anyone ever adopt a dog from a shelter?

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Sluggo

Lifer
Jun 12, 2000
15,488
5
81
Originally posted by: rh71
We got our Pom from a shelter. There really wasn't a way to confirm his age.. they just guessed from experience being around dogs. About his health... they apparently did an exam on him already (was only lost for a few days) and he was fine. They let us play with him on the premises for a half hour.

Apparently, I need a trip to the eye doctor.

Pom looks a lot like Porn :D

Pom
Porn
Pom
Porn
Pom
Porn
 

CanOWorms

Lifer
Jul 3, 2001
12,404
2
0
I got my dog from the Humane Society animal shelter. They knew how old he was since the mother gave birth to him there. He's 13 now :)
 

Yo Ma Ma

Lifer
Jan 21, 2000
11,635
2
0
We have 2 dogs, one is from a shelter, another from a home but essentially would have been going to the dog pound. The little shelter dog is the best, she was a puppy when we got her. Unfortunately, we went through 3 dogs (unsuitable temperment, aggressive) before settling on these. One was an older dog and it was obvious the first night that she didn't like to be around kids, snappy, etc., it was not apparent at the human society. We lost ~ $100 on that deal. The next two were not so obvious, they kind of started out good but a little quirky, then as they got more comfy the quirkiness really ramped up. With vet bills and all I guess that was a few hundred more. Most of the cost for the dog is in medical care, shots, training, food, etc., initial cost doesn't matter after a year or so in my experience.

The shelter we live near now will let you try a dog out for a few days. Must be hard on the dogs, but I guess it might help to make a better match for dog and family. If you are good with dogs and training and have been around them a lot, recognize personality indicators and so on, I bet your success rate would be much higher than ours was.
 

DT4K

Diamond Member
Jan 21, 2002
6,944
3
81
No :camera:'s yet?
Our dog came from the shelter. They guessed she was between 1 and 2 years old.
She is the sweetest dog ever. Very intelligent too.
She does have some quirks though that make me think she was abused by a former owner. She likes to flip her food dish over, then wait anywhere from 1 to 12 hours before she actually eats the food. Sometimes she picks up pieces of food and hides them throughout the house. She also gets frightened very easily if she is scolded at all.

But she is absolutely the best dog I could ever imagine having with my small children. Very very sweet girl.

So the only downside to getting a dog from a shelter is that you don't know what kind of emotional baggage they come with. But you can tell what their personality is like fairly quickly and I wouldn't hesitate to get a dog from a shelter again.
 

beer

Lifer
Jun 27, 2000
11,169
1
0
http://www.digitaljoe.net/personal/pics/Major/

We got her at the humane society 10.5 years ago. She was 1.5-2 years old then. I love her to death, she's cute and loving but never violent, just barks a lot (that's the beagle in her!)

She's 12-13 now and she's getting old :( No major health problems except those to be expected from a dog who jumps on everything like a cat for a decade
 

rh71

No Lifer
Aug 28, 2001
52,844
1,049
126
Originally posted by: Sluggo
Originally posted by: rh71
We got our Pom from a shelter. There really wasn't a way to confirm his age.. they just guessed from experience being around dogs. About his health... they apparently did an exam on him already (was only lost for a few days) and he was fine. They let us play with him on the premises for a half hour.

Apparently, I need a trip to the eye doctor.

Pom looks a lot like Porn :D

Pom
Porn
Pom
Porn
Pom
Porn
Well the fact remains, never pay for Porn

 

shimsham

Lifer
May 9, 2002
10,765
0
0
we found this at our local shelter when it was a puppy. $50 with the first set of shots. we had to pay to have him neutered, but only another 40 or so. not sure what he is. the papers said he was lab/german shepard mix. my friends say he has bull dog in him, but i dont see it.

i agree, save a dog. they will appreciate it, since im sure its some awful stress being in a shelter.
 

Crazymofo

Platinum Member
May 14, 2003
2,339
0
0
Originally posted by: MercenaryForHire
Originally posted by: Passions
Originally posted by: MercenaryForHire
Adopted dogs know they're being saved. They will love you forever.

- M4H

I find this hard to believe. Do you have proof?

Yes. His name is Bandit.

- M4H

Yes. His name is Joey, her name is Sally and the others name was Rufus... All were wonderful, loving animals that you would swear knew they were saved from an early death. Passions, you are an idiot and an asshole.
 

DrPizza

Administrator Elite Member Goat Whisperer
Mar 5, 2001
49,601
167
111
www.slatebrookfarm.com
1 dog just kinda wandered up to our house... skin and bones,- we watched the paper for lost dog ads, there were none, so she's our dog. She amazed our vet when dog #1 was whimpering on the vets table - she stood up against the table and put her head down against his like she was trying to comfort him - vet said he never saw anything like that before.

