looking to adopt a dog, UPDATE pg 4 - we got a dog!

[JESW]

Also Forever Home in Medfield. I believe they have Open Houses on Mondays..? It is best to be approved ahead of time so if you find a good match you can take the dog home. It can be a pain in the beginning going through the application, references, home visit, etc., but it's not too bad.

There is also Dog Orphans in Douglas but I have never been there. Buddy Dog is in Sudbury but I haven't been there. There is another rescue in Sudbury but their name escapes me at the moment - we only went there once.

You will find a place you're comfortable with. Good luck.

 

[cepmom]

Try Last Hope Rescue as they are based in MA and work with shelters in the South, especially Arkansas. There are always dogs coming up and they will work to find the right fit for your family. Plus, there are always events going on in the area with the dogs so you can meet them. You can also become an approved adopter which makes you able to foster, which is where I am out right now.

Jill

P.s. look for them on Facebook

Also Forever Home in Medfield. I believe they have Open Houses on Mondays..? It is best to be approved ahead of time so if you find a good match you can take the dog home. It can be a pain in the beginning going through the application, references, home visit, etc., but it's not too bad.

There is also Dog Orphans in Douglas but I have never been there. Buddy Dog is in Sudbury but I haven't been there. There is another rescue in Sudbury but their name escapes me at the moment - we only went there once.

You will find a place you're comfortable with. Good luck.

thank you, looking into both of them > my friend adopted both her dogs from Forever Home and also recommended them. They are having an open house on Monday that I am going to try and get to if I can. thanks!

 

[crjack]

Hi Cepmom,

We adopted from Save a Dog and had a great experience. They have a very informative website that I highly recommend reviewing.

We were able to get "pre-approved" to adopt and that made the process much easier.

They also hold adoption events as well but I think it was a combination of the particular volunteers who worked with us and the review of our lifestyle, etc that made it such a good match.

We original saw a very cute dog on their site that we were interested in but when we inquired they strongly discouraged it. The dog was fairly young but had lived with a senior in a very quiet house - putting her in our home with young active children would not have been a good fit. (She would have been perfect for my retired dad)

We met our dog in person at an adoption event but they had discussed him as a possibility prior to that. He was young and very, very social. He fit in with our family perfectly and continues to be a wonderful and very spoiled addition!

He is a lab mix that has a very friendly, childlike personality even at 11 years old. He is a medium size dog and that works well for us. Adopting him at 6 months was also good because he was young but already passed some of the puppy stages that I was happy to skip.

He spent time with a foster family after being neutered up here and they did a great job getting him started with some training, socialization, housebreaking, etc.

Best of luck. There are a lot of great groups here in MA. I know there are others that friends and family have used if you need some additional choices.

 

[ckay87]

Hey, lots of good advice here. We've adopted all of our dogs and one thing I've noticed nobody ever warned us about. Every dog we brought into our home spent the first maybe two weeks trying to run away. Put yourself in the doggie's shoes.... we rescued them, we were a nice place to be, they were grateful, I'm sure. But the only thing a dog ever wants is to be "home." Until they understood that we WERE their home (which is a tough thing to explain to a dog), they worked very hard to GO home, wherever that was. So we had to watch them carefully when they were outside or whenever we opened doors, etc.

Has anyone else had that experience? It seemed logical to me and it's just something to be careful of.

 

[minkydog]

Hey, lots of good advice here. We've adopted all of our dogs and one thing I've noticed nobody ever warned us about. Every dog we brought into our home spent the first maybe two weeks trying to run away. Put yourself in the doggie's shoes.... we rescued them, we were a nice place to be, they were grateful, I'm sure. But the only thing a dog ever wants is to be "home." Until they understood that we WERE their home (which is a tough thing to explain to a dog), they worked very hard to GO home, wherever that was. So we had to watch them carefully when they were outside or whenever we opened doors, etc.

Has anyone else had that experience? It seemed logical to me and it's just something to be careful of.

