Looking for a furry friend? Consider rescuing a dog for a healthier, housebroken companion!
#rescueadog #adoptdontshop #shelterpets #doglovers
Why Rescue a Dog?
– Avoid dealing with puppy training and house destruction
– Most shelter dogs are already housebroken
– Shelter dogs have fewer health issues due to mixed breeding
– Learn your dog’s backstory and feel good about saving a life
Where to Find Your Perfect Match
– Shelters are overflowing with dogs waiting for homes
– You can find any breed, even hypoallergenic dogs, at shelters
– Check out websites like petfinder.com before turning to breeders
Give a Rescue Dog a Chance!
– Rescue dogs have unique personalities and are incredibly grateful
– Help reduce pet overpopulation by adopting from a shelter
– Consider giving an overlooked senior dog a loving home
Don’t hesitate to give a shelter dog a chance – you might just find your new best friend!
Good tip, I’ll just add that having recently finished my hunt for a rescue pup myself, if you’re specifically looking for hypoallergenic dogs, you’re going to get 90% poodles in you search results. Hopefully you like poodles (we love ours.)
Our dog is still technically a puppy (~5 months old) but he’s already housebroken from the foster family that had him before we adopted him. There are definitely some skills and behaviours to work on with training, but he learns fast so it’s not a problem.
My parents told me they took at least a couple training classes with every dog they got, rescued or not, and it was always helpful. Even with the older dogs they took in. Training classes are as much about you and your dog getting to know each other in a controlled environment as they are about teaching the dog to do stuff on command.
Every dog adopted is one less dog killed
I totally agree. Just be wary that many rescue dogs have been abused and may have lasting, or lifelong, trust issues, often with men especially (personal experience from owning a rescue dog. Loves my wife, cautious with me).
Please take that into consideration when looking for a rescue because you’ll just make their trust issues worse if you end up having to give it back up after a few months because you can’t handle it.
Shelters can be shady. They often rename and shuffle around dangerous dogs, especially since now many shelters are overrun with pitbulls that people are getting rid of. Be very skeptical of the story a shelter is trying to sell you with a dog, especially a naturally dangerous breed like a pitbull.
Im gonna go against the grain here and say absolutely do not rescue a dog if you’re expecting an easy journey and because they’re ‘house trained’
I had one, they are great but loads of effort, especially due to a lot of them coming from abusive/neglectful households. If you do it, do it because you want to.
I’d add so many cautions around this statement. You are speaking in an absolute in your title which isn’t true. My rescue dogs are not healthier than some purebred dogs.
Also behavioral issues are something people overlook which are prevalent in shelter dogs which take so much more training.
You can even find purebreds there.
Happy story time
I used to volunteer at a kill shelter (super depressing, I know). One day, a guy brings in two purebred Great Danes. They had belonged to his uncle, and his uncle had a stroke and passed away. The guy didn’t want to take care of the dogs, and none of the extended family wanted them either. They were gorgeous, and he had even brought all their paperwork with him.
I start getting them settled into their kennel when a guy walks by and does a double take. He wants to know what’s up, so I fill him in. They were a drop-off, so they are immediately adoptable. He gets super excited and spends some time with them before calling his wife. I walk off to do some other stuff. When I pass back by he is still in the kennel but looking sad. So I ask him if she said no. He says no, even worse, only one. He is trying to decide what to do. We chat for a minute about how the dogs are probably pair bonded and I wish him luck in his decision.
A bit later I see him at the front filling out paperwork so I asked him what he’d decided on. He was grinning as he said both, then asked for a florist recommendation.
I have mixed feelings about rescuing dogs these days. All my dogs have been rescues. I have worked and volunteered at my local shelter for years. Generally speaking, mutts do have better health than purebreds. However it does depend on the parents of the dog, breed, and the dog itself. There are some dogs that are up for adoption that have a ton of health problems. Like I can tell you right now that a good 30% of the dogs at my shelter are sick. Heart worm is a big problem. Digestive issues and allergies are another big one.
Training. I can also say that many dogs come in not house trained or trained at all. A lot of dogs come with or develop behavioral issues. Many cannot be in a home with children or other pets. You have to remember that just because your home doesn’t have children or pets, your community does. So if your dog gets out and kills your neighbor’s dog or the child down the street, you are responsible.
Finally, I feel like shelters are just dumping grounds for backyard breeders and irresponsible owners right now. I’ll find a unicorn home for a dog with behavioral issues and next day I’ll get 10 dogs in with the same issue. 80% of the dogs in my shelter are pit bulls. Not knocking the breed but not everyone wants a pit bull. Not everyone can responsibly own a pit bull. So if you want another breed, you almost have to go to a breeder. Breed specific rescues have very long waiting lists and sometimes have strict guidelines.
