Breeder dogs are the goal, right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:How is a home check burdensome?

One home check is not and last time I adopted a dog from the humane society they were only interested in making sure I had a fence and pulled up the house on google maps to see the fence from the satellite image. A few years ago I tried adopting a small shih tzu from a private rescue and was happy to pay the $400 fee to adopt a middle age shih tzu to further support the organization. They also had a long application and wanted 3 personal letters of recommendation plus one from a vet which I was happy to provide. What stopped me was they wanted to do multiple and possibly surprise home checks after the adoption and had the right to remove the dog at any point. They had requirements about feeding the dog only a certain brand of food and using a crate which if it wasn’t seen during the inspection they would take the dog (I don’t like or use crates for my pets) It felt like I would be more like a foster who was responsible for vet bills than an owner so I didn’t move forward.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How is a home check burdensome?

One home check is not and last time I adopted a dog from the humane society they were only interested in making sure I had a fence and pulled up the house on google maps to see the fence from the satellite image. A few years ago I tried adopting a small shih tzu from a private rescue and was happy to pay the $400 fee to adopt a middle age shih tzu to further support the organization. They also had a long application and wanted 3 personal letters of recommendation plus one from a vet which I was happy to provide. What stopped me was they wanted to do multiple and possibly surprise home checks after the adoption and had the right to remove the dog at any point. They had requirements about feeding the dog only a certain brand of food and using a crate which if it wasn’t seen during the inspection they would take the dog (I don’t like or use crates for my pets) It felt like I would be more like a foster who was responsible for vet bills than an owner so I didn’t move forward.

I’ve read a lot of stories like this and I can’t understand why some people defend this. It’s a dog.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Even if you achieved 100% spay/neuter in the pet population you would have full shelters because people abandon or give up their dogs all the time. It's not limited to "bully breeds" or greyhounds, either.

I think a situation where you have to really search or wait for a breeder puppy is healthy: if you work for it, maybe you're less likely to dump the dog in a year.

It is. 95-99% of the shelter dogs in my area are pit bulls. It’s time to re-normalize buying dogs from reputable breeders when shelters clearly have some weird obsession with foisting pit bulls on the world.

Yep, we're looking for a dog and all of our local spots have pits. After having been attacked by one I won't get them. They're not the type of dog we want for our family and I can't trust them. So, for us, there's nothing wrong with going to a breeder. I agree that it's completely fine to go to a reputable breeder.

so for you it’s either pitbull or breeder? This is the type of ignorance I find astounding. Do some research on rescue groups.

I researched rescues in the DC area and reached out to several but after a long effort got a mix from a breeder.

The rescues either didn't respond or the conditions were roo burdensome - very long waits, home checks, nonrefundable deposits.

The only dogs available quickly were pit mixes.

I’m not that PP, but a lot of the breed-specific rescues have ties to puppy mills. No thanks.

[Anonymous]

We rescued a miniature pincher from a large rescue in northern MD that turned out to be extremely aggressive to men and boys. He tried to bite my husband and would snap at 3 sons if they tried to get near me. We suspect the poor guy lived with a woman and a man who abused her. He literally would sit behind me on the couch, around the back of my neck. After several weeks of not being able to modify his behavior, we contacted the rescue, per our contract, and they told us to bring him back, which we sadly did. It was heartbreaking. We saw later, though, that the poor pup was back on the rescue's website being advertised as a dog fit for a family with children. This made me question the rescue's good reputation because I have no doubt that poor dog would bite a boy or young man who came between him and a female in the family.

Last year, we adopted an elderly (15 or 16 year old) shih tzu from a friend of a friend. She'd taken the little guy after one of her elderly patients died and left him, but she was being transferred across the country and couldn't take him. He's been such a little love and nice addition to our family. We just hope he feels loved and comfort in his final days.

I'd have a hard time adopting from another rescue unless the dog had been fostered in a family similar to mine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you don’t want a pit bull mix, go to a breeder

We recently adopted a super sweet lab/aussie shepherd mix from a Petsmart. My co-workers both have designer doodles the same age and our rescue has a much, much better temperament. I'm so glad we didn't go the breeder route. She's the perfect mix of kind and smart. My co-workers' doodles are a combo of anxious, neurotic and destructive.

+100. I would never own one.

[Anonymous]

You don’t know what you are getting with a rescue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The amount of mental energy and gymnastics people do over dogs these days is really not to be believed. They are animals. Point blank. Just like the chickens, cows, and pigs that most of us eat on a daily basis. And yet people will lose their minds over the treatment of dogs and how they should be bred or not and blah blah blah. I feel deeply sorry for anyone who has wasted their life working on "animal rescue" or the like. Please, fine a life doing something to benefit your fellow humans.

This is exactly my position on dogs and cats. The amount of resources wasted on these animals is absolute insanity and probably really bad for the environment (feral cats killing birds), wasted energy (water, food, transport) of all these rescue operations. Frankly, we need to be euthanizing the vast majority of these animals. is it "fair" to a dog that was irresponsibly bred and then abandoned to be put down? No, but the dog should have never been bred and the amount of resources wasted on keeping these unwanted and unneeded animals alive is sick when there are millions and millions of HUMANS in need of charity and efforts toward making their lives better. Only in America are people so obsessed with saving the animals while we criminalize homeless humans.

