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How many of you have adopted a dog/cat from the pound?


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We are still looking and searching for our doggie. :001_smile: There are so many available and I am no expert by any means. You've given me great breeds to look for & some mixes even. I am worried about house breaking, a dog that barks incessantly, or one that nips.

 

I am aware that good dogs can be found at the pound. I am hesitant because I don't really know what to look for........

 

Any thoughts or tips?

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We got our kitty from the pound about ten years ago, and she has been a fabulous addition. One bit of advice we were given, which I'm guessing applies to dogs as well, is to look for a grown animal rather than a kitten or puppy. The reasoning is that you can get a much better idea of their long-term personality.

 

I would also say to take your time. At our shelter, they had a little room you could go in to interact with the animals, that was very helpful. Plan to go more than once, and plan to leave for a discussion before making a final decision. Sometimes you really need to break the spell of cuteness in order to think things through :D

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... I am worried about house breaking, a dog that barks incessantly, or one that nips...

 

Regardless of the breed, you are GOING to have a problem if you don't get yourself trained on how to own and discipline a pet, prior to getting your new pet.

 

That, and I'd recommend a young dog; puppy or young adult. It's more hassle but you don't have to worry about "hidden issues" that could arise unexpectedly...sometimes years later, and result in a child in the hospital.

 

Much of "long-term personality" is a result of how you have established the dog as a member of your pack.

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We adopted a German Shepherd mix from the pound last year. He is 18 months old now. He is wonderful and I can't imagine life without him. We found him on Petfinder.com and ended up getting him at the animal control/pound in our county. The listings will usually describe their temperament, if they are housebroken, any behavior problems, if they are good with kids or other dogs, etc.

 

We are actually in the process of trying to adopt another dog this week. We also found that puppy on Petfinder.com. He is at a foster home about two hours away from us and was rescued from a "kill" pound.

 

I find that most places are very honest about the dogs. They want to find a good family that makes a good match. I think if you ask questions or concerns about the dog you are possibly be adopting they will be open and honest with you. For instance our puppy had been very neglected and we were told that he was a shy and a bit of afraid of things. Amazingly though when we were sitting next to the row of cages he was the one who came up to us. When they let us have him in a room he was a bit shy but very cuddly. He fell asleep in my daughter's arms on the car ride home. He does startle easy but is very attached to us. When we got him home I could practically hear him sighing in relief. Of course it was an adjustment but after a few days he seemed so happy.

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interact first with the dog. You know what you are looking for so go looking by yourself-no kids until you feel comfortable with the final choice. Push on the dog, offer it some treats if allowed, gently tug ears, fur and tail and watch the response, handle the feet and move the toenails around a little. If it seems ok with all of this then move it's lips and look at the teeth. Many dogs don't enjoy this, but most will submit to having their mouth looked at. THese are things I did when we adopted. Things I did also when I worked at the pound to see what a temperament was like. If you have good pound they will test the dog for food aggression using a dummy hand. That is a big test for some dogs that have been found starving.

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We have rescued our current dog and two kitties from animal shelters. My mom does the fostering & rescue for the different breeds for her local shelter. That is the house I grew up in. There are more pictures of pets than there are of me & my siblings. Here are my suggestions.

 

1. You or you & Dh go to the shelter without the kids. If you skip this step your kiddlets will fall in love with the least appropriate animal.

 

2. You find out if the animals have been worked with while they are there. The people who work with them will be able to tell you things like if the dog is good with kids or shy around other animals.

 

3. Keep in mind that the shelter is a loud and traumatizing place to be. That means the puppy who is cowering in the corner may just have been dropped off alone and is missing his litter-mates, it doesn't mean he will always be quiet. The reverse is also true. The wild thing bouncing off the walls of the cage may be over stimulated by the noise.

 

4. If you find a potential new family member ask if you can take him/ her out into the yard. Most shelters have a fenced in area where you can take a potential pet and play or just sit and interact. Plan to spend a little time to see that animal's real personality.

 

After you have gone through these steps then bring your kids into the equation. Be prepared as well for your children's feelings of distress if they are old enough to figure out what happens to the animals that do not get chosen. Remind them that they are saving a life. Keep in mind that while puppies and kittens are cute, a sightly older animal will be house or litter box trained.

 

I hope you have a great time looking for your new family member.

