in major disease, not psychoanalysis), and unfortunately, her workload just grew bigger:(

She happened to be quite well trained, so, it looks like someone did invest in her well-being.

Her current nickname is "Ravioli Brain"... as she is quite an omnivore!
 
I design shelters, and thus work with plenty of folks in the private sector (humane societies & SPCA's) and public sector (public animal shelters and control facilities). One of our goals in designing the shelters is to increase adoption rates through a friendlier atmosphere, and we always encourage the shelter operators to engage in public education campaigns. The amount of animals that must be euthanized is staggering, and pretty depressing for many of the shelter employees, but there are municipalities that have awesome adoption rates (90%+). Seeing how many dogs have to be put down for space constraint reasons can really make your blood boil when you see how many dogs are intentionally bred out for massive profit each year. We got both of our GSP's from rescue operations---they're both awesome dogs---and I would second what the OP said: adopt, don't buy from breeders! If you want a purebreed, find a rescue group for that breed. If it's not that important, go to a shelter or SPCA or Humane Society near you and see what's around. Too many animals go under the needle (or, god forbid, the CO chamber :() every year for people to be dropping thousands of dollars for a puppy.

EDIT: here's our rescue dogs...

Xander:

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and Sadie:

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I posted these in the other pictures thread, but always worth it to post again.

We got Ender over 3.5 years ago (wow, can't belive it's been that long) from a shelter. He was a puppy, but still needed a home.

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Not a dog obviously, but here is my adopted friend. It never even entered into my mind to go to a pet store or a breeder when I decided to get a cat. I got him from the humane society when he was just 3 months old. He's 5 years old now and this is what he does after he gets into the catnip. :D

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I currently have two retired racing greys. I've only purchased one dog (a wirehaired doxie) from a breeder and he was a retired stud.

[A cat would be a good thing, given all of the mice, voles, rats and moles I have around, but neither Katie or Boss are cat-safe.]
 
You guys are going to flame me for this, but I will never, ever get another shelter dog as long as I live, unless it's a puppy. In addition to my Golden Retriever, I have a lab/greyhound mix that has been to say it mildly, a challenge. It took me four years to housebreak her-I'm not kidding. And that's just one of the challenges she has presented to us. They are too numerous to mention. Suffice it to say that I have come to the realization that some-not all, mind you- dogs are in the shelter for a reason. I'm sticking with bird dogs from now on.

Ok, let me have it............
 
Bernie Brewer said:
In addition to my Golden Retriever, I have a lab/greyhound mix that has been to say it mildly, a challenge.

I'm not going to argue that your dog is or isn't a challenge. Without a doubt, some rescues do present problems, often based on the treatment they received pre-rescue. That can totally make it difficult for you as the rescuer, but generalizing rescued dogs based on your experience with only one is not really fair.

I would argue that a lot of dogs are in the shelter because their owners had unrealistic expectations for the breed, or bought a puppy because it was cute or trendy at the time (aka, dalmatian puppies when 101 Dalmatians was in theaters) and weren't prepared to give the dog the environment it needed. This often leads to all kinds of behavioral problems that can be hard to correct if they've been "trained" through bad training. But that isn't the dog's fault, even if it makes the dog difficult for the next owner.

Plus, since greyhound breeding is tightly controlled, I'm doubtful that your pup is part greyhound. Maybe whippet, but...no one with breeding greyhounds crosses them, and adopted greyhounds are sterilized...breeders don't want competition in a shrinking demand pool.
 
Bernie Brewer said:
You guys are going to flame me ...
No flaming, just polite disagreement. :)

I'll admit that a shelter dog will not always be the easiest dog to raise. These are dogs who came from unknown backgrounds who may have had god knows what done to them, and that's one of the risks that you have to take. When we first adopted Kiwi, he was frightened of my father-in-law whenever he would wear gloves. Why? We have no clue .....

That said, I think that you'd be surprised at the reasons people give up a dog. Just looking at some of the ads on Petfinder is enough to let you know how lightly some people take dog ownership: people move and can't/don't want to take the dog, or they have a child and give the dog up, or they simply don't want to devote the time to training a difficult dog.
 
I was watching some show on satellite a few weeks back, and there was an animal trainer talking about how he reacts when a new customer shows up with a misbehaving dog.

