dog adoption center's high horse attitude?

[vash]

ok, i am in the process of adopting a second dog. i contacted the golden retriever rescue group most recently. all of them always ask, "so when you are at work, where will you leave the dog?" i always answer, "huh? in the backyard!"
when did that become the wrong answer? they want to hear, "in it's kennel! i love crate training!" since when did being locked into a tiny ass cage become more suitable for a dog? my current adopted dog, loves the backyard. when the weather permits, i just leave the backdoor open. she spends 90% of her time in the backyard when we are in the house. we have to call her to get her to come in. she loves it out there. her fav is when we are back there with her. what gives?

cliff

[dd74]

I was told the Beverly Hills shelters actually have a committee come and inspect your home to see if you "qualify."

[SilverPoly]

When you say rescue center, that mean these dogs come from homes where they are abandoned and neglected.

Maybe when they think of an ideal Golden Retriever owner, this comes to mind.



Provided the dog had a dog house and blankets, the dog would be fine. But then again, how cold does it get up there in S.F.

[nostatic]

we just adopted another cat, and there were a couple of cats there that were taken into protective custody from an abusive owner. Adoption of those cats required a personal visit and inspection from animal control to check out your house and living conditions.

I'd rather they spent the money keeping their animals healthy...our new adopted stray is at the vet in isolation with a very nasty upper respiratory infection requiring IVs and a lot of other $$$ stuff. Then the vet has the audacity to ask us to pay for a $180 test for some other viral thing ("but we'll only charge you $100"). They won't get the results for 2 weeks and it wouldn't affect our cat's treatment, but it would allow them to notify the shelter that they had this virus around as well as have them know it had been in their vet kennel. We politely declined, and suggested if they wanted to know about the virus then *they* pay for the test.

When you're $500 into a vet bill for a $40 stray cat and they want to ding you for another $100 for *their* benefit, my altruism starts to get a bit strained...

[dd74]

The vet took $3,500 off my old man when his dog broke her leg. Half up front, half when the cast comes off.

[cegerer]

I don't think the "cage" is as bad as it might sound. Dogs love having their own little 'den' to hang out in. We didn't even have to close the door on our dog's cage because it would just go in there when it wanted to get away from everyone and sleep - it knew it was safe there. There are concern's with keeping a dog outside without supervision - skunks, squirrels, cats, raccoons, etc. Just my opinion. -- Curt

[vash]

home inspection is coming up.

[arcsine]

I have worked with a great dane rescue organization and yes we inspect houses and interview the potential owners. The biggest fears are of the dog coming back into the program. Risking offending potential owners by interviews/inspection comes a distant second to knowing up front that the dog was going to be put into a good situation.

[dd74]

How are the rescue dogs? Are they predominantly skitterish at first, or does it just depend on the dog?

[vash]

no problems with the first adoption. i was amazed how many surrenders were given up, just because a husband didnt like it, they were moving, or they just had a baby.....lots of reasons that didnt make total sense to me. those dogs are pretty damn good. my dog was given up, because the owner joined the navy. she kicks A! i have a no pit bull or look alike rule because they seem to freaky to me. probably just my personal prejudices. but those are the only dogs that have ever chased me. scary! too many good dogs out there to justify buying a puppy. plus puppies are friggen hell...

[pwd72s]

Maybe adopt a mutt? After all, how many of us can brag of pure bloodlines?

[arcsine]

How are the rescue dogs? Are they predominantly skitterish at first, or does it just depend on the dog?

In my experience it varied from dog to dog. Some dogs could overcome bad situations pretty easily and bond with the family quickly and in others the dogs were too dog-aggressive or messed up and had to be euthanized.

[Pat S]

My wife and I have been doing foster care for Boxers for about 5 years. They stay with us to get some basic training and allow time for transition from abuse, neglect, or whatever. It also gives time for us to assess the dogs temperment. Most dogs that come into the rescue are actually from the humane society and are strays or owner surrenders. Very few are real abuse cases. We did however loose one last month that was just way too neglected to recover.
We have done it in three states so far and some rescue orgs are better than others at making sure the dog fits the adoptive family, but all have been very careful about placement families.

In general for the boxers, 90% are so happy to be in a good home that they recover very quickly. A few take some time to get comfortable. Our rescues ALWAYS end up being more well behaved than our two permanent girls

After 5 years I can confidently say that when we decide to get another, we will get a rescue without hesitation.

[BlueSkyJaunte]

We foster cats all the time. The hard part is sending 'em back so they can be adopted (we work w/ a no-kill shelter, so we know they won't be euthanized).

I wish we could foster dogs as well but our German Shepherd will have none of it. She likes cats though...maybe it's a mom complex.

[DonDavis]

Unless you personally have a contact at a rescue, you may get someone that is a bit defensive for the dogs/cats/beta fish...(whatever), they have. Good luck with the new dog.

Coincidently, my neighbor down the street sold his house recently and it turns out he had a dog in the back yard. She had been there a year and had not been cared for very well. 2 Saturdays ago, he was packing up and asked if anyone was interested. My wife heard about it, took ONE look at her and said "I'll take her." The neighbor was a bonehead and his wife left him. He got the dog when they were going through the bumps of divorce. Anyway, her name is now 'Honey'. 2 reasons, she's honey colored and it's Pooh's favorite food. My wife is a big fan of Winnie the Pooh

We think she's German Shepard/Yellow Lab. She very cool. Now, our Min Schnauzer has someone to boss around.

[dd74]

Originally posted by DonDavis
My wife is a big fan of Winnie the Pooh

Don - Pooh's cool. Your wife has good animation taste.

[DonDavis]

Thanks David, but I think it may have more to do with his 'Life Philosophy'.


waitaminute! She's gonna see this.


I mean, Yes! She does! Thank you.