 

Amber in SJ

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Yes, the advantage to the older pet is that you know its personality better, BUT you will also have a harder time breaking bad habits. An full grown dog might be harder to train (house break) than a puppy, if it is not already completely house broken. My dog came from the shelter (all our pets did, actually) when he was between 1 and 2. Getting him fully housebroken has been a challenge. Sometimes he goes for long stretches where he is 100% accident free and other times he still has them. Of course, part of it could be that he just isn't very smart! He is a lover, so that makes up for the little brain. :)

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We adopted our 5th cat from the local animal shelter and we love her! She adores my girls, and tolerates the rest of us. She's become the playmate for my Siamese, who otherwise pesters the snot out of my other cats who really don't appreciate his jester-like antics.

 

When we adopted our dog, we got him from a local rescue. That was a great experience. We told them what life with our family was like, and they recommended some dogs to us. We met them and chose one. It was great. I was a neophyte dog owner, and had no idea what I was doing, and they gave us a perfect dog.

 

I have not yet felt confident enough to adopt a dog from a shelter. I am not good with "issues." I hate to say that, because it makes me sound mean, but it's the truth. We ended up giving our other dog away before we moved, and he is VERY happy with our friends. We're not ready for another dog yet so we don't have one right now.

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I agree with gently tugging on its ears, tail, etc. and touching its paws and teeth, etc. With all of our dogs we also trained them to let us touch them, etc. while they were eating. We don't have any small children but do have some visit sometimes and wanted to be sure that the dog wouldn't be aggressive if bothered while eating. This will also be good since we are planning on adopting another puppy within the next week or so.

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I agree with gently tugging on its ears, tail, etc. and touching its paws and teeth, etc. With all of our dogs we also trained them to let us touch them, etc. while they were eating. We don't have any small children but do have some visit sometimes and wanted to be sure that the dog wouldn't be aggressive if bothered while eating. This will also be good since we are planning on adopting another puppy within the next week or so.

 

This is great advice. When we are ready to get another dog I will remember this.

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My parents just adopted a dog from a group that fosters dogs until a "good fit" can be found. My parents filled out a very detailed questionnaire regarding the ages of the grandchildren, the amount of exercise the dog would be able to receive each day, whether the dog would be in the company of other dogs., etc.

My parents had to wait a little while for a dog until a good fit was found, but the wait was well worth it for them. They have a very calm dog that is great around the grandkids.

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All our dogs but one (and that was when I was in my teens) have been shelter dogs, and they've all been the most wonderful animals you can imagine. We got all of them quite young; the oldest was six months. With all of them, we went to obedience school classes; my daughter has been in charge of the most recent two -- she did the classes with them (aged around 12), she has trained them.

 

The biggest change has been the creep from outside dogs when I was younger to dogs who were allowed inside on special occasions to dogs who were allowed in the kitchen/dining room most of the time to dogs who now believe they are full-fledged housemates: "What? Go WHERE?" (But they aren't allowed on the furniture -- yet.)

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We have adopted all of our pets throughout the years from a shelter. We've had 4 cats and 2 dogs and didn't have any problems with them. The shelter we use is very up front about the personalities of the animals and even have certain requirements for certain animals, such as a dog that isn't allowed to be adopted into a family with a cat because they know the dog wouldn't get along well with the cat. Or not letting a family adopt if they don't have a fenced in area for the dog. Our pets have always come with a bill of health from a vet, and of course we take the new pet to our regular vet for a checkup as soon as we get him/her.

 

Ask lots of questions, about ANY concerns you have. Ask if they allow a trial period to see how the pet interacts with your family. Go and spend time with the animal at the shelter first. Our shelter has areas specifically designed for that and they highly encourage it. The last animal we adopted, a dachshund, was delivered to us rather than us just taking him home. They wanted to check out the house and see how the dachshund would interact with our beagle mix. Luckily they took to one another right away.

 

The worst experience was adopting a kitten when I was 15 yrs old. He was very young and I don't remember the circumstances other than he didn't have a mom around at the shelter. He was always a sort of mean cat. He didn't like to cuddle or be petted too much. He loved to roughhouse like chasing a toy mouse. He would hide around corners so that when we walked down the hall, he would leap up and scratch our legs. It was bizarre. We were all kind of afraid of him. My mom finally gave him away, to a vet, when she was living alone. I have NO idea why he acted like that, but I never had another experience like that.

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We've adopted a dog and two cats from the pound/animal shelter.

