[Vent] From a shelter worker, please don't expect a stuffed animal

[davidcid]

I get so incredibly frustrated on a daily basis by people. That's just a period there, not even x,y,z people. Why won't people listen? I spend 3/4 of my day trying to explain why this dog isn't the right fit, how about this one? You want the 8 month old, untrained cattle heeler pit mix in a home with 8 adults and 3 bunnies? Just because you want a medium sized dog? You want the little lap dog looking chi around your 5 toddler grandkids when she attacks anyone who approaches her in her bed? Or the JRT mix who hates all men and you've got three high school boys and a husband? Please. PLEASE. If you are trying to get a new dog from a shelter LISTEN TO US! We may not know your situation 100%, but we can tell you a dog is not the right fit. We never want them to come back or be euthanized because the truth was stretched.

And the whole stuffed animal thing..."I am looking for a large dog, house trained, no shedding or barking, likes cats, won't chew or mark either. BUT HAS TO BE A RESCUE!"

HA.

Edit: Thanks for all your comments. It was very enlightening to hear everyone's different experiences. I work at a no kill, non-profit shelter that pulls exclusively from high kill shelters in California. We get many, MANY "problem" dogs (no such thing for the right person I think). We really do our best to make sure the right person and dog are matched, even if it's not what the person thought they were looking for. But we absolutely will not put a dog into a situation that's not going to be right for the dog, no matter how much the person wants it. We definitely WILL let people give it a try if we think it COULD work. We have almost zero dogs returned to us since we really do our best. I love where I work and what I do. Even though today I got halfway dragged into a dumpster by a trash can full of shitty towels and had a dog roll on a dead rat in a puddle of mud, it was still awesome because 5 of our doggies got forever homes. Give your fur babies a hug and kiss for me.

 

[antiquarianbookfan]

@davidcid I got the best dog from the shelter by not even looking at the dogs first. I went up to the volunteers and said "I am interested in a sweet low energy dog, ideally less than 60lbs, maybe even one who is older?" I ended up adopting the first dog they let me meet- a super sweet 50lbs 6 year old lab/pit mix.

 

[imagebeastmarkbeast]

@antiquarianbookfan This is what I'm doing with my next dog.

I think that age is a big driver for people to not adopt otherwise well-suited animals. People want the puppies or

 

[hadenough]

@imagebeastmarkbeast As someone with a 5 year old dog we got as a puppy, puppies are the worst. Puppies are best when someone else owns them, and you can just play with them. They are much better as adult dogs, trust me

 

[sephsekla]

@hadenough Totally agree. I swore when looking for a dog I wanted one older than two. Granted I grew with dogs so experienced puppyhood with multiple dogs. Anyways someone I knew had someone who was giving away really cute puppies so I took one and man was it a pain in my ass. I love my dog but I've grown to really looove him now that he's calmer at 4. He's still hyper but much less. And no more crying when I leave and hiding toys in my shoes. The house breaking. I can go on...

 

[imagebeastmarkbeast]

@hadenough I feel like house-training alone would make raising a puppy annoying. I am eternally grateful my dog was fully house-trained when I got him because housetraining his stubborn self was probably a pain.

 

[olusanya800]

@hadenough You are so right

 

[antiquarianbookfan]

@imagebeastmarkbeast I love my older dog! More people should consider adopting older pups. I feel the right answer for many breed questionnaires I see is "adopt senior mutt". Lots of people looking for couch potato, stay at home for 8hrs a day, puppies.

 

[imagebeastmarkbeast]

@antiquarianbookfan Yeah I adopted a 5 year old dog, though I'm probably not the best example because my dog is pretty much a perfect low-energy medium-sized totally housebroken companion dog except for EXTREME DOG AGGRESSION. But she certainly is a chill couch potato indoors

 

[beautytoashes]

@imagebeastmarkbeast Appearance is a big factor too. We'd get dogs in our rescue that took a long time to get adopted because they weren't attractive yet were a joy to foster. A dog you can enjoy being around will end up being very attractive in the long run rather than a good looking dog that you don't get along with.

 

[1990lsjs]

@beautytoashes My boy (7 at adoption, 8 now) has this pretty face. He was also very "unaffectionate" when I first met him, he would only pay attention if I had food. He's curled up against my tummy right now, having some sort of fit in his dream. He and his gal pal had both been in the shelter for 6 weeks, the workers said they were both turned down due to age, and my guy for looks as well. Who wouldn't want that face!?

 

[rossymid]

@imagebeastmarkbeast Similar things happen with birds too. For example, some people wouldn't want a 20 year old African grey because it seems old, but what they don't realize is that they can live up to 50 years. Instead, they get a relatively young parrot. Parrots are hard enough to take care of, let alone a young one.

 

[dassark]

@rossymid This is how I adopted my Sun Conure, Mango. I found her on Craigslist for sale for $50. She is the nicest, tamest, most loving bird I have ever had. She showers with me, and spends the majority of her time sitting on me. Anyways, the people I adopted her from said they bought her 5 years prior as a baby and thought she would have been dead by then. Their loss was definitely my gain.

 

[bloodinthewater]

@imagebeastmarkbeast It's so interesting people always say that because when I went to my nearest shelter, the adoption counselor flat-out told me that she wouldn't place me with a dog over 3 years of age. Maybe it's just the location I'm in--according to her, she told me that most of the older adult dogs in shelters are already sick or were surrendered due to aggression. I also talked to some volunteers at the smaller more selective shelters and they said that the really good dogs that come in get snapped up almost immediately by volunteers and never placed on the website.

 

[1990lsjs]

@bloodinthewater My mom volunteers, and actually told me about a great dog that had been ignored for 6 weeks, who is now my dog. She also said that that kind of thing happens all the time. She had her eye on a dog that was still in evaluation, but one of the other volunteers snatched him up as soon as he was cleared for adoption. Have an eye on the inside, and be ready to jump!

 

[search4truth1121]

@imagebeastmarkbeast My next dog will need to be at least 2 years old. Older is fine younger not so much. I've done the puppy thing and I am so over it. All the chewing and peeing in the house while training. No thank you.

 

[monteviste]

@imagebeastmarkbeast Agree. I adopted a two year old rescue because I wanted my 7 year old son and my doggo to have hopefully a long life together. Our next rescue, age will absolutely not matter. Doggo's of all ages need love, not just the young ones. ❤