I wouldn't say that our Tiki was actively trying to run away, but he definitely was not attached for the first several weeks. I think if he had been given the opportunity he might have walked off. Tiki has been abused and he had major trust issues at first. It took about a month for him to learn that nobody in this house was gonna hit him or yell at him. Even getting him to eat was difficult--he is not food driven in the least and well sometimes go all day without touching his food. Tiki still shies away if we want to reach down and pet him, so I allow him to stand up against my knees to receive some petting and get up in my lap from time to time.

The result of our patience with this dog is that we now have a dog that is extremely loyal and loving toward us both. Sometimes he just runs from me to DH to me to DH because he just can't decide who he wants to sit with. I still am not fully comfortable with allowing him off-leash unless he is fenced in because I think if something grabbed his attention he might just follow his bark into the streets and not find his way home.

 

[Sorsha]

I wouldn't say that our Tiki was actively trying to run away, but he definitely was not attached for the first several weeks. I think if he had been given the opportunity he might have walked off. Tiki has been abused and he had major trust issues at first. It took about a month for him to learn that nobody in this house was gonna hit him or yell at him. Even getting him to eat was difficult--he is not food driven in the least and well sometimes go all day without touching his food. Tiki still shies away if we want to reach down and pet him, so I allow him to stand up against my knees to receive some petting and get up in my lap from time to time.

The result of our patience with this dog is that we now have a dog that is extremely loyal and loving toward us both. Sometimes he just runs from me to DH to me to DH because he just can't decide who he wants to sit with. I still am not fully comfortable with allowing him off-leash unless he is fenced in because I think if something grabbed his attention he might just follow his bark into the streets and not find his way home.

I thought I had the only dog who did this! LOL

When Ranger feels insecure about something he goes to the people he trusts (the 5 humans he lives with, whichever one is handy, but usually me) and leans against their legs, literally PRESSING himself up against us. And he wants us to pet him, NOW. If he is REALLY freaked, he goes behind us, and leans against us from behind. Hard to pet you that way, buddy-boy.

He doesn't get to be outside off-leash either. He would never purposefully run off, he is too much of a chicken. But he is SO easily distracted - he is like the dog in "Up" - SQUIRREL! He could easily end up lost just going from thing to thing that caught his eye and needed barked at.

 

[JESW]

Hey, lots of good advice here. We've adopted all of our dogs and one thing I've noticed nobody ever warned us about. Every dog we brought into our home spent the first maybe two weeks trying to run away. Put yourself in the doggie's shoes.... we rescued them, we were a nice place to be, they were grateful, I'm sure. But the only thing a dog ever wants is to be "home." Until they understood that we WERE their home (which is a tough thing to explain to a dog), they worked very hard to GO home, wherever that was. So we had to watch them carefully when they were outside or whenever we opened doors, etc.

Has anyone else had that experience? It seemed logical to me and it's just something to be careful of.

*********************************************************

Very good advice! Many rescue dogs have been in several different places in their short lives - maybe a home, a pound, a shelter, several foster homes, etc. before they get to their FURever home so they can be confused. What I have been told is that it takes at least two weeks for a dog to feel that they are HOME.

The last foster dog I had I was his 4th foster home in MA through no fault of his and he had at least two in Arkansas. When he finally went HOME he didn't even want to get in his new family's car! But he did and is now doing great!

Yes, Save a Dog was the one in Sudbury I couldn't remember the name.

In the beginning it can seem like you miss out on dogs, but once you are approved it's easier. We went to Save A Dog and were surprised how many dogs went out that day. Best to work with a group who has everyone's best interests at heart. The foster families have lived with the dog and know where they would do best. There were two families looking at the dog I had and I said he would do best with the family with another dog and a big yard - instead of the family with small children. It's nothing against YOU, but they would rather the dog go to the right place - but there are times when dogs are still returned.

Good luck!

And make sure you post pictures when you find YOUR dog

 

[jlewisinsyr]

We rescued our little Anna girl about one year ago, and it was the best decision ever. She's a chihuahua mix, but the sweetest and quietest dog I have ever seen (she seriously never barks).