 

I'd recommend reading descriptions on Petfinder (http://www.petfinder.com), talking to the staff (a reputable pound or shelter is interested in making a good match so that the pet doesn't come back) and waiting patiently until you find a good match. It took us a few months of looking and waiting before we found our current dog, and he is a gem.

 

You might look for an older pup. Often they are overlooked because they aren't the cute tiny baby stage, but they are often already housebroken and have some beginning training. We didn't really want a puppy, but our dog was *perfect* for us. He was young enough to be adpatable and cute and playful, but he was very calm and had some good basic manners. And his foster mom is our pet sitter when we go out of town. :)

 

Cat

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Both of the dogs we have now were shelter dogs. We love them and have no regrets. Both our dogs are larger mutts (one a lab/husky and the other a lab/rottie, we think) and were adults or nearly so (4-ish and about 1 year) when we adopted them. When someday we want another dog, I am not going to hesitate getting another shelter dog. We don't think either of our dogs was abused in their former lives, but from what we know they probably lived in less-than-ideal situations...the husky mix hates loud noises and when she was younger had a tendency to "roam" even though she lived in a dense urban area, while the rottie mix was tied up outside 24 hrs/day and could not get any exercise so acted up all the time. Because we live on a large rural property where the husky mix can protect our chickens from the local coyotes, and the rottie mix can have tons of room to romp and play and gaurd us, neither of those "problems" are problems anymore. :)

 

So my advice is, try to pick an animal that has a temperment that will fit in well with your family's lifestyle. Then, if you get a dog, do go to some kind of professional training with your pet soon after you bring it home. Money well spent!

Edited by jar7709
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As far as training goes, is a dog ever too old to go to a basic class? Or is there a class for older dogs? I actually prefer older dogs to puppies.

 

There are puppy classes, and there are adult dog classes. :) So just call around in your area. We took our lab/rot to a local trainer who works with police dogs. He was excellent and our lab/rot now impresses visitors with how well trained he is. Make sure though whatever class you go to is really hands-on with you (or your kids, whoever will be the primary dog-caregiver) so that you really know how to practice and maintain the training at home.

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This coming January will mark 3 years from the time we adopted our cat from a high kill shelter in Calif. Long story.......but, at the shelter worked a middle aged woman and a young college student. They volunteered their time when they could b/c of their passion for animals. They took home what they could. The college student posted our cat and I KNEW our family would love the Ragdoll cat. She interviewed me and we matched. She was pleased with choosing us and I respected her for taking it seriously of finding the right family for this pet.

 

The older woman's profession is that of a flight attendant. She spent months, but she WILLINGLY CHOSE to fly to our home state of NC to transport our cat. She did this on her day off mind you! She was able to transport the cat at no charge from the airline and the shelter expected no money.

 

I personally believe people "should" pay something. It holds them more accountable, hopefully.

 

So, after I deposited a "small monetary gift" into her hand, we walked out of the airport (where we met) with cat in carrier!

 

Don't know if you're looking for that kind of info. Also, PetFinder has great pets.

 

IF you know the breed you want you can google specifics, like: Golden Retrievers to adopt....or something like that. That's how I found the site that posted for our cat.

 

She IS THE BEST cat in the world. HOWEVER, she had a rough start and to be honest with you it took a good 2 years for her to **FULLY** come around and feel comfortable with us. She was about 20 mo old when we brought her home and this coming Jan we will have had her for 3 years!

 

We've been told by the vet that our cat is probably Ragdoll. To confirm would require a blood test and it's just not worth spending that money. We're not going to give her back if she isn't purebred. She looks and act like a purebred Ragdoll. She's beautiful, smart and fun.

 

Our dog is another story. She was from a breeder. The same breeder who knew the pedigree of our first lab who was such a great dog. Our first lab looked a little more "English" and our current lab looks a little more "field". We prefer the English look....square boxy head as opposed to the field which has a little more of an elongated head.

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We are still looking and searching for our doggie. :001_smile: There are so many available and I am no expert by any means. You've given me great breeds to look for & some mixes even. I am worried about house breaking, a dog that barks incessantly, or one that nips.

 

I am aware that good dogs can be found at the pound. I am hesitant because I don't really know what to look for........

 

Any thoughts or tips?

We got our beautiful border collie mix 5 years ago from the pound. She has been just about the Best. Dog. Ever. We did read Cesar Milan's book, and also got a good book about adopting and what to look for.