Like I said, all my dogs have been rescues. My one dog, who recently passed, had a lot of behavioral issues. Every day was a struggle with her. While I loved her and she did have a lot of great qualities, I had a lot of anxiety about handling her. My parents bought a doodle puppy last year and it’s like night and day. I never worry about the doodle biting someone like I did with the rescue. If you want to rescue, that’s great. If you want to buy a dog from an ethical/responsible breeder, I also think that’s fine and people who do this shouldn’t be shamed.
Shelters around me are filled with pits and Chihuahuas.
I personally don’t do shelter pets after a shelter I rescued a cat from, failed to test him. Turned out he was really, really sick.
I don’t want a “lab mix”
I am all for rescuing. That said, a rescue can be at least as much work and money – if not more – than buying from a reputable breeder.
We rescued our dog 3 years ago and have since spent ~$3k on positive reinforcement training. He was extremely undersocialized…fearful and reactive to everything. He’s much more confident and less triggered by things now, but the first year was really stressful. He’s also not dog or people friendly, which is disappointing because the rescue told us he was. We didn’t have to potty train him, though, so we had that going for us.
We also are on the tail end of cancer treatment for him. It’s been ~$25k in vet bills over the last 4 months. He seemed perfectly healthy when we adopted him, but obviously had no medical history for him or insight into his parents’ health like you would get when buying.
Of course, you can end up with behavioral and medical problems when buying a puppy from a reputable breeder as well. But I do think rescuing is more of a roll of the dice. We are fortunate enough to have the resources to address our dog’s problems. Not everyone has that, so buying from a reputable breeder may be the best option for them. Backyard breeders can go to hell, though.
Fresh puppy rescue, yes absolutely. Did this twice now, best doggos ever.Â
Older rescue who could have been abused and who may require rehabilitation and retraining – no thx.
My previous rescue was neglected and abused. The rescue said they were hesitant for me to meet the dog since they’re usually fearful of men, but decided to give me a chance. We walked and in less than 30 minutes, she jumped up into my arms and gave me kisses. She wasn’t like that with everyone, but she was very protective of me. I miss her <3
My current rescue is just the sweetest little guy. Also abused in his previous life, he loves people. He would very cautiously approach people and ask for a pet but was prepared to run in case he was going to get hit. It’s been over a year and he is just the happiest little guy. Everyone that meets him loves him <3
I’m grateful they both chose me to be their person <3
Just be careful rescuing I know someone who rescued a dog. The dog behaved well with all our animals my dog and my mom’s dog meet it and they were friendly. About 3 days later that dog killed all her animals when she was at work, it was horrible.
Physically healthy*. Mentally not so much. My last two were rescues after my bullmastiff died suddenly. I love knowing the breeds for an idea of temperament etc. But rescue dogs are awesome.
I now have two, one was an outdoor dog on a reserve for a few months and is crazy anxiety but so smart. Other was a lurcher mix Grey hound/dane/wolfhound. I’d never buy again, you can get what you want for a companion, without shopping.
Do your homework. It’s not easier. It’s often harder because they bring a lot of baggage sometimes. I’ve rescued a few dogs and I’ve had to deal with PTSD, territory disputes, already present injuries, and biting. Don’t get me wrong though, it’s been great once everything gels together, but it’s a lot of work and especially if you are looking into certain breeds
So many people have great stories about rescue dogs, and so many people have great stories about puppies raised from breeders.
If you have a purpose in mind for your dog, it helps to get a purpose-bred dog from a breeder so you understand what you’re doing. I wouldn’t ask an Akita mix to be a gun dog, but I’d certainly train a lab, retriever, or field-bred poodle to hunt.
I wouldn’t expect that a husky is gonna be a herder, and I’d get a collie or shepherd of some variety.
With all dogs where I’ve got an occupational purpose other than ‘be my best friend’, I’m probably on the puppy train with carefully vetted breeders.
Some dogs on the other hand show up and don’t have or need a purpose except what you invent to keep them occupied and engaged. Huge fan of rescues for this. We’ll cast around till I find out if you want to dock dive, barn hunt, do agility work, obedience work, whatever gets their brain engaged.
I am always leery of problematic health breeds from rescues. I know it’s not the dogs fault, but if I’m getting a German Shepherd, I’m damn sure seeing the hip testing results on the parents before I have an 8yo dog that can’t walk. If I’m getting a golden, I want to know cancer incidence and basic genetic tests 4 generations back. I’d sooner take the generic middle america mixing pot mutt that might just be half alien and half Labrador (these get labeled lab/shep or lab/Pitt mixes everywhere) from a rescue over a clearly or apparently pure bred.