He said "I always observe the two of them together, struggling with whatever issue it was that made the owner decide to bring the dog to me, and I think to myself "I wonder how long it's going to take me to train this owner to work with their dog""
 
I can understand where Bernie is coming from. I swear the book Marley and Me was written about my dog. He can be a major unruly pain sometimes, but I still love him enough to name my brewery after him. He was another shelter dog and he was full grown (100 lbs) when I got him.

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Moonshae said:
I'm not going to argue that your dog is or isn't a challenge. Without a doubt, some rescues do present problems, often based on the treatment they received pre-rescue. That can totally make it difficult for you as the rescuer, but generalizing rescued dogs based on your experience with only one is not really fair.

I would argue that a lot of dogs are in the shelter because their owners had unrealistic expectations for the breed, or bought a puppy because it was cute or trendy at the time (aka, dalmatian puppies when 101 Dalmatians was in theaters) and weren't prepared to give the dog the environment it needed. This often leads to all kinds of behavioral problems that can be hard to correct if they've been "trained" through bad training. But that isn't the dog's fault, even if it makes the dog difficult for the next owner.

Plus, since greyhound breeding is tightly controlled, I'm doubtful that your pup is part greyhound. Maybe whippet, but...no one with breeding greyhounds crosses them, and adopted greyhounds are sterilized...breeders don't want competition in a shrinking demand pool.


I didn't generalize shelter dogs at all. I even said in my post that I realize that not all shelter dogs have issues. But the only way to really find out is to adopt one, and by then there's no turning back. I personally don't wish to roll the dice that way again. I've had very good dogs over the years, and they were all bird dogs. I'm sticking with what works for me.

And as far as whether she is part greyhound or part whippet, I'm not willing to place a bet either way.


EDIT: By the way, please don't misunderstand. Sandy is a good dog (when she's not getting sprayed by a skunk, but that's a different story:) ) She's very affectionate. But as I said, she has been a LOT of work. We've had her about seven or eight years now, and she's doing fine now. But I don't want to deal with other peoples' bad training anymore.
 
I've come to the conclusion 99% of dogs are pounded because of people problems.

My first was in theer because the kids wanted a dog and Grandma looked after it on holidays. The kids grew up, Grandma got old. The bastids pounded a pedigree 12 year old family pet.
We had her for 4 years and was the best dog.
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My current dogs are rescues and very good pets. (Mutts)

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We've got 3 dogs in the house right now. I've got a schipperkee, which I purchased from a private home as a puppy. My dad moved in with us and brought his chow, he received free from a friend of his as a puppy. Our third dog is a cocker. When my mom was in hospice, there was an old lady who was getting transfered to a different facility. She had the cocker, and couldn't bring it with her there. She had somebody lined up to take the dog, but hadn't heard from them for a couple days. She was concerned that she'd have to pound the dog. I gave her my phone number, told her to call us if things with the other people didn't work out and we'd take him. Well, she called and we got a new dog. Freakles is a cool dog, and at first really kinda took to my wife, as the previous owner was a woman. But, I'm the real dog lover in the family, I think he has taken more a liking to me now.l
 
Bernie Brewer

I m going to go out on a limb and say most of the dogs problem was you. Read Ceasar Milans books and re-evaluate your position. You cannot treat dogs like children or other people. However Dogs need more attention, exercise and an Alpha male in the household to act correctly.

Both of my big dogs came from abusive homes- Both had similar issues early but were fixed within a few months.
 
MikeFlynn74 said:
Bernie Brewer

I m going to go out on a limb and say most of the dogs problem was you. Read Ceasar Milans books and re-evaluate your position. You cannot treat dogs like children or other people. However Dogs need more attention, exercise and an Alpha male in the household to act correctly.

Both of my big dogs came from abusive homes- Both had similar issues early but were fixed within a few months.


Well that post was inevitable, and I'm not upset about it, but you're wrong. I've been around dogs my whole life.
 
If you treat dogs like equals they will do what they want. Dogs are not equals and should be well aware whos the Alpha.

But hey whatever you feel like putting up with.
 
