Adopting vs. Buying a Puppy - UPDATE 1/15/13

[minkydog]

To give you an example, the kennel we rescue from currently has about 10 poodle/shih tzu mix dogs who would be hypoallergenic. So they are out there! Here is just one of many of the dogs who only have days to live:

I've been looking at poodle/poodle mixes for a few months now and i seem to find an abundance of small ones, around 10-20lb range. They look cute and appear to have good personalities, according to their write-ups, but it leaves me wondering: If these dogs are so great, why are they in rescue? I suspect a lot of these little dogs are not housebroken. People put up with it for a while, then they get tired of the stained carpets and "trade up" for a new dog, whom they, of course, will not housebreak either.

Am I right? those of you who work with rescues, aren't most of those little dogs piddlers?

I am not quite in the place to get a new dog but I am really torn about this. I would love to have an adult-to-senior, medium size poodle/poodle mix but I have to be honest. If they're not going to be housetrained, it's gonna be a deal breaker for me. I'm willing to give it a go--I housebroke my other dog when he was a pup and he would have rather exploded than wet or poop in the house. But if by "housebroken" they mean taking the dog out every 90 min during the day and twice at night, um, that's not housebroken, in my book. That's trip training. I'd love to have a rescue dog, but I'm not sure the rescues will let me adopt if I am honest with them about the house training.

 

[jrmasm]

I've been looking at poodle/poodle mixes for a few months now and i seem to find an abundance of small ones, around 10-20lb range. They look cute and appear to have good personalities, according to their write-ups, but it leaves me wondering: If these dogs are so great, why are they in rescue? I suspect a lot of these little dogs are not housebroken. People put up with it for a while, then they get tired of the stained carpets and "trade up" for a new dog, whom they, of course, will not housebreak either.

Am I right? those of you who work with rescues, aren't most of those little dogs piddlers?

I am not quite in the place to get a new dog but I am really torn about this. I would love to have an adult-to-senior, medium size poodle/poodle mix but I have to be honest. If they're not going to be housetrained, it's gonna be a deal breaker for me. I'm willing to give it a go--I housebroke my other dog when he was a pup and he would have rather exploded than wet or poop in the house. But if by "housebroken" they mean taking the dog out every 90 min during the day and twice at night, um, that's not housebroken, in my book. That's trip training. I'd love to have a rescue dog, but I'm not sure the rescues will let me adopt if I am honest with them about the house training.

A lot of fabulous dogs are turned in because people are lazy and suck.

 

[Pigeon]

I've been looking at poodle/poodle mixes for a few months now and i seem to find an abundance of small ones, around 10-20lb range. They look cute and appear to have good personalities, according to their write-ups, but it leaves me wondering: If these dogs are so great, why are they in rescue? I suspect a lot of these little dogs are not housebroken. People put up with it for a while, then they get tired of the stained carpets and "trade up" for a new dog, whom they, of course, will not housebreak either.

Am I right? those of you who work with rescues, aren't most of those little dogs piddlers?

I am not quite in the place to get a new dog but I am really torn about this. I would love to have an adult-to-senior, medium size poodle/poodle mix but I have to be honest. If they're not going to be housetrained, it's gonna be a deal breaker for me. I'm willing to give it a go--I housebroke my other dog when he was a pup and he would have rather exploded than wet or poop in the house. But if by "housebroken" they mean taking the dog out every 90 min during the day and twice at night, um, that's not housebroken, in my book. That's trip training. I'd love to have a rescue dog, but I'm not sure the rescues will let me adopt if I am honest with them about the house training.

We get a fair number of little dogs, but it's not a disproportionate number. Some do have housebreaking issues. Some have issues like wanting to eat the cat or not getting along with another dog. But many are abandoned for reasons that have nothing to do with the dog.

Some I've heard recently are:
Owner is moving to a no-dogs apartment
Owner died
Owner's kid developed allergies
Owner is being deployed overseas
Owner lost their job and can't afford a dog
Owner's kid likes to hurt the dog
Owner's new boy friend doesn't like dogs

If you go through a rescue, the dogs are generally fostered. You can talk to the foster and ask questions about how a particular dog behaves.

 

[JESW]

Did you leave your info with Buddy Dog? You never know what will happen with the people interested in him - the website says they are trying to adopt him out with another dog so maybe the people don't want two?

These are other local sites:

Hopkinton Humane Society
Save A Dog
Forever Home Rescue
Great Dog Rescue New England
Animal Rescue Network of New England (NH)

There are others, but those are the ones I've been checking lately.

Also, Petco is having dogs at their stores either on Saturday or Sunday - not sure if this is just for the month of December. I may go look at the Milford store this Sunday just to see how it's run.