Dog #3 came from a neighbor who does a lot of canine rescue stuff - they rescue dogs from the pounds to avoid them being put to sleep. He's a purebreed Golden Retriever, was brought back from 500 miles away. Someone actually tied him to a tree at the shelter and left him - still just a puppy! Took a while before he calmed down, but he's a great dog.

And dog #1 - was an accident. Some dog jumped a fence and got to the golden lab. We can't say the words: walk, burger king, hamburger, pizza, ride without him going crazy. In fact, we can no longer spell out some of those words. W-A-L-K will result in him running around to find his leash. Spell R-I-D and stop, and watch him stare at you like he's going to go crazy with anticipation. Then add the E and he goes nuts.
 

jinduy

Diamond Member
Jan 24, 2002
4,781
1
81
Originally posted by: DrPizza
1 dog just kinda wandered up to our house... skin and bones,- we watched the paper for lost dog ads, there were none, so she's our dog. She amazed our vet when dog #1 was whimpering on the vets table - she stood up against the table and put her head down against his like she was trying to comfort him - vet said he never saw anything like that before.

Dog #3 came from a neighbor who does a lot of canine rescue stuff - they rescue dogs from the pounds to avoid them being put to sleep. He's a purebreed Golden Retriever, was brought back from 500 miles away. Someone actually tied him to a tree at the shelter and left him - still just a puppy! Took a while before he calmed down, but he's a great dog.

And dog #1 - was an accident. Some dog jumped a fence and got to the golden lab. We can't say the words: walk, burger king, hamburger, pizza, ride without him going crazy. In fact, we can no longer spell out some of those words. W-A-L-K will result in him running around to find his leash. Spell R-I-D and stop, and watch him stare at you like he's going to go crazy with anticipation. Then add the E and he goes nuts.

awesome dog (#1) :beer:
 

purepolly

Senior member
Sep 27, 2002
630
0
0
Why would you return a dog?

Not housebroken, bayed and howled all night, hyperactive (have you ever seen a overweight 6 year old beagle climb into a bathroom garden window, NOT a pretty sight), and terrorized the cat.

The dog clearly belonged outside - even though the shelter had indicated he was a housbroken, inside dog. So back he went, so they could find him the home he needed...
 

Bassyhead

Diamond Member
Nov 19, 2001
4,545
0
0
Originally posted by: DrPizza
1 dog just kinda wandered up to our house... skin and bones,- we watched the paper for lost dog ads, there were none, so she's our dog. She amazed our vet when dog #1 was whimpering on the vets table - she stood up against the table and put her head down against his like she was trying to comfort him - vet said he never saw anything like that before.

Dog #3 came from a neighbor who does a lot of canine rescue stuff - they rescue dogs from the pounds to avoid them being put to sleep. He's a purebreed Golden Retriever, was brought back from 500 miles away. Someone actually tied him to a tree at the shelter and left him - still just a puppy! Took a while before he calmed down, but he's a great dog.

And dog #1 - was an accident. Some dog jumped a fence and got to the golden lab. We can't say the words: walk, burger king, hamburger, pizza, ride without him going crazy. In fact, we can no longer spell out some of those words. W-A-L-K will result in him running around to find his leash. Spell R-I-D and stop, and watch him stare at you like he's going to go crazy with anticipation. Then add the E and he goes nuts.

hehe one of my dogs is like that. He knows a variety of synonyms for the word "walk", we had to keep changing it and also a couple variations of sign language for "walk" and "stop". he's very observant.

 

GasX

Lifer
Feb 8, 2001
29,033
6
81
Originally posted by: DaVortex
Im thinking of getting a second dog but this time from a shelter. A place in brooklyn posts pictures and a brief description of the dogs on craigslist. I have a few questions:



- I wanted to know how they get a rough estimate of how old the dogs are?
- I would like to take the dog to my vet first to check out the health,etc before I adopt the dog, do they allow this?

Hudson came from a shelter on Long Island. We found him on Petfinder.com. To answer your questions:

1. If you know dogs, you can usually have a pretty good idea from looking at the dog. If you aren't good at that they will tell you. If you don't trust them (as they want you to adopt the dog!) a vet will be within a few months.

2. Not likely, but they will let you return it within a few days.

If you send me pictures of the dog, I can probably tell you its age and breed make up if the pictures are good. Keep in mind that a lot of shelter dogs in urban areas have pit bull in them. This is not a bad thing per se, but the shelters always call them "terrier mix" or some other BS breed that is a load of crap. Pit Bulls - especially mutts with pit bull in them can make AWEsome pets.
 

GeorgiaBadger

Member
Dec 2, 2000
137
0
71
Originally posted by: Mallow
my friend adopted a mut... he named her LB... get it?

I call my dogs Lucky too

Picked up both my dogs from the Humane Society. Vets said they would both top out around 45-55 lbs... Both grew to 90 lbs