breeds and adopting from a shelter

puppluv

New Member
Joined
Jul 5, 2010
Messages
18
Likes
0
Points
0
#1
How do you approach picking out a dog/puppy when you go to a shelter? I have researched every common breed and feel like I have an idea of what I want in a dog but what happens when I go to the shelter? Especially in a high kill shelter where you may or may not get to talk to anyone who has spent any significant amount of time with the dog you are interested in? And how much faith can I put in the labeled breed?
What I want:
small 10-30lbs
preferably a puppy but adults are not ruled out
easy coat-I really don't want to have to take the dog to a groomer
And I don't want a dog that is hard wired to bark
I am not sure what I want in terms of personality. I do want a confident, even keeled dog but that doesn't mean it has to be low energy.

When we got our dog Lucy I just saw her and knew I wanted her. Thankfully she ended up being a dog that we liked, she is nothing like the dog I picked out, ha. She is like a couch cushion that breathes. At the shelter she was more energetic. I spent maybe 10 minutes with her and brought her home.

What is your advice when going to a shelter? I really, really want to adopt from our local shelter to support my community and because of the high kill rate (80% I think). They choose dogs (not sure how the process works) and spay/neuter them, vax them, and they try really hard not to put these few chosen to sleep. They have several 60+day dogs right now.

We are going this weekend or early next week to take a look. Will there be a magic "click" with a dog? I don't want to get a dog just because it is a (insert breed).

TIA and sorry this post is so long.
 

Sweet72947

Squishy face
Joined
May 18, 2006
Messages
9,159
Likes
1
Points
38
Location
Northern Virginia
#2
I have a lot of experience interacting with a dog in a shelter situation, and here is what I advise you to do. Bring a few treats with you for this.

See if you can meet the dog in a quiet room. Observe the overall behavior of the dog when first meeting him. Is he happy/wagging/jumping on you, trying to lick you? That's good, means the dog has a pretty confident temperament. If the dog is shy, get down on his level, let him sniff you out, don't pet him unless he asks, and let him feel you out, see if he'll take a few treats from your hand. Does he come out of his shell in a few minutes, get all waggy, solicit attention, start frolicking a bit? If so, that typically means that the dog is a little underconfident, but it can be solved with some basic training and socialization (which all dogs should have anyway). Many little dogs are going to be more like my second example, they tend to be very overwhelmed by the loudness and activity of the shelter.

If the dog seems comfortable with you, see if he will let you handle his feet, look in his mouth, mess with his ears, his tail, just generally check how he is with being handled. See if he knows any tricks, ask him to sit, lay, down, paw, shake, whatever you can think of and see if he responds. Get a toy and see if he plays. If he plays with it, see how he is if you try to take it back. Make sure, through all of this, that you watch the dog's cues very carefully. If you see signs that the dog is uncomfortable with something you are doing, stop. It doesn't mean the dog has a poor temperament or will be aggressive if he doesn't like being handled a certain way, it gives you a good idea of what needs to be worked on.

This is what I do with the dogs at FOHA, and it gives me a pretty darn good idea of what I'm working with. :)

Note: Dogs do act differently in a shelter than in a home; a shy dog may be more outgoing when away from an overwhelming shelter environment; a dog that seems crazy/hyper may be more calm away from the over-stimulation.
 

Maxy24

Active Member
Joined
Nov 29, 2006
Messages
8,070
Likes
2
Points
38
Age
32
Location
Massachusetts
#3
If you want to get a dog from the shelter you are talking about then I suggest an adult dog if you're picky, a puppy could turn out to be exactly what you want but he could also become the exact opposite. Now if you don't really care and are open to almost anything then a puppy could be fine, if you are really looking for a certain temperament or are looking to avoid a certain temperament then I would avoid pups. If you do choose a pup I would try to go with one that appears to be a breed of dog (or clearly a mix of this breed) you know is a good fit with your family. Still no guarantees (might not be like his breed should be) but it increases the chances that he'll be a good fit. If you don't like a terrier's instinct to chase small animals or be combative with other dogs then don't get something that looks like a terrier mix pup.