Jill

 

[horseshowmom]

I've been looking at poodle/poodle mixes for a few months now and i seem to find an abundance of small ones, around 10-20lb range. They look cute and appear to have good personalities, according to their write-ups, but it leaves me wondering: If these dogs are so great, why are they in rescue? I suspect a lot of these little dogs are not housebroken. People put up with it for a while, then they get tired of the stained carpets and "trade up" for a new dog, whom they, of course, will not housebreak either.

Am I right? those of you who work with rescues, aren't most of those little dogs piddlers?

I am not quite in the place to get a new dog but I am really torn about this. I would love to have an adult-to-senior, medium size poodle/poodle mix but I have to be honest. If they're not going to be housetrained, it's gonna be a deal breaker for me. I'm willing to give it a go--I housebroke my other dog when he was a pup and he would have rather exploded than wet or poop in the house. But if by "housebroken" they mean taking the dog out every 90 min during the day and twice at night, um, that's not housebroken, in my book. That's trip training. I'd love to have a rescue dog, but I'm not sure the rescues will let me adopt if I am honest with them about the house training.

Mine is a Miniature Poodle (about 10-11 lbs.). He came from an animal shelter (had been turned in by someone who found him wandering the streets) and was about a year old. I've had him a little over a year.

I trained Max to pads because I sometimes have to work long hours. If I am home, he tells me when he wants to go outside. He seldom uses the pads when I'm here (basically, almost never), but he does if I'm gone or if he needs to go out during the night (which works well for me! ).

I think his main issue is that he must be on a leash when he's taken out because from time to time his curiouslty gets the better of him , and he won't listen when I tell him to come back (most of the time he does but not 100% so I don't take the chance).

We adore him though. My husband had me take their picture togeether the other night to put on Facebook. You'd have to know my husband to know how unusual that request was!

 

[LuLuO]

I wasn't bashing rescue groups. That was never my intention. I think they do fantastic work. I donate money, food and supplies to several rescues and also the Humane Socitey and the shelter where we found our dog. Her picture was up on a rescue group's petfinder site but they had nothing to do with the adoption process though I figure they sponsored her in some way through the animal control shelter and I sent a donation to them.

I was a groomer for six years. I groomed puppy mill dogs that came into shelters and plan to do that again when my kids are in school all day. I dog sat and cat sat and had references. I had references from co-workers who were involved in cat rescues and I knew the process I would have to go through. I had a reference from my vet.

I fostered a dog that was a client of mine. His owner died and we didn't want him going to a shelter. He was not a good permanent fit for me at the time because I was living with my mom. He was sick and was not up to date on shots. I spent the money to get him well. I called several rescues until I finally found one that would work with me to find him a home. I didn't ask for any reimbursement of the money I spent, the rescue got the adoption fee, and I donated a good chunk of money to the group for helping him out. Heck, I even have rescue fish.

I was dismissed by four rescues because I had a young child. They would not adopt an older dog to a young couple with a kid. They wouldn't even interview me, take my references or come to my house. I tried talking to all of them on multiple occasions. I knew that they may not have had any dogs at that time that were a good fit, but I wasn't in a hurry and I tried expressing that to them. No go.

I know they have the best interest of the animals in mind. This is their passion and life's work and I commend them for devoting their time and money to helping animals. I just think that sometimes people are dismissed without any consideration and an opportunity for an animal to find a forever home is missed and in turn a spot for another animal does not open up. Their prerogative of course and they have to do what they feel is best for the animals. It was discouraging for me though but that is why I went to the shelter instead of a rescue group and in the end we found our perfect match.

 

[piglet too]

We get a fair number of little dogs, but it's not a disproportionate number. Some do have housebreaking issues. Some have issues like wanting to eat the cat or not getting along with another dog. But many are abandoned for reasons that have nothing to do with the dog.

Some I've heard recently are:
Owner is moving to a no-dogs apartment
Owner died
Owner's kid developed allergies
Owner is being deployed overseas
Owner lost their job and can't afford a dog
Owner's kid likes to hurt the dog
Owner's new boy friend doesn't like dogs

If you go through a rescue, the dogs are generally fostered. You can talk to the foster and ask questions about how a particular dog behaves.

This is one of the biggest reasons why a great dog may be in a rescue. My good friend works for a rescue and they have had many dogs given to them simply because their owners could not afford to feed them any more. When money is beyond tight, and it is hard to put food on the table for your kids, sadly the expense of a dog is sometimes how money is saved.

I understand why rescues have to make sure the home they are putting the dog in will be a "forever" home. That said, the good breeders out there try to do the same thing. My parents have had three dogs returned to them in 20 litters. The one they have now, they are shocked because they can't understand giving up a dog on the off chance that it does not like a baby that has not even been conceived yet. This breed is great with kids, and I have pictures of all three of my kids, as babies, climbing on the various dogs and playing with them. The dogs have all been more gentle then my kids.