People will step over a hungry person in the street to check on a stray dog. I've seen it.

fwiw, I don't hate animals, have had pets throughout my life and my family is likely getting a new dog in the next year. I just don't put pets and humans on the same level. Humans come first.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The amount of mental energy and gymnastics people do over dogs these days is really not to be believed. They are animals. Point blank. Just like the chickens, cows, and pigs that most of us eat on a daily basis. And yet people will lose their minds over the treatment of dogs and how they should be bred or not and blah blah blah. I feel deeply sorry for anyone who has wasted their life working on "animal rescue" or the like. Please, fine a life doing something to benefit your fellow humans.

This is exactly my position on dogs and cats. The amount of resources wasted on these animals is absolute insanity and probably really bad for the environment (feral cats killing birds), wasted energy (water, food, transport) of all these rescue operations. Frankly, we need to be euthanizing the vast majority of these animals. is it "fair" to a dog that was irresponsibly bred and then abandoned to be put down? No, but the dog should have never been bred and the amount of resources wasted on keeping these unwanted and unneeded animals alive is sick when there are millions and millions of HUMANS in need of charity and efforts toward making their lives better. Only in America are people so obsessed with saving the animals while we criminalize homeless humans.

People will step over a hungry person in the street to check on a stray dog. I've seen it.

fwiw, I don't hate animals, have had pets throughout my life and my family is likely getting a new dog in the next year. I just don't put pets and humans on the same level. Humans come first.

Strange post. I don’t see anyone here arguing that humans don’t come first.

It is morally wrong to kill a living being, especially a domesticated animal that wouldn’t exist without humans creating it, for your own personal convenience. Most pet rescue advocates would be the first to agree with you that most of these animals should never have existed. That’s why we advocate against breeders. But once they are alive we have a duty to take care of them properly rather than treat them like trash to be disposed of.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The amount of mental energy and gymnastics people do over dogs these days is really not to be believed. They are animals. Point blank. Just like the chickens, cows, and pigs that most of us eat on a daily basis. And yet people will lose their minds over the treatment of dogs and how they should be bred or not and blah blah blah. I feel deeply sorry for anyone who has wasted their life working on "animal rescue" or the like. Please, fine a life doing something to benefit your fellow humans.

This is exactly my position on dogs and cats. The amount of resources wasted on these animals is absolute insanity and probably really bad for the environment (feral cats killing birds), wasted energy (water, food, transport) of all these rescue operations. Frankly, we need to be euthanizing the vast majority of these animals. is it "fair" to a dog that was irresponsibly bred and then abandoned to be put down? No, but the dog should have never been bred and the amount of resources wasted on keeping these unwanted and unneeded animals alive is sick when there are millions and millions of HUMANS in need of charity and efforts toward making their lives better. Only in America are people so obsessed with saving the animals while we criminalize homeless humans.

People will step over a hungry person in the street to check on a stray dog. I've seen it.

fwiw, I don't hate animals, have had pets throughout my life and my family is likely getting a new dog in the next year. I just don't put pets and humans on the same level. Humans come first.

Well said. A lot of people don’t get it and either don’t understand or don’t want to admit the pedestal upon which they have placed animals. It really is something for people to treat their dogs like people but even worse that they insist their dog has a right to enjoy grocery shopping, movie theaters and the like, too. Like the dog would have its feelings hurt by staying at home or something.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The amount of mental energy and gymnastics people do over dogs these days is really not to be believed. They are animals. Point blank. Just like the chickens, cows, and pigs that most of us eat on a daily basis. And yet people will lose their minds over the treatment of dogs and how they should be bred or not and blah blah blah. I feel deeply sorry for anyone who has wasted their life working on "animal rescue" or the like. Please, fine a life doing something to benefit your fellow humans.

This is exactly my position on dogs and cats. The amount of resources wasted on these animals is absolute insanity and probably really bad for the environment (feral cats killing birds), wasted energy (water, food, transport) of all these rescue operations. Frankly, we need to be euthanizing the vast majority of these animals. is it "fair" to a dog that was irresponsibly bred and then abandoned to be put down? No, but the dog should have never been bred and the amount of resources wasted on keeping these unwanted and unneeded animals alive is sick when there are millions and millions of HUMANS in need of charity and efforts toward making their lives better. Only in America are people so obsessed with saving the animals while we criminalize homeless humans.

People will step over a hungry person in the street to check on a stray dog. I've seen it.

fwiw, I don't hate animals, have had pets throughout my life and my family is likely getting a new dog in the next year. I just don't put pets and humans on the same level. Humans come first.

Well said. A lot of people don’t get it and either don’t understand or don’t want to admit the pedestal upon which they have placed animals. It really is something for people to treat their dogs like people but even worse that they insist their dog has a right to enjoy grocery shopping, movie theaters and the like, too. Like the dog would have its feelings hurt by staying at home or something.

