Happy news! go get your puppy ! 
Well done - super.
Sswor, Iām glad you found a dog. Iām in full agreement with your thinking on rescues though.
My two elderly Schnauzers passed recently. One at Christmas and one in June. I would love another Schnauzer, but decided I would prefer an adult dog since I have a young child. My two boys were well loved, with extensive histories with the vet for dentals, medication for seizures, various seizure emergencies. However, because my vet and I chose to stop vaccinating them for everything under the sun in their old age, I cannot adopt a dog. So either I bring home a totally inappropriate dog from the pound (all we have here are large breeds and Chihuahuas), or I get a puppy. I cannot spend $2k on a puppy however, so I would be stuck supporting the dreaded pet breeders who are āto blameā for the overpopulation. Meanwhile the rescue agencies continue to bemoan to anyone who will listen, including publicly on FB, about the lack of suitable homes and all the poos dogs they just canāt take in because no one wants to adopt.
Iāve considered lying and saying that Iāve never owned a dog, but then I would probably be denied for never having had a dog.
Agreed Hampton Bay, I tell you what, after intensive puppy searching for the past week, Iām here to tell you, there are a LOT of people on the internet searching for a puppy; ISO āspecific breedā puppy ads. A LOT. There are also a lot of dogs being given away or sold for various reasons. And a lot of puppies for sale. Most of these ads seem to be from normal people who care that the dog goes to a good home/are a good home, I only ran across one or two who seemed like creepers/dog flippers.
We are never going to put a dent in the pet overpopulation problem. People want puppies. Dogs die. New puppies are always going to be needed. Frankly Iām glad none of the BYB legislation that rescue people propose from time to time ever got passed. There is nothing wrong with cross bred dogs aka āindiscriminateā breeding. Can you imagine a world where you had to pass a more difficult and rigorous testing to get a puppy then to get a driverās license? Or a dog had to qualify to reproduce like a wb breeding inspection? Ridiculous.
Anyway, thanks for the support. After this experience, Iāll not seek to adopt a dog in the future, rather save myself the frustration and heartbreak and go straight to the internet āpuppies for saleā google search instead. I would recommend to anyone else to do the same.
[QUOTE=Foxtrotās;8209248]
Just make sure you get the dog that fits the bill for you, from wherever. You have the right. I donāt like being told when it comes to lots of things, especially if it were regarding the purchase of a dog/puppy. I can throw around a few opinions, and have a discussion, but the end decision is mine before I part with my own money, right?[/QUOTE]
Right! And thank goodness thatās still the truth.
Now, off to get my puppy!
I wish the OP well with her puppy and she sounds like a responsible owner.
BUT, the people who want puppies in general need a reality checkā¦ where do they think dogs in the shelters come from? Most of them were bought or adopted as a puppy and lived with a family before being dumped. Many of the purebreds are taken on by purebred rescue groups.
There may be an easily adoptable puppy shortage but there is no shortage of people who will dispose of puppies down the road when they become dogs.
Can you imagine a world where you had to pass a more difficult and rigorous testing to get a puppy then to get a driverās license? Or a dog had to qualify to reproduce like a wb breeding inspection? Ridiculous.
Yeah, that would be a world without animal shelters teeming with dogs and thousands being euthanized each week.
Actually, the application to get a dog from an adoption group is more difficult than to adopt a child. I am not kidding. My stepson is adopted. My ex-husband and I were approved to adopt prior to me losing my job. So current hubby and I have both passed weeks of adoption classes, full background checks, and intensive home visits. But we cannot adopt a dog.
One of my dogs was 6 months overdue on his rabies. In those 6 months he was back and forth at the vet numerous time due to seizures and medication issues. The other, I gave him a rabies vaccine that I bought at the feed store, complete with reciept and tag. He too passed (hemangiosarcoma). County kill shelter wonāt even let me have a dog now. Despite numerous vet bills showing that my dogs were cared for, I am now a ābad ownerā. However, my husband administered his own rabies shots for years prior to adopting his son, and the state just asked for a copy of the reciept for purchase prior to giving him a BABY.