We rescued her about a month or so after our last dog passed away and it was one of the easiest processes we ever did. We actually checked out two different rescues. The first had a lot of bigger dogs, but we knew we wanted a sub-10 pound dog. The second place had a lot of smaller dogs, but Anna won our hearts almost immediately because of how sweet and mellow mannered she was in her kennel. She clicked with the type of family we are.

The only downfall was that Anna was only 8 months old and we really had wanted an older dog, that would have been harder to adopt. That said, when we visited with her, we learned that she was actually a special needs dog and was born with grade III - IV luxating patellas in both rear legs which made it very difficult for her to walk around, requiring surgery. Because she was special needs we knew she would be more difficult to adopt and that made us want her even more.

The rescue asked a lot of questions while the toured us around their space and they admitted when we agreed to adopt Anna that they use the questions to profile you as a possible owner. We took her home the same day after paying for her adoption fees and filling out some paperwork (honestly, I filled out more paperwork to adopt her then to buy my car).

Since her adoption, we have had her spayed, updated on all shots (she was still on her puppy boosters when we adopted her) and had the first of her two rear legs fixed. The second one is coming up very soon. We switched her food to a raw diet and she went from being very fussy, shy and scared to very content and confident. She is very healthy and we look forward to the many years she will be in our family.

All in all, please adopt, I know there is temptation to go to a breeder to get a specific breed or designer breed, but there are so many wonderful dogs that need forever homes.

 

[bedogged]

Hey, lots of good advice here. We've adopted all of our dogs and one thing I've noticed nobody ever warned us about. Every dog we brought into our home spent the first maybe two weeks trying to run away. Put yourself in the doggie's shoes.... we rescued them, we were a nice place to be, they were grateful, I'm sure. But the only thing a dog ever wants is to be "home." Until they understood that we WERE their home (which is a tough thing to explain to a dog), they worked very hard to GO home, wherever that was. So we had to watch them carefully when they were outside or whenever we opened doors, etc.

Has anyone else had that experience? It seemed logical to me and it's just something to be careful of.

I read the posts about dogs running away trying to "go home." This is probably not the case. Dogs often come into rescue programs because they have gotten away from their previous owner and often it is not the first time. Some dogs are just escape artists or what we call runners or door darters. Running and door darting is often a learned behavior. It is a behavior that can be corrected. If anyone would like advice correcting this behavior, please let me know?

 

[minkydog]

I read the posts about dogs running away trying to "go home." This is probably not the case. Dogs often come into rescue programs because they have gotten away from their previous owner and often it is not the first time. Some dogs are just escape artists or what we call runners or door darters. Running and door darting is often a learned behavior. It is a behavior that can be corrected. If anyone would like advice correcting this behavior, please let me know?

Hah! My silly dog was making his rounds in the yard next to my garden gate this morning. He was just sniffing around like he usually does when he suddenly broke and ran right under the gate! Thank goodness I had him on a short leash. He scared a tiny baby bunny about 8ft away in our neighbor's yard. At the moment I don't trust him not to bolt. We're still working on "sit" and "wait"--this dog is cute as pie but he's dumb as a box of rocks. That's why we keep him on a leash when he's outside, even if we're just on the porch. I have no doubt he'd fly right through the spindles if he wanted to chase something.

 

[bedogged]

Hah! My silly dog was making his rounds in the yard next to my garden gate this morning. He was just sniffing around like he usually does when he suddenly broke and ran right under the gate! Thank goodness I had him on a short leash. He scared a tiny baby bunny about 8ft away in our neighbor's yard. At the moment I don't trust him not to bolt. We're still working on "sit" and "wait"--this dog is cute as pie but he's dumb as a box of rocks. That's why we keep him on a leash when he's outside, even if we're just on the porch. I have no doubt he'd fly right through the spindles if he wanted to chase something.

Most dogs will not reliably come when their mind is on something else. Is your dog a sight hound or sight hound mix? No matter, you need to teach him a reliable come. Get something you can use as long leash such as a clothesline. You also need some of his favorite treats. Tie the clothesline to his collar and let him wander off. Firmly say his name and the command come. As soon as you say the words, start rolling up the lead bringing the dog to you. As soon as he gets to you, say "good come" and give him a treat. Naturally, this has to be frequently repeated to be learned. What this teaches your dog is that if you tell him to come, he has no CHOICE but to obey you. It could save your dog's life.