 

My dog was a bit aloof, but did make eye contact. She didn't jump on us or act overly excitable. She didn't seem nervous or skittish in any way. She didn't bark or lunge or anything. We took her out to a visiting pen and hung out with her for a while. She seemed slightly more interested in the surroundings than in us. Somehow my dh knew she was the one. We have never had a behavior issue with her, ever. Well...she does like to check out what's in the trash can...;)

 

There are lots of web sites and the folks at a good shelter or rescue should help you too. Good luck!

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I always have planned on getting animals at the shelter, but somehow I end up getting them off the side of the road (literally!) instead & skipping the shelter step!! I picked up a dog on the way home from work 1.5 years ago and a kitten on the way to work 4 mo ago - we adore them both, and they've been great fits to our family!

 

If I did get one from the shelter - I would be highly tempted to get on from the local no-kill shelter, as I've dropped dogs off there before & spoken with the ladies running the place & I'd be comfortable that they would go out of their way to make sure I had a good fit. Also, they interact on a more personal level with the dogs they have (since they genuinely want them ALL to find good homes) and therefore know much more intimately each dog's advantages and shortcomings. Generally, such a place would be willing to let you temporarily foster or do a trial period on dogs to see how things work out, as well, without worrying about "sending beloved Freddy back to be killed".

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A couple other things about shelters in general I would add:

 

First, be prepared to be turned away. Many shelters now have very strict requirements about who they allow to adopt animals. If you don't meet their requirements, they won't allow you to adopt a pet. I once tried to adopt a kitten from a shelter because I wanted a friend for the tiny kitten I'd rescued from a bad home. The kitten I had saved was only five or six weeks old, and I wanted to wait until the kitten was stronger and older to have her spayed (which I did do a couple of months later, btw).

 

The shelter told me that because I had unspayed animals in the house, I would not be allowed to adopt an animal. If you have purebred animals you use for breeding, you can't adopt from some places. If you rent, they'll probably want a letter from your landlord.

 

Also, it's a good idea to get to know the animal before you adopt it, but don't take too long. The shelters don't hold an animal while you're getting to know it. If someone wants to adopt it, the shelter isn't going to stop them.

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When the older kids were 4-6-8, we adopted a 2-3yo lab from the city pound. She was a mostly good dog - easily trained, but had some issues from being abused as a pup.

 

When youngest DD was 2, we adopted a 1yo cat from the city pound - we picked him because he was willing to tolerate the toddler.

 

Now, with only older kids (youngest is 10yo), we took the plunge and adopted 2 puppies from the city shelter. I couldn't have taken on the training with littler kids - just takes too much time. They are good girls with no real bad issues - though they are teething fiercely still at 9 months. Sigh - I keep having to rescue plastic bags and shoes....

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We got ours at the local shelter, and she has been a super little addition to the family. Can't imagine not having her.... There were a few little bumps at the beginning, mostly with house training, but now she's just fine. My advice would be to look for a dog who is interested in *you*. Ours just sat and wagged her tail and stared at us longingly (if a dog can do that! She probably just wanted out of the kennel, lol.). We knew she was the one from the start, and she has been perfect for us. She is a Border Collie-Papillion mix.

Best of luck!

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I am worried about house breaking, a dog that barks incessantly, or one that nips.

 

I would encourage you to adopt from a rescue organization rather than from a pound. They generally have spent some time living with the dog, and can give you an assessment of the dog's personality. They will have taken care of any health issues (e.g., fleas, mites) resulting from the pound. They may have worked on behavioral training, such as crate training and house breaking. Many specialize in a particular breed, but may include mixes, and can advise you whether that breed in general, and a specific dog, will fit well in your household.

 

We adopted our current dog from a pound, he had been a stray. He has been wonderful. But he came from the pound with a number of skin issues we needed to treat. It took a year before his true personality completely came out (the honeymoon period can last for months). He looks and behaves totally differently than when he was at the pound (both improvements for the better). He is a fabulous dog and we don't regret a moment of it.

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We got our 3 year old cat from the no-kill shelter, but we got her as a kitten. That's very different from getting an adult animal. My niece has 2 cats she adopted as adults from the same place. In one case she actually asked for the oldest cat and got an 8 year old. She volunteered there as a teen and knew the older ones don't get adopted.

 

While both cats have been good cats (even after her now 3 year old twins were born), the older one I mentioned above did have some health issues.

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