Thereās always a way to adopt a dog, including simply getting one from people looking to re home on Craigslist.
Your vet who knows you likely also knows of some dogs needing homes.
The rescue league I adopted from asked minimal questions and did not insist on vet records. They rescued from high kill shelters.
Congratulations Sswor, Iām glad your search was successful. Thereās nothing like puppy breath for a broken heart!
Hope youāll post some puppy pics for us soon.
With the caveat that I agree that many rescues make it too difficult for good owners to adopt a dog, no one is āmakingā anyone purchase from a puppy mill.
If you are āforcedā to buy from a puppy mill despite knowing what industry youāre supporting, thatās on no oneās conscience but your own.
[QUOTE=Sswor;8207323]
I am in search of a puppy but as far as the rescue organizations are concerned, I am unfit for puppy ownership. Why? Because I work and therefore leave the house. No matter that I am self employed and enjoy that flexibility. No matter that my retired mother has offered to provide doggie daycare. No matter that I am able to bring my dogs to work with me. Nope, Iām not even worthy of a reply. Once any rescue organization sees that I
work outside the home and am gone for any part of the day, my application for a puppy goes into the circular file.
My application and everyone elseās application who isnāt 1) retired, 2) independently wealthy, or 3) works out of the home and never leaves, will all go straight into the trash.
I suppose these rescue organizations are trying to save all the poor helpless puppies from us evil, cruel, and somehow bad working people who might, omg, leave the house and therefore, leave the poor helpless puppy alone! Because of course this will result in the puppy developing behavior problems which will of course will cause us working people to abandon the poor helpless puppy because everyone knows working people are stressed out idiots who canāt manage to train a puppy. OF COURSE! It is so inevitable as to be a law of nature.
This policy that rescues have is exactly why there will always be puppy mills. People want puppies and puppies people shall have. The internet is FULL of people who want puppies. And no wonderāwith misguided, ridiculous, and asinine policies such as these from the rescue groups, who can blame anyone? These groups comb all the city pounds and animal control shelters nationwide and snatch up all the available puppies. Most move them from the South to the Northāas if no one in the South could possibly give an appropriate home to a puppy :mad: What am I, and others like me supposed to do? Trust that some complete stranger ārescuerā knows better then I precisely what age of dog would incorporate best into my home, family, and lifestyle? I donāt think so.
I have my reasons for wanting a puppy, and I am confident that they are sound reasons. I have raised 3 puppies now, myself, in my adult lifetime, living the same lifestyle as I am now, and all 3 had (or have) wonderful, full, well adjusted and stable lives. Not once have I had an issue with training or behavior problems. Not once have I ever considered ādumpingā a puppy, nor would I. There is zero reason on my radar nor in my ethics that I would ever āget ridā of a dog, under any circumstances. Same for compromising on their care and/or management. Dog are for life and they are akin to children, this is how I feel.
Rescues be damned. Iām getting a puppy. And I frankly donāt care where it comes from so long as it is a happy, healthy, and well adjusted puppy that will fit into my home, family, and lifestyle based on MY judgement.
I am so disgusted with so called ārescueā groups. They are no better then dog hoarders and they are the reason I have little choice then to get a puppy from a BYB, flea market, Amish breeder, or pet store. And I know Iām not the only one.[/QUOTE]
This may have been asked already, but where are you located? I am affiliated with a rescue in Louisiana and we would be thrilled to adopt to someone like youā¦ Assuming that everything you stated in your post is true. Lol. Not doubting you at all, but people can be seriously crazy and lie. So, most of the rescues that are over zealous have just been burned a lot and their policies keep getting more stringent as a resultā¦ Over time you just learn not to trust anyone. Itās sad.
[QUOTE=Countrywood;8213687]
Can you imagine a world where you had to pass a more difficult and rigorous testing to get a puppy then to get a driverās license? Or a dog had to qualify to reproduce like a wb breeding inspection? Ridiculous.
Yeah, that would be a world without animal shelters teeming with dogs and thousands being euthanized each week.[/QUOTE]
:yes:
[QUOTE=Hampton Bay;8213480]
Sswor, Iām glad you found a dog. Iām in full agreement with your thinking on rescues though.