 

[cepmom]

Update...we brought our new pup home on Thursday! She is a 6 month old (approx) lab mix and such an adorable, happy love!! Her name was Diamond, but me being me, had to give her a more Disneyish name, we decided to change it to Ellie.

We believe she was picked up as a stray in GA, but I really didnt get a lot of info on her. She had only been herer in New England fora bout 10 days before we got her.

Went to the vet today and although she was up to date on vaccines, we had to get her started on heartworm, advantix, lyme disease vaccine and another one that escapes me at the moment. We also discovered this morning that she has worms and fleas but hopefully the meds the vet gave her today should get it all in check

She's pretty well housebroken and crate trained too, but we are still getting to know each other and her potty schedule etc. I have no idea how often to take her out to potty so I was going about hour after eating and outside of that every 2 hours, but the vet said she could probably go about 5 hours? She had one little pee accident yesterday, but I'm thinking it's a transition thing as she had gone only about an hour before that. Anyway, just wanted to share our news!! Thanks for all the great advice!

 

[bballmom56]

She is beautiful !!!! Everyone looks so happy!! Good luck with her!

 

[Mickey'snewestfan]

I opened this thinking "I bet they didn't follow the 'rule'* that they're supposed to include pictures, so I was thrilled to see pictures of your beautiful new family member! As someone who has volunteered in rescue a little, I'm particularly delighted to see a black dog, because they are known to wait longer for homes. What a wonderful dog!

I know with my dog he can go many hours without peeing if I am not home. But if my son or I is home he's more active, following us place to place and playing with my son. More active means he drinks more, so he needs to go out more often. I'd say he goes out every 4 hours when we're home and awake, but does 12 hours overnight without difficulty. He wasn't a puppy when I got him though so I'd assume that maybe the ratio is the same but not the hours with a puppy? The other possibility is that she isn't peeing enough when she's out, so she's still got a 1/2 full bladder when she comes home. Maybe it's just a boy dog thing, but I know my dog holds back pee in case there's a better tree around the corner. If I don't walk him until he's just dribbling, then he'll be begging to go back out an hour later.

* it's possible that this is only a rule in my head, however I definitely think there should be a rule that you can't talk about new puppies without a picture.**

** I also acknowledge that this makes me a hypocrite because I have no idea how to post a picture.

 

[GaBelle]

First of all- congrats on your new bundle of fur!!! She is beautiful! She looks like our Bridget. Yay! I'm so excited for you guys!
As for the pee accident, yeah I would chalk it up to new environment.
I love K 9 advantix. It is great for fleas and ticks. But best of all, it doesn't irritate our older dogs sensitive skin.
Best of luck to ya'll! Enjoy that beauty!

 

[LongLiveDisney]

She is absolutely gorgeous! Congrats!

 

[kate_wdw]

What a cutie - congratulations!

 

[minkydog]

Most dogs will not reliably come when their mind is on something else. Is your dog a sight hound or sight hound mix? .

Ha! No, he's a little bichon with a high prey drive. Nary a bird, squirrel, bunny, nor chipmunk may walk in safety in my yard. Tiki has it covered. Our yard is not fully fenced due to some trees that fell and opened several holes through. I keep him leashes at all times outside. We are working on the training.

Op, your doggy is lovely! I hope you have many wonderful years together.

 

[sunshinehighway]

Aww. What an adorable dog. I've had a few lab mixes and they have always been wonderful dogs.

 

[MOpGrad2013]

She's beautiful! Congratulations!

As for the bathroom, while she is getting used to the environment, I'd say every couple of hours. When we've cared for other dogs, they sometimes won't go because they're nervous in the yard and then they come in and have an oops! I invested in a small package of puppy pads. In the first month, we only used 4 (and 2 of those collected mud!).

Lots of toys and cookies!