Yep this. It is so crazy to me how “reactive” and “special needs” dogs are now the norm and if you don’t shell out for dog therapy you’re some kind of monster. All these defective animals should be euthanized. The safety of actual humans should be priority over a dog or cat. Our society is truly sick.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We rescued a miniature pincher from a large rescue in northern MD that turned out to be extremely aggressive to men and boys. He tried to bite my husband and would snap at 3 sons if they tried to get near me. We suspect the poor guy lived with a woman and a man who abused her. He literally would sit behind me on the couch, around the back of my neck. After several weeks of not being able to modify his behavior, we contacted the rescue, per our contract, and they told us to bring him back, which we sadly did. It was heartbreaking. We saw later, though, that the poor pup was back on the rescue's website being advertised as a dog fit for a family with children. This made me question the rescue's good reputation because I have no doubt that poor dog would bite a boy or young man who came between him and a female in the family.

Last year, we adopted an elderly (15 or 16 year old) shih tzu from a friend of a friend. She'd taken the little guy after one of her elderly patients died and left him, but she was being transferred across the country and couldn't take him. He's been such a little love and nice addition to our family. We just hope he feels loved and comfort in his final days.

I'd have a hard time adopting from another rescue unless the dog had been fostered in a family similar to mine.

+1 we fostered a Great Pyrenees/brittany spaniel. he was a resource guarder and extremely protective of me. he went after and bit my teenage daughter (she has a scar on her leg and it was 6 months ago) as she hugged me and the rescue told us to "keep introducing him to new situations and people." um, what? He was returned to the rescue, I believe is being fostered by someone else, and as of today is listed as "engaging in some guarding behaviors, as is typical of Great Pyrenees." That's it.

[Anonymous]

I was surprised at how high some of the adoption fees were. Almost as much as a breeder.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How is a home check burdensome?

One home check is not and last time I adopted a dog from the humane society they were only interested in making sure I had a fence and pulled up the house on google maps to see the fence from the satellite image. A few years ago I tried adopting a small shih tzu from a private rescue and was happy to pay the $400 fee to adopt a middle age shih tzu to further support the organization. They also had a long application and wanted 3 personal letters of recommendation plus one from a vet which I was happy to provide. What stopped me was they wanted to do multiple and possibly surprise home checks after the adoption and had the right to remove the dog at any point. They had requirements about feeding the dog only a certain brand of food and using a crate which if it wasn’t seen during the inspection they would take the dog (I don’t like or use crates for my pets) It felt like I would be more like a foster who was responsible for vet bills than an owner so I didn’t move forward.

That's crazy to demand a letter from a vet, if you don't already have a pet.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We rescued a miniature pincher from a large rescue in northern MD that turned out to be extremely aggressive to men and boys. He tried to bite my husband and would snap at 3 sons if they tried to get near me. We suspect the poor guy lived with a woman and a man who abused her. He literally would sit behind me on the couch, around the back of my neck. After several weeks of not being able to modify his behavior, we contacted the rescue, per our contract, and they told us to bring him back, which we sadly did. It was heartbreaking. We saw later, though, that the poor pup was back on the rescue's website being advertised as a dog fit for a family with children. This made me question the rescue's good reputation because I have no doubt that poor dog would bite a boy or young man who came between him and a female in the family.

Last year, we adopted an elderly (15 or 16 year old) shih tzu from a friend of a friend. She'd taken the little guy after one of her elderly patients died and left him, but she was being transferred across the country and couldn't take him. He's been such a little love and nice addition to our family. We just hope he feels loved and comfort in his final days.

I'd have a hard time adopting from another rescue unless the dog had been fostered in a family similar to mine.

+1 we fostered a Great Pyrenees/brittany spaniel. he was a resource guarder and extremely protective of me. he went after and bit my teenage daughter (she has a scar on her leg and it was 6 months ago) as she hugged me and the rescue told us to "keep introducing him to new situations and people." um, what? He was returned to the rescue, I believe is being fostered by someone else, and as of today is listed as "engaging in some guarding behaviors, as is typical of Great Pyrenees." That's it.

There are thousands of examples of rescues and shelters flat out lying about why dogs have been returned and not sharing the full bite history. It’s really, really awful how many of these animals aren’t fit for human companionship, but they aren’t. It’s not fair to them and it’s certainly not fair to other people who might encounter an animal.

The gall of that rescue. Duh Great Pyrenees have “guarding behaviors,” that’s what they were bred to do, but that’s not what your rescue did.

[Anonymous]

I have had 3 rescue dogs over my lifetime. All were beloved. 2 out of 3 had severe behavior issues that developed despite tons of love, training, exercise and vigilance. I will never rescue again. My heart has been broken too many times. I have spent too much time afraid in my own home, not able to have visitors, constantly worried about an unstable temperament. I know plenty of people get lucky but I think we ignore how many do not. Many of these dogs have problematic genetics and/or no socialization as puppies. And by the way none of my rescues were pit mixes.

I will always support rescue for the good work they do but there needs to be a better process for adopting out. A more realistic view of what a family with kids can or should handle. And there is nothing wrong with a reputable breeder, one who health tests, who socializes and loves their puppies from day one. It’s obviously going to give them a better chance in life…