My two elderly Schnauzers passed recently. One at Christmas and one in June. I would love another Schnauzer, but decided I would prefer an adult dog since I have a young child. My two boys were well loved, with extensive histories with the vet for dentals, medication for seizures, various seizure emergencies. However, because my vet and I chose to stop vaccinating them for everything under the sun in their old age, I cannot adopt a dog. So either I bring home a totally inappropriate dog from the pound (all we have here are large breeds and Chihuahuas), or I get a puppy. I cannot spend $2k on a puppy however, so I would be stuck supporting the dreaded pet breeders who are āto blameā for the overpopulation. Meanwhile the rescue agencies continue to bemoan to anyone who will listen, including publicly on FB, about the lack of suitable homes and all the poos dogs they just canāt take in because no one wants to adopt.
Iāve considered lying and saying that Iāve never owned a dog, but then I would probably be denied for never having had a dog.[/QUOTE]
Hampton Bay, I have opted for the same program with my elderly dog. We donāt have any Schnauzers at the moment, but have some come through occasionally. Would you be open to a mix if one comes up? The rescue that I work with is based in Ascension Parish.
I volunteer with a rescue and I used to work for one. We ask lots of questions of potential adopters to make sure the animal is going to the best home it can and to prevent the chances of it being returned. We ask for vet history so we can get a baseline on what kind of pet owner you may be. Saying āOh I love Fluffy so muchā isnāt enough. We want to prove that you will take your animal to the vet and be a responsible pet owner. We do not adopt out to people who do not have their dogs fixed. Most people who have unaltered dogs arenāt showing them- theyāre the kind of people who think Fidoās puppies would just be so cute or who think neutering their male dog makes him feel emasculated. If you give the rescue the information that you show your dog or the vet recommends against it and that is why he is unaltered, your application status may change, depending on the rescue, from immediate no to a potential adopter. If your dogs arenāt current on vaccines because of a health issue or because of an agreement with your vet, put it on your application. The rescue will verify with your vet that that is the case, but it may change your status from definite no to potential adopter. If you work 8 hours a day but you can take your dog with you to work or to daycare, write it on your application. A puppyās schedule doesnāt mesh well with an 8 hour absence. Many people will return a hard to housebreak puppy. It is in the best interest of the dog to reject the average applicant who works all the time. If you donāt give rescues the information they need, they donāt know what kind of owner you will be.
Iāve been denied by a few rescues as well. I do work from home and am at home 90% of the time. Their reason - we have too many dogs. My husband hunts birds so we do have several retrievers - all of them are āhisā dogs. They do live in the house and are really family dogs, but they go on extended hunting trips with him.
I had āmyā dog, a Shepherd/Husky/Collie mix that I got from the humane society before I met my husband. She stayed home with me when he would go hunting. She was more of my companion/protector. When I lost her at age 13, in 2011, it took me about a year before I was ready to start thinking about another dog for myself. Iām partial to mixes, so I started looking at rescues. I found a few puppies that met my criteria, and applied. Each time I was denied because I had too many dogs. I understand they are trying to ensure dogs donāt end up in hoarding situations, but how about a call to ask about our situation and understand our needs? Whatever. Soā¦it will be 4 years in August since I lost Kodi and I still donāt have āmyā own dog. DH leaves one of the labs behind to keep me company when he hunts.
Iām guessing Iāll never be approved for a rescue, so I hope one day I find a private party with a puppy that would work for me. Iāve thought about going the purebred route and finding a breeder that would take the time to get to know us, but I feel like Iām better suited to a mix that needs a home. Itās too bad that rescues need to be so unforgiving in their standards. :no:
My foster dog was adopted today!
Betsy, a chi-weenie, needed a foster as she was only 5 weeks old. The shelter doesnāt adopt them out that young nor can they hold them due to space constraints. Yes, they euthanize puppies too.
She is adorable and we enjoyed our time with her. Today, we had a meet and greet with a couple. Their chihuahua mix passed away last December and they were ready for a puppy again.
