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[RC] [RC] Our Two Puppies, Part Two - Deanna GermanI admit to not reading part 1 since I got an inkling it was about having to euthanize a beloved dog. I just can't read those, it tears me apart. But I did read part 2 and this jumped out at me: Howard wrote: There were hundreds of dogs and cats everywhere. And, then, we found the puppy section. Oh, my. Puppies. Little, itty bitty puppies, and, aren?t they just the cutest things you ever did see. My wife and I had found our section in the Humane Society. Puppies!!!! If you want to truly save a dog's life, resist the puppies. Puppies get adopted most easily. Resist the small dogs, they are the next most adoptable. If you want to truly save a dog's life, get a big, black dog or a veteran (over 7) dog. Those are the ones no one wants. All the big, adult dogs are hard to place. It's hard to find fault with adopting a dog from a shelter, but when an adoption doesn't work out, one or more of these things happened: - The dog was acquired on impulse -- it's generally not good to decide to go and just "pick one" (or two or three), particularly after the death of a beloved family member. Instead, take time to think about how a new dog will fit in to your lifestyle and take time to research breeds. - There was little understanding of the breed or breeds if it's a mix (why people are surprized that a Border Collie mix has endless energy or that a retriever mix likes to carry the dirty underwear around the house in his mouth is beyond me) - There's no committment to training (all shelter dogs have issues and some you might not discover until in the company of other dogs, or people in hats, people with sunglasses, your boss who you want to really impress, etc. -- the good news is that most of the time it's just another training issue). To dispell a common myth, unfortunately waaaaay too many purebreds wind up at shelters, especially the most popular breeds. The reason you don't see many of them is that most shelters let purebred rescue take them. I've seen Labs, Goldens, Dalmations, Rotties and even an Italian Greyhound. Good luck with your new family members, Howard. And don't worry about the female your wife picked out. I have a feeling she'll be able to hold her own just fine. :-) Deanna PS - And to keep this endurance related, my shelter rescue and re-home dogs often accompany me to rides. :-) =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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