 

[mommyrosa2]

When I started this thread, I did so to hear everyone's experiences....the good, the bad, etc. This thread wasn't started to be a "bashing" although I've been around the boards long enough to know that certain topics will almost always lead to heated debating...please do not turn this into one of those threads. I really wanted and still want to hear what others experienced because I was honestly getting frustrated with my own experience thus far. Hearing that many others have had the same experience actually helps me to be a little more patient and not take it so personally and I, most certainly, do not judge all rescues/shelters to be the same. My heart, right now, is still set on getting a slightly older boy and I will continue to search and when I come across the right one for our family, I am confident I will know, albeit from a rescue, shelter, breeder or a private owner.

 

[mommyrosa2]

Did you leave your info with Buddy Dog? You never know what will happen with the people interested in him - the website says they are trying to adopt him out with another dog so maybe the people don't want two?

These are other local sites:

Hopkinton Humane Society
Save A Dog
Forever Home Rescue
Great Dog Rescue New England
Animal Rescue Network of New England (NH)

There are others, but those are the ones I've been checking lately.

Also, Petco is having dogs at their stores either on Saturday or Sunday - not sure if this is just for the month of December. I may go look at the Milford store this Sunday just to see how it's run.

Jill

The woman I spoke with took my name and number and said she'd get back to me. I'm going to look into the others you've mentioned above as well, so thank you sharing. As for Petco, I wonder if it's only certain ones? I tried calling the one in my town and they told me they don't show dogs at their facility, huh.

 

[mickeysgal]

Petsmart is where I see the adoptions.

 

[AlohaPolynesian]

I've been looking at poodle/poodle mixes for a few months now and i seem to find an abundance of small ones, around 10-20lb range. They look cute and appear to have good personalities, according to their write-ups, but it leaves me wondering: If these dogs are so great, why are they in rescue? I suspect a lot of these little dogs are not housebroken. People put up with it for a while, then they get tired of the stained carpets and "trade up" for a new dog, whom they, of course, will not housebreak either.

Am I right? those of you who work with rescues, aren't most of those little dogs piddlers?

I am not quite in the place to get a new dog but I am really torn about this. I would love to have an adult-to-senior, medium size poodle/poodle mix but I have to be honest. If they're not going to be housetrained, it's gonna be a deal breaker for me. I'm willing to give it a go--I housebroke my other dog when he was a pup and he would have rather exploded than wet or poop in the house. But if by "housebroken" they mean taking the dog out every 90 min during the day and twice at night, um, that's not housebroken, in my book. That's trip training. I'd love to have a rescue dog, but I'm not sure the rescues will let me adopt if I am honest with them about the house training.

Most animals I see in shelters end up there for the following reasons:

Death of owner
Divorce
Moved
Cost of owning a pet

VERY RARELY are dogs given up for bad behavior. Those that are are usually euthanized almost immediately.

I have two rescues. One was 9months when I got her and she was housebroken. The other was not. All dogs, house broke or not, tend to have a few accidents in their new homes as they adjust.

That is just from my experience.

 

[Pigeon]

Neither is bashing. I was sharing my experience and how I felt about it. Others on this thread have expressed similar feelings. Perhaps instead of dismissing negative feedback as bashing, it was should be taken into consideration to make the adoption process easier and more comfortable for all. If its really about finding loving homes for these dogs, maybe hearing about why they decided to go to a breeder, instead of a rescue, is important.

I agree with this completely. My involvement with our rescue is very low-key. I don't make the rules and I don't get involved in the politics. We do have a few of the over-involved volunteers who have seen people do so much bad stuff to animals that they now essentially hate people. And it shows.

It is good for everyone involved in rescue to step back from time to time and think about how they come across to potential adopters.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

My rescue that I was not sure of is part Border Collie and that is why I was unsure of her. I feared she would be way too hyper so I was nervous about taking her on. She is amazing and I can't imagine my day to day life without her now! She is also super duper smart.

I think I would enjoy a Border Collie myself.

 

[minkydog]

Most animals I see in shelters end up there for the following reasons:

Death of owner
Divorce
Moved
Cost of owning a pet

VERY RARELY are dogs given up for bad behavior. Those that are are usually euthanized almost immediately.

I have two rescues. One was 9months when I got her and she was housebroken. The other was not. All dogs, house broke or not, tend to have a few accidents in their new homes as they adjust.

That is just from my experience.