Betsy checked all their boxes and they checked all of ours. Why do we get to pick and choose? BECAUSE WE SAVED HER LIFE! And she was adopted the day after she was available.
If you work 8 hours a day but you can take your dog with you to work or to daycare, write it on your application. A puppyās schedule doesnāt mesh well with an 8 hour absence. Many people will return a hard to housebreak puppy. It is in the best interest of the dog to reject the average applicant who works all the time. If you donāt give rescues the information they need, they donāt know what kind of owner you will be.[/QUOTE]
This is where you lose me. My husband and I have been married 33 years. In that time we have owned many dogs from Great Danes to Borzoi to Border Collie to Cattle Dogs. Some placed with us by breeders for various reasons, others bought from reputable breeders, often we were valued repeat customers. I believe we are valued and respected by our vets. Our dogs have all had excellent vet care and lived long lives according to their breed. Three of our current four dogs have just passed a battery of tests to become therapy dogs.
Yet our entire married life we have both had to work full time (and both of us often work more than 8 hours a day) to afford a nice home for our dogs and horses, and have the ability to spare no expense for vet care. And amazingly our dogs have been by and large well adjusted and weāll behaved, even though we have always had herding breeds in the mix.
So I also wonāt go the rescue route. I have barn cats that are TNR, I have gotten a horse from an OTTB group and taken others that were rescued, but my experience with dog adoption groups has turned me off probably for good. Very few people can take dogs to work. Very many people work for a living, and I know many of those folks that provide great dog homes.
The other issue I always ponder are the rescues that wonāt adopt to families with children under 12. Do they believe all couples planning to have children some day should not have dogs and if an āoopsā happens that they should get rid of the dogs or put the child up for adoption?
But I live in a rural area and many of these ārulesā for dog ownership are very urban in many ways.
I stay at home all day and I have life long experience with dogs of all ages. But I cannot adopt a dog because I have a horse farm in the country and I do not have a fenced yard.
Inner city people with a 4 x 8ā pen on a cement slab can adopt, but my farm is not considered appropriate. In my 40 years of owning dogs, I have never had one run away. Not even for an hour. Farm dogs are the happiest dogs on earth. Where would they go that is better then the life they already have?
Of course, strictly speaking, my dogs are not āfarm dogsā. They are couch sleeping, bed stealing, pampered dogs with a doggie door, so they can run around, but still come into the A/C house to snooze.
But what is even screwier is that I am considered an acceptable foster home. So, if I volunteer to foster, then tell them I want to keep the dog(s) I am fostering, I am allowed to become a āfoster failā.
I have gotten my last 3 dogs by becoming a foster fail since I was not allowed to adopt them directly from the rescue. Of course, I still had to pay $400 to adopt a dog that I was fostering for free. But all of that seems to be totally OK and normal to the various rescues.
We donāt have dog overpopulation in most of New England. Cats, yes. Dogs, no. There are essentially no stray or free-roaming dogs. Unplanned litters are rare. Almost all the dogs in our shelters are shipped in from outside the region.
And when it comes to qualifying to reproduce, all of my girls are health tested with multiple performance titles prior to being bred.
I am genuinely confused as to how people who work outside the home 8+ hours a day can house train a puppy. An 8 week old can only hold it a couple of hours, tops. So what do you do if youāre gone 8 hours?
Whatever your plan is (dog walker, having a neighbor come by, taking lunch breaks to go home until puppy is older, temporarily working from home, whatever) EXPLAIN IT ON YOUR APP! If the rescue takes a total hardline stance without even hearing you out, find another rescue.
I volunteer with a rescue and everyone wants a puppy. There are so many slightly older (8+ month) young dogs that are either already fully house trained or fully capable of holding it for several hours at a time that are completely blown off and passed over, to say NOTHING of the dogs over a year old. :no:
Yetā¦guess what the return rate is on puppies vs older dogs. Puppies get returned like three times as often.Guess what the top reasons are? House training, crate training, separation anxiety.
Iām not saying working full time and raising a puppy canāt be done; thereās tons of evidence to the contrary. But have a plan and be prepared to explain it.