Whoa- this is not a thread about how to train a dog. We all have different ideas and have had different experiences. I have had some dogs that were easy to train, and some that were impossible to train due to their previous experiences and scars. Let's move on, ok?
 
It has been about a year since we picked up Olive from the shelter. This was the day we brought her home, she was so impressed by anything soft.

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A year later, our dogs are best friends.

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I have two rescues: One is Goodman, who was put into the pound not once, but TWICE. The last time was because he chewed. Imagine that! A half-grown lab that chews on stuff! Who'd a thunk?!

Here he is hanging out with his pal Llewellyn:

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Our second is a pureblood boxer, rescued after getting burned at the puppy mill from whence he came. He's a little over a year old now and is a fantastic dog. He's much less mellow than Goodman, and takes almost constant reminding that he's not alpha. But he's learning. Getting him fixed made a big difference, as has his simply getting more mature.

As a puppy:
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Great thread! And I'm all for going with pound puppies. There's only a few exceptions where I would consider a pure bred..... working dogs!

As you can probably imagine, AKC functions kind of like AHA in terms of BJCP. They have judging criteria and the best dogs are supposed to be the ones that define those characteristics- physical, mental, and in appearance. And, naturally, breeders may decide to focus on those characteristics, rather than in breeding a quality animal. However, working dogs are a little different. I've read the AKC descriptions for working dogs and its always, "appearance is secondary to work ethic and eagerness..." or somesuch.

Now, I have to say, having grown up with a purebred German Shepard, I can't fault anyone for wanting one, especially if you live in a crime-ridden city, spend a lot of time away from home, and have small children. You want a dog that has a specific, sort of known personality. Also, Golden Retrievers. Man, if I was a fowl hunter, I would want a retriever. Pure Bred. Hands down.

But families who get the bug up their butt and decide to shell out big $$ for a status dog... well, I just don't get that. A Golden Retriever in the suburbs? That's just not what the dog is for. Get a pound puppy. 9 times out of 10 you can get at least a halfbreed of your choice, and get a better temperament as well.

As for my second dog, it was a shepard/husky mix. Us kids always loved huskies, mom and dad always had German Shepards, and so we would up with the worst of both worlds- over-excitable, excessive energy, strong pulling, like a husky; hip problem and coloration of a german shepard. The hip ultimately did her in, but she lived a good long life and was was loved throughout. More than a couple of AKC members told me she was an Akita, but she was just a cute looking mutt. Incredibly intelligent though and very intimidating. She never bit anyone, but imagine a German Shepard with a husky personality- never relaxed.

She would sit and growl at someone for an hour, non-stop, even pouncing, cat-like, side-to-side, to make sure they saw her. She would keep this intense growling/barking/teeth-baring thing up until she was sure they were friendly. LOL. That dog was a spazz. But, like I said, she never bit anybody and intruders never broke into our house when the neighbors on the other sides were hit.
 
Me and my rescue dog Coby (originally Token when I got him at 7 months). Had him 2.5 years now, best dog ever. He had been back to the humane society twice already, I can't imagine why. Supposedly he jumped fences and was too high energy, perfect for me since I have no fences and take him running/hiking/biking all the time, perfect companion, never flakes on me, never complains, and always has a smile when I come home!

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Here is Bruno, We adopted him last may. He is about a month old in the first picture, and 4 months old in the second and third.

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that is a damn good looking Boxer!

Love the bull breeds- So powerful looking. Our puppy is a pitt and has been by far the smartest, easiest and fun dog I have ever met. He listens like he knows english!
 
MikeFlynn74 said:
that is a damn good looking Boxer!

Love the bull breeds- So powerful looking. Our puppy is a pitt and has been by far the smartest, easiest and fun dog I have ever met. He listens like he knows english!


Thanks for the compliment! His name is Otto. You can sorta see one of the burn scars on his back just above his tail, but the more serious ones are on the other side, on his thigh. Supposedly, he got too close to a heat lamp not long after he was born, but I'm not sure. The puppy mill owner sold him to a mentally-challenged teenager at a flea market, probably for whatever money the kid had in his pocket at the time. Parents didn't want the dog and threw him in the backyard. A friend from church heard the story and found us, and we agreed to give him a home.

