How to Select a Shelter Dog for Your Family

When selecting a pet from a shelter you need to ask yourself several questions before you even walk in the door. It is very easy to simply pick the first lovable puppy or sad eyed hound without knowing anything about what the particular dog has to offer your family.

You need to decide what sort of activity level you are looking for. Do you want a bouncy highly active dog that loves to play and needs to run… and are you willing to give such a high level dog the exercise that it needs? You need to consider whether a dog such as this will fit into your life style. If you don’t have a lot of time to take the dog out for exercise and if you are not an “outdoors” person, this type of dog may not be the pet for you. If you don’t have a lot of room, a big dog might not be the best choice. True there are big dogs that do nothing that lie around and make themselves into a “bear rug” that you can step over , but when that “bear rug” fills up your whole living space, that big dog may just be too big for your house! If you have a generally quiet home with elderly folks around or small children you may not want to get a dog that jumps on you and generally raises havoc. And if you have small children you do want to be careful to select a breed or mixed breed that is known for gentleness and has a reputation of being “good with kids.”

For any dog that you get, you need to consider your space considerations and whether or not you have a fenced in yard or an area nearby such as a dog park where you can take the dog for active play and exploration. Every dog, regardless of size needs exercise and needs outdoor (and indoor) safety, it is up to you to provide a safe area. Fenced in yards are by far the best solution.

If you are considering a puppy do not forget that potty training, crate training, avoiding food aggression, learning how to walk on a leash, not nipping, not jumping, are HUGE issues and must be dealt with. You should not take on a puppy unless you are willing to find out how to train a puppy and raise a puppy up, and furthermore you should be willing to listen to advice from your vet and knowledgeable people. Many good puppies have been ruined as good pets because the folks who had them knew nothing about raising up a puppy and didn’t seek advice…. how do you think they got into the shelter in the first place? Because their owners did not know how to stop them from jumping on people or did not teach them to eat without aggression …or did not know how to keep them from being dog aggressive, the list is long. It is quite true that most dogs who are “bad dogs” become that way because of owners who did not understand how to “bring up” a puppy.

Do not expect to take a dog home from a shelter unless you are willing to pay for the expense of spaying or neutering and vaccinations. Most shelters will not let a dog go unless it has been spayed or neutered and had up to date vaccinations, and these expenses will be charged to you before you can take the dog home. Also keep in mind that pets, like children, have needs which must be met. Dog food, vet bills, special circumstances such as accidents, are all things that cost money.

Many shelters do have some idea of the bloodline or breed(s) of the dogs in their shelter. It is up to you to decide whether the “mix” is a good mix for your life style. Beagles, for example, although adorable and cute and oh so lovable, also are notably difficult to house train, perhaps because they are bred to follow their nose and to be a “pack dog”, so if you are not a good “pack leader” you may have a great deal of difficulty getting a beagle to behave. another example of why you need to understand the background of the dog you have selected would be the herding breeds. Herding breeds often tend to be “heel nippers” like the border collie, or flock protectors such as the Great Pyr. Herding breeds may tend to herd the kids in your family, which is all well and good accept that they may view “outside” children as interlopers and guard your children too closely during play.

Some dog breeds
tend to exhibit strong instinctive tendencies. Knowing their breed instinctive behaviors may help you determine what sort of dog you might be looking for. For example, retrievers tend to retrieve, (play fetch), love to swim (usually) and have strong desire to interact with humans (they are hunting companions and working dogs). Another example: greyhounds tend to give chase to fast moving objects(they might chase cars or kids or run off if not fenced in) and yet are exceedingly loving and gentle and quiet in a household. Another example: Australian shepherds are herding dogs with a strong instinct to chase (you need a fenced in yard with an Aussie!). Newfoundlands are a gentle giant breed that is instinctively a search dog and water rescue breed, if you like to swim and your family loves the water, a newf would be a great swimming companion besides being protective of your children around the water. A Beagle is of the hound persuasion, and makes a great rabbit dog for the hunter in the family,. keeping in mind that a dog that is ruled by his nose can either be extremely difficult to train or very easy depending on how you approach the training!

Just these few examples will show you that it pays to do your homework before you go to select a shelter dog. In any case, remember that falling for the first pair of liquid brown eyes and sad long ears isn’t always the best solution when you visit the shelter to pick out a dog.