And I would expect some accidents due to the stress of being moved. I just don't want to get sucked into taking a.dog who cannot be house trained. If it became a pattern I would have to.return the dog and I really would hate that. But I know my own limits. I'm a nurse, so body fluids don't bother me much. Epilipsy, blindness, 3 legs, heart problems would not faze me. But excessive shedding and a pattern of weeing or pooping in the house would do me in.

 

[JESW]

Any luck yet??

I check around different sites on-line even tho we are not actively looking for a dog. I have been real surprised with how quickly it seems that Save A Dog in Sudbury gets dogs in and out. They had an event at Petco in Framingham last Saturday (meet and greet) and by the beginning of this week many of those dogs are listed as Adopted or Adoption Pending!

I like their site because they list the dogs they have now and the dogs they will be getting. Who knew that shelters also got dogs from places like St. Thomas??

Jill

 

[The Mystery Machine]

I think I would enjoy a Border Collie myself.

They are great. They have OCD and you feel like you are in "The Omen" sometimes when they sit and stare at you and don't move.

My border has every movement memorized. It can be creepy sometimes.

The collie personality is just "people love". They want to please people so bad and are always awaiting the master's commands.

Super smart, we have to challenge her mentally often. Plenty of "find" the ball, wrap up ball and let her dismantle the container, hide and seek, and other stuff.

She is almost 8 now and has fatty tumors & had tick disease so she is physically not 100% anymore. It stinks.

She is sleeping now. I got up too early.

 

[Rence]

With regards to piddlers etc. I can at least speak to our rescue and a few others that I am familiar with. We don't want an adoption to be a failure, so we are not trying to stick someone with a problem dog.

We consider than an adoption is never final. If it does not work out - contact us and we will try to help or we will take the dog back, you actually sign an agreement that you will not sell or give the dog away, but will return it to the rescue if you decide not to keep the dog.

The dogs go into foster and the foster home tries to identify any issues with the dog. We will be upfront if a dog has house training issues (the breed we work with is known to be tough to potty train). We also let people know if the dog doesn't care for children, is fearful around men etc. etc. So we look for the right home for the dog.

We can tell you if the dog is playful or not. Does the dog like to snuggle with people or prefers to stay in its own bed etc. We talk to the prospective adoptive family about what they are looking for in a dog and try to make sure that it is going to be a good fit. And I think overall we do a good job, we rarely get a dog turned back in because we try to ensure that the right family gets the right dog.

 

[jodifla]

I had a not-great experience with a breed rescue. She totally misrepresented the age and circumstance of the job. The dog had horrendous medical issues which were very expensive. But the worst part was the dog was a biter.

We've been looking at dogs from rescue groups, and we don't qualify for a lot of them because we don't have a fenced yard, or we have a child, or aren't home all day, etc.

I definitely see why people go the breeder route.

 

[KBoopaloo]

They are great. They have OCD and you feel like you are in "The Omen" sometimes when they sit and stare at you and don't move.

My border has every movement memorized. It can be creepy sometimes.

The collie personality is just "people love". They want to please people so bad and are always awaiting the master's commands.

Super smart, we have to challenge her mentally often. Plenty of "find" the ball, wrap up ball and let her dismantle the container, hide and seek, and other stuff.

She is almost 8 now and has fatty tumors & had tick disease so she is physically not 100% anymore. It stinks.

She is sleeping now. I got up too early.

Haha, this describes my dog pretty well! She also herds us from room to room. She likes for everyone to be together in once place so if we are spread out in different parts of the house she will go back and forth until she can get us all herded together.

She also has that super stare. One of my younger relatives likes to having staring contests with her. He always loses.

 

[design_mom]

All of our dogs have been rescues --
-- one from the humane society (mix)
-- one from a breed-specific rescue (believed to be purebred, no papers)
-- one who flunked out of a service-dog training program (mix)
-- one from a non-breed specific rescue (purebred, with papers)

We've had good luck with all but one of our rescued dogs. (Our dog from the breed specific rescue likes to growl. She's never bitten anyone but she makes me nervous. We've been through 3 dog trainers, etc. My 8yo wrote in her letter to Santa that she's *sure* Violet is on the naughty list, but she hopes Santa will bring her a new bone anyway.) She was a puppy when we adopted her though (a puppy mill rescue) so I don't think the rescue could have known how she'd turn out.

Our most recent dog (a purebred Standard Poodle) was the most difficult to find in rescue. It took us over 4 months of daily looking, calling, etc. There were a couple "possibilities" that didn't work out. For one, they got multiple applications and we were not the family chosen for the dog. Another one looked good, but I couldn't get anyone to reply to me... and she was listed for several weeks. But the dog we finally ended up with is a great dog. He was worth the wait.

I think the more specific you are, the harder it is to find exactly what you're looking for in rescue... but if you are persistent and patient, you'll eventually find it.