Otherwise, I agree with what Sweet said. Bring treats and a toy or two and play with him. You can bring a brush as well and see how he takes to brushing. So long as the shelter lets you take him somewhere quiet you can see if you can train him to sit and see if he can focus. Spend a good deal of time with the dog if they let you, some dogs will seem very you-oriented when you first get there but soon loose interest. Or some seem wary at first but soon decide they like you. At the shelter I volunteer at we have adoption events that last 3 hours, we'll have people hang out with certain dogs for the entire event (it's outside in a fenced in area so other adopters can come meet the dog too). Not only does it look good to the staff but the adopters get a better idea of what the dog is like (does he pass out for half of the event or is he go, go, go the whole time. does he hang out with them or explore and settle down away from the person, etc.). If you are going for a pup I'd get there early. Not only do they go fast, they don't stay awake long. At our adoption events the pups are awake for the first hour or so, then they SLEEP and people think they are getting a laid back, lazy pup when he's really an extremely energetic one. Also if a dog is barking in his kennel don't assume he's a big barker. Kennels are loud and stressful and many of the dogs bark simply because so many other dogs are barking. How exactly you'd go about testing if the dog would be a barker I'm not sure. You can try to avoid breeds known to be loud (pomeranians for example) which will at least decrease the chance of you getting a barker. Otherwise it's a hard thing to tell in a shelter environment.

I very much agree with Sweet on the shy dog thing, stop trying to pet him if he's not wanting it!! I've seen normally friendly dogs (with the volunteers) quickly become fearful of certain visitors because they went in and kept trying to touch the dog right off the bat when the dog was clearly saying not to. The dog becomes wary to approach and check you out because he thinks you are just gonna try and touch him again so he keeps his distance the entire time and is never able to get to know you. All they had to do was ignore the dog long enough for him to sniff them over and he would've been fine and friendly. For more shy dogs treats often do the trick.

Overall don't worry about it too much. Go in with a good idea of what you want and don't want and spend a good chunk of time with the dogs. Handle them, play with them, just hang out with them, get to know them and I'm sure you'll find the perfect dog for you.
 

puppluv

New Member
Joined
Jul 5, 2010
Messages
18
Likes
0
Points
0
#4
Thanks for the advice! I found my local shelter on facebook and apparently there is a well organized foster system and I am going to shoot an email to them and see if they have any that sound like what we are looking for. That might fill my desire to adopt from them but with more background information. And after hearing how amazing these fosters sound I feel like considering fostering for awhile rather than adopting. Hmmmm...lots to think about.
 

Maxy24

Active Member
Joined
Nov 29, 2006
Messages
8,070
Likes
2
Points
38
Age
32
Location
Massachusetts
#5
Oh, that's great! I didn't think most high kill shelters had big foster systems, so that's really lucky. The foster parents can give you a good idea of what the dog is like, that will also let you know if the dog is a barker, has separation anxiety, is housebroken, calm/active, good with other dogs and cats and kids of the people have them. Or you can foster and maybe keep one of the fosters eventually. Or just keep fostering without adopting, or do both. fostering would be a huge help, especially to dogs in a kill shelter, you'd be saving lives directly by keeping them in your house and away from the needle at the shelter.

Either way, keep us updated, I can't wait to here stories and see pictures of the dog you adopt or the dogs you foster.
 

puppluv

New Member
Joined
Jul 5, 2010
Messages
18
Likes
0
Points
0
#6
I have a few questions about fostering, I don't think this is the correct section to ask the questions so I'll go see if I can find the right section.
 

puppluv

New Member
Joined
Jul 5, 2010
Messages
18
Likes
0
Points
0
#7
I can't figure out where to post so I'll just ask here. How did you go about fostering your first dog? Did you just let them give you any dog or did you go pick one out?
 

Maxy24

Active Member
Joined
Nov 29, 2006
Messages
8,070
Likes
2
Points
38
Age
32
Location
Massachusetts
#8
I have never fostered but I know how it works at the shelter I volunteer for. We get in dogs on a Wednesday and if they are not adopted by Monday the shelter director starts asking for foster homes. We have an e-mail list so she just e-mails everyone saying which dogs need fosters and asking if anyone's interested in any of them. You can choose who you take home. For most of the fosters at our shelter they are volunteers as well so they already know all the dogs. Some shelters will e-mail all the fosters when they get a dog who needs one and ask who can take him. You don't always meet them before you decide though, you meet them when you go pick them up.

Every shelter does it differently though, you'd have to ask yours. The first step would be to fill out an application (it'll either be a foster app or a volunteer app that asks what you can help with and you can check "foster"). Then they should get in touch with you and you can ask your questions.

If you want to make a thread of fostering questions you can do it in the general dog chat section, but most things really depend on the shelter you volunteer for, they all have their own policies and procedures.
 

CaliTerp07

Active Member
Joined
Sep 9, 2008
Messages
7,652
Likes
0
Points
36
Age
38
Location
Alexandria, VA
#10
The way fostering works for our rescue is that a mass email goes out to the group each week with all the dogs that need fostering, and a brief description of each. If you're interested in fostering one, you email the adoption coordinator and let them know. You are then responsible for bringing it to at least 2-3 adoption events each month. If at any time the fostering doesn't work out, they'll work to find a replacement foster for you.
 

Members online

Top