In my experience, a lot of dogs get dumped at the shelter or by the side of the road from ages six months to a year or so. They’re no longer tiny, cute puppies. It’s about the age they have to get licensed, and it’s about spay/neuter, and more shots time. It’s about the time the dog costs a bundle, and the time the owner realizes that dogs don’t just train themselves.
Agreed. Right now is about when the Christmas puppies start hitting CraigsList. 4-6 months old, the shiny has worn off. The poor dog has likely spent much of it’s life crated because the family only wanted him around when it was time to be cute.
StG
S1969–ABR is where my boy went when he couldn’t stay with me anymore. I’m SO glad they’re there, as he was 7 at the time and none of the general rescues would take him.
I’ve rescued all of my animals–dog, cat, horse–and see no reason to change the pattern. I don’t think our lifestyle would be good for a puppy, so I’d love that young adult range. I took in an “older” cat (7, now 11), so I’d rather not also have an older dog at the same time. But, you know, whoever yanks on my heart strings…
I don’t worry about “inheriting problems”. A lot of dogs are given up through no fault of their own. I’ve seen several young Brits, for example, get surrendered as young adults because they were too active. Um, duh? Did you not even read the wiki page?
My family’s never had a problem with our “second hand” dogs. Er…well…there is Tigger, the doxie/chiahuahua mix. He’d been abused in the past and still fear bites to this day, and is definitely a, er, special boy. But that’s a pretty extreme case, I’d think. And we didn’t adopt him, he wandered into our yard and we refused to give him back. /cough
Puppies are cute so you don’t murder them, in my opinion. I’m happy to skip that stage, thanks!
[QUOTE=Emryss;6837662]
Having spent a long, long time rescuing dogs - I have found that people give up on adolescent dogs often. They see the fat, roly-poly infant puppy and are completely unprepared for the teenaged craziness. The poor young dog is undisciplined and often emotionally abandoned before being physically abandoned.
A little discipline and structure, plus family company and exercise - and have a loving young companion!
Most of the time dogs are given up through no fault of their own. Sometimes there is a behavioral issue that may or may not be a relatively easy fix (usually fairly easy - barking,chewing and housebreaking issues usually are. Aggression and excessive shyness often are not, though. )
I wouldn’t hesitate, if was drawn to the temperament of the dog, to adopt at any age. Best companion I had was a 12 year old Yorkie, once she was housebroken…[/QUOTE]
I find that to be the case-puppies are overwhelming so they get dumped when they turn into ‘teens.’
I just don’t want to deal with another elderly dog, and ideally one who hasn’t been bonded to anyone much would be good. (There’s no ‘family’ issue.) Past the tiny puppy stage, but not adult or elderly would be about ideal. Rescues are looking better than shelters at this point just because they’ve generally done more behavior testing (the county shelter will bring a cat into the encounter room to test reactions but that’s about it.) The ones around here anyway generally come with the s/n, shots, and basic vet work done, too, where the shelter you get what you get. The fees are generally in the $200 range, but that’s not so bad considering what that all costs at the vet!
If I were getting a registered purebred, I would probably go for a breeder, but I’m not sure I want the wait list and if I spent that much on an animal, I’d probably want to end up showing it anyway.