As a pitt owner, you'll get a kick out of this part: if we hadn't taken Otto, supposedly the kid's uncle was going to "make a fightin' dog outta him." Laughable, really, as Otto (and boxers in general) are not your most ideal fighting dogs. They'd far rather jump around and play. Or, in Otto's case, run behind me and peek around if something is unfamilar or scary.

I love how he leaps around! He's my first boxer and I know it is characteristic of the breed, but wow! He jumps and springs around like a deer. Looks like Tigger, sometimes. Jump, jump, pounce!
 
Read the Wikipedia article on Boxers- Really interesting. There used to be 2 near my house that would run up and down the fence all the time. I always thought they bounded like deer. Course they would run into eachother and scrap it out for a second. It was hilarious.

Our black dog is half pitt/rottie. She wont let anything or anyone get near me its hilarious. She had a tough time adjusting to the puppie but is now good with him.
 
MikeFlynn74 said:
If you treat dogs like equals they will do what they want. Dogs are not equals and should be well aware whos the Alpha.

But hey whatever you feel like putting up with.

I don't know where you got the idea that I let my dogs run the roost. Nothing could be further from the truth. Believe me, my dogs know who the boss is. It' s just that the shelter dog was a LOT more set in her ways when we got her, and I'm not going through that again. When you get a puppy, you get to break it in the way YOU want.

OK, I'm done with this now. I can explain my position on this till I'm blue in the face, and someone will always read something into it. I'm truly glad that you folks are enjoying your shelter dogs, and have had good luck with them. rock on!
 
Reading this thread makes me want to get a dog again. I live in a 1 br apartment though so that probably wouldn't be the best idea.

When I was a child, we were looking for a family dog and took an ex-herder shepard "on trial" from a local family. Turns out if the family wasn't herding as he liked, he'd nip the offender to get them where he wanted. After I received my first "nip," I made my parents carry me around the house so I didn't have to touch the floor where the dog was. Needless to say, we didn't keep the dog. I can understand why grown/shelter dogs represent challenges, but in a worst-case-scenario, if the dog really isn't going to work for you, "trading" it at the shelter would give it another chance to be adopted by someone that might fit it better, and gives another dog a chance that it might otherwise not have had.
 
Laurel said:
Reading this thread makes me want to get a dog again. I live in a 1 br apartment though so that probably wouldn't be the best idea...
Same here, I really want to get another dog but I don't want to subject it to apartment life.
 
Laurel said:
... a worst-case-scenario, if the dog really isn't going to work for you, "trading" it at the shelter would give it another chance to be adopted by someone that might fit it better, and gives another dog a chance that it might otherwise not have had.

Yes.
Some (better) shelters will test dogs for a number of behavioral traits and write a summary (agressive when someone gets near his/her food, reaction to sudden noise, etc.). The adopting party gets a broad picture before jumping in.

EDIT: and the summary can also include a section filled by whoever surrended the animal. For my beige friend, it said "'lazy in the morning"... and she is!
 
I'm kinda a dog expert, or at least so my friends believe. Often, I've been asked to go to a shelter with them to help them pick out a dog that matches their expectations and lifestyle. I can totally see how it doesn't work out many times, as I usually have to divert my friend away from a "cute" one that obviously (to me, anyway) won't work for them. Typically, they are drawn to a really cute guy who happens to be high-energy, when the friend I'm helping doesn't have what the dog needs in that regard. If I hadn't talked them out of it, it would probably have been a disasterous adoption, with both dog and person frustrated constantly. Of the 4 times I've helped friends choose, this happened 3 times. It has to do with matching needs of both human and canine.
 
Shelter dogs aren't for everyone.

Let's agree that it is better to get a dog that matches your lifestyle than to pick up just any old pooch at the pound.

I have a pound dog but they are not for everyone as evidenced by the fact that I was the third owner of this dog in only a year.
 
For all the mutt owners, have you seen this?
http://biopetvetlab.com/dnadistributors.htm

Kind of interesting. If I had any reason other than pure curiosity, the price might be worth it.

We were told the mom was mostly Corgi, what do you think? Your guesses are free. If I had to guess it would be Corgi (short legs) and Jack Russel.

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Beerrific, do you have a side picture?

The head reminds me of an Italian Greyhound ....
 
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