The one constant about who has the good stories is that good dog owners who pay attention to their dog, work with them, meet them where they’re at, and communicate in dog instead of human (dogs do not understand English, French, Japanese, German or Elvish until you teach them like… 10 words). The bad stories come from people who are mystified why they can’t house train a puppy they leave home alone for 10 hours, or why their husky isn’t doing well in a studio apartment and is crazy, or wonder why their dog won’t listen to them when they just run around screaming at them at the dog park to no avail.
Buy/adopt whatever dog is right for you and what you’re expecting the dog’s lifestyle to be. It’s like anything else – if I need to tow a trailer, I use a pickup truck. If I were to need to race my car, I’d use a Ferrari (I wish!). Not to simplify a dog to an inanimate object, but they need to fit into your life, not the other way around, so set up your circumstances to give everyone the best chance for that to happen.
20 years working with pups, No.
It’s always a gamble. Maybe healthy and housebroken but is fill in the blank.
Lots of right dog wrong owners in the world
I rescued my soul dog. Loved her more than anything but her life before me resulted in my spending over 30k to get her healthy. Also despite being older she was a bit incontinent and house training was a struggle. She was however the very best of good girls.
When I was considering getting a dog I read this book called something like Dogs for Dummies ( I am the target audience) and it recommends the complete opposite for people with little or no prior experience with dogs. You can mold puppies more and you will learn a lot from going to puppy training. Whereas dealing with older dogs’ quirks requires some experience.
This advice, while well-meaning, could backfire.
This guy has a “WHO RESCUED WHO” bumper sticker
I’m glad we rescued our pup but he definitely wasn’t healthier. He became severely ill as soon as we got him from the shelter. Right out the gate it was $6000 in emergency vet bills. Tests indicated he came down with 4 different infections in the shelter. We could have taken him back but they almost certainly would have put him to sleep. The only upside is that he was technically a foster at first, which made his medical care a tax deductible in kind donation to the shelter.
He was trained though. Obviously cared for. He came to the shelter with a note saying they were homeless and couldn’t be cared for anymore. Poor guy.
So yes, rescue the dogs. But no, don’t do it because you think they will be healthier.
Ugh, in Wisconsin I don’t see any hypoallergenic dogs. Am I looking in the wrong places or is it a regional thing?
You only get your house torn apart if you don’t treat them like you should.
They are babies and living creatures. They are not meant to be out of eyesight unless they are in a secured sleeping/resting area
Rescues come with their own problems and troubles. Do not expect a rescue to be any easier than raising a puppy. You are more likely to get desired results raising a puppy. Not guaranteed, but more likely if your way (or your trainers way) is all they’ve ever known
I’ve rescued three of my six dogs, all of them were different experiences and different struggles. But I don’t regret any one of them.
Definitely try to rescue if you have the capacity to!
One word of caution though. When I got my boy he was listed as a basenji mix. Welp, that’s honestly probably very unlikely. At first it was believable because he never barked and would seemingly yodel. Now I have suspicions that he was like this originally because he was abused before the shelter.
It seems like he was listed as such because of breed restrictions in the area. This didn’t change how he was trained but it would’ve been nice to know his actual breed before adopting.
I will also comment – ideally, if you’re getting a rescue, for your own sake in my experience, try to find one that has been in a foster.
Not every rescue will be this way, but in my experience they tend to be more honest about the pros and difficulties of the dogs in their care. The first dog we rescued was a bully, and came from an environment where he was abused and used for defense. When visiting dogs, I was very cautious of this, as I worked as a building manager in an apartment at the time and had young nephews, so having a dog that was friendly was important. The shelter lied to us. We were told he was surrendered by a family who couldn’t care for him any longer, and he was extensively tested with other dogs and people. We met him, he seemed great, so we proceeded.
He was highly aggressive on walks, reactive to both dogs and people, and extremely possessive and had very strong guarding instincts. We worked with him a lot, spent a lot of money on training, but eventually had to rehome him when he bit me with no obvious warning sides when I pet his shoulder.
This was an extremely traumatic and heartbreaking experience for me that haunts me to this day, and I don’t blame anyone but the shelter. We found out they lied upon further investigation and knew about his history, and that he had a bite history that was not disclosed.
We have a girl now who is wonderful. The foster was honest about her high prey drive, and all of her history, so we were better prepared for this adoption, and I truly found my soul-mate in this dog.
Rescued our last dog Penny and will never not rescue a dog anymore. Rescued dogs know what you did for them and will love you that much more for it.