Yes, March Hare and I have adopted another dog from the Humane Society. Everyone, meet Gryphon, our 5-month-old golden retriever mix:
The first few days we had her, she was quiet and docile and did not have any accidents in the house. And we thought, "Wow, we got a mellow dog and she's already fully housetrained!"
Then, she started getting used to being with us...and suffice it to say that she is neither mellow nor completely housetrained. She's been terrorizing the birds in our backyard--I don't think she realizes yet that she can't climb trees--and has completely destroyed one of the cables for our game console. But she's settling in nicely and is a really sweet and affectionate dog.
We are lucky to have gotten two wonderful doggy companions--Dormouse and Gryphon--from animal shelters. There are many more shelter dogs looking for a good home, so if anyone is thinking about getting a dog, please consider adopting one!
19 comments:
Congratulations ! Now make sure all your most expensive shoes are locked somewhere where she cannot get :-)
The Gryphon is precious! She's a very pretty girl and I hope her destructive powers taper off as she adjusts.
How cute!
The Gryphon is adorable!
Gryphon looks like she is having fun already ;)
Such a cute dog! Good luck with the house adjustment.
Thanks, everyone! She is definitely lots of fun and has tons of energy! We'll be arranging doggie play-dates soon with our friends who have dogs.
Massimo--Heh...fortunately for me, I don't have expensive shoes. I think most of them were in the $20-$30 range. Although I do hate shopping for shoes, so I probably should protect the ones I have to prevent having to replace them all!
Awesome dog, and awesome that you got her from the shelter. The veterinarians of the world thank you!
Very cute!
I second the adopting a pet from the shelter. Although I am pretty sure that I managed to adopt the four most awesome cats that are currently in existence, I know there are some great runner's up waiting for good homes.
Wow, she's beautiful! Congrats on your new friend!
Congratulations! What a cutie!
We got two awesome, cuddly, affectionate cats from our local shelter too. On the first visit!
Oh wow she looks awesome. Do you mind posting about how you chose her? What to look for in a shelter? My last experience was really bad, and I've heard people with similar stories. Yet I still would perfer a rescue dog. Tips would be awesome.
Yay!
Thanks! And hooray for other happy adoption stories! :-)
SM--I'm sorry to hear you had a bad experience with a shelter animal. I'm happy to share how we chose Dormouse and Gryphon, but to be honest, it may have been due as much to luck as to any selection process on our part!
We usually have a pretty good idea of the type of dog we'd like in terms of size, breed and temperament before we go visit shelters. Selecting for breeds that are more likely to fit with your lifestyle is probably a good thing, although both Dormouse and Gryphon were/are mixed breed dogs (we have a soft spot for mutts!) so breed wasn't much of a factor there.
At the shelter, we like dogs that are friendly and curious--the ones that run up to the front of their crates with tails wagging and an inquisitive/attentive look on their faces--but not hyperactive or extremely excitable. Most shelters keep notes containing either their staff's observations on a dog or the dog's previous owner's comments, which are often useful to read. Watching how a dog interacts with the shelter staff can be informative too.
Shelters that have private rooms for people to "meet" a dog they're thinking of adopting away from the distractions of other people and animals are the ones we like best. We base our decision mostly on how the dog interacts with us during the private meeting. A dog's behavior at the shelter isn't going to be identical to its behavior once you take it home, but our experience has been that dogs that are affectionate and non-aggressive with us at the shelter are even more so once they've settled into our home.
I do think, though, that no matter how careful you are in selecting a dog, there will be a period of transition during which you can expect to have to clean up pee and poop and to have some of your belongings destroyed. We pretty much expect to have to spend a few months gradually getting an adopted dog used to our lifestyle and house rules, with professional trianing if necessary. But then some of my friends who got purebred puppies from breeders have had as many behavioral issues with their dogs, so any new pet is probably going to need some patience and training no matter where it came from!
I hope this is helpful, but like I said, we may also just have gotten lucky with our two dogs. I hope you'll give the shelters another try and that you'll have a much better experience next time.
For me the issue seemed to be more about finding a trustworthy shelter, as opposed to picking the dog. Our last dog was great personality wise, but unfortunately ended up being unable to do any activities with us do to his age and health issues. We asked the right questions, just didn't get truthful answers....
SM--Are you saying that the shelter lied about the age of the dog and hid from you health issues that they knew about? I don't know who animal shelters answer to, but I imagine there'd be some recourse (better business bureau, governmental agency, etc.) if a shelter were being deceptive.
We currently have 3 dogs, all second hand ones. I have had recycled dogs in my life 'forever', and I would not hesitate to do it again.
One came from a shelter, and they were very serious. They actually came to visit to see the dogs we already had before they would let us have the little cutie.
The rest are dogs we have stumbled across and picked up. Some quite old. Old dogs come with a lot of history, and it isn't always easy to pick up what they want when you don't know why.
Give them time, safety and more time, and they will open up and tell their story.
If you pick up a dog that has been abused, be prepared to wait a long time for the dog to trust you. Get help from a dog psychologist if neccesary. An abused dog that comes around can be the best companion you will ever find.
SM, that's terrible! Did you try to make a formal or informal complaint? I'd be interested to hear what the law says in this situation...
When Mr.SM and I decided we wanted to get a dog, we did a ton of research into different breed. We ended up staying with Mr.SM's favorite, german shepherds. He wanted a purebread as his last two were awesome dogs. I've only had mutts that were given away for free. 15 years (the last time I got a puppy) there were a lot of accidental pregnancies. The number of free pups has drastically been reduced because people actually spray / neuter their pets (ThankGod for that).
We decided to go the rescue route (which was my preference). None of the the German Shepherd specific shelters would let us adopt because we keep our dogs outside (despite the fact that we give them lots of love and attention, take them to our farms and have them work side by side with us which shepherds love). We ended up going to the Humane Society. I looked at pictures online, talked to the foster owners and then asked for a vet record. The vet record stated the dog was ~3 years old, had xrays on the hip and determined he had no hip problems. Essentially the vets gave him a clean bill of health. When we met him, he was a friendly calm dog. I had some mis-givings when he couldn't jump into the truck, but didn't dwell on it.
When we took him running in the mountains, he couldn't do it. When we took running in the city he couldn't keep up and would start dragging his back legs. Within 2 weeks of adopting him, I took him to our vet. Our vet took one look at him and said he was double-digits. He had glaucoma in the eyes and hip issues. No running only walks. The vet figured the winter would kill him. The trainer also made that determination very quickly. In her opinion, anyone that spends time with animals should've known.
I went home and spoke to the Mr and his reaction was one of anger at the shelter and pity for the dog. I called up the shelter and lodged a compliant. They were willing to refund our adoption and vet bills, and to take him back. However, Mr.SM wouldn't have that. It was to cruel to send him back to a shelter when he had accepted us. We don't return children and we don't return our dogs.
We had to make alot of changes to accomodate the dog. I ended up giving up my runs as I didn't have time to first go for a run and then take the dog out for walk. He ended up lasting 4 years. We only put him down because he was not very happy about monkey being born. The SPCA felt it would be too hard to adopt him out again, at his age it would've been stressful.
My feeling is that I am in a catch-22. The reputable shelters will not accept us as owners because the dog is outside. Even though we have a huge yard (seriously its like 9000 sqft) and would take the dog with us to all our outdoor activities. We practically live outdoors. We eat breakfast lunch and dinner outside, our families have farms that we take them too. I either have to purchase from a breeder (which I'm hesitant to do), take the risk with a shady shelter or lie to a reputable one.
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