Dog adoption advice - local shelters

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Before we brought the dog into our home, we separated our cat so we could gradually introduce the two animals. As soon as the dog entered the house, he smelled the cat, saw the cat, knocked down a baby gate, chased the cat under a bed, and tried to get under the bed to get to the cat. We got the dog to the first floor and literally barricaded the stairs with a table and chairs so the dog couldn't get upstairs to get the cat, thinking we'd call our vet for some advice the next day. The dog saw the cat at the top of the stairs and proceeded to knock down all of the furniture, run upstairs, and corner the cat in the laundry room. Fortunately, we were able to get to the dog before the dog got the cat...

I believe the private rescue groups are staffed by volunteers with hearts of gold, but at the end of the day, they are volunteers. If you are adopting a pet into a home with special considerations (cats, another dog, kids), I recommend going to a shelter with animal behaviorists on staff, because in my experience, they can give you a better read on the pet. They also are pretty accommodating about taking an animal back, if the situation doesn't work out. Though to be clear, in my 30 years of pet ownership (two dogs and five cats), the dog from Lucky Dog was the only pet I've ever had to return. It was that bad.

Holy fscking shit. You brought a new animal into your home without having proper control of it? That's 100% on you. 30 years of pet ownership and you pull a noob move like this? Two words, clueless: Crate. Training. New dog comes into your house on a leash and goes straight to its crate. Period. Damn...

Do NOT blame the rescue for your own ignorance/stupidity. That situation was completely avoidable, and it was your duty to both animals to provide a better-controlled environment. There is no amount of "better read on the pet" that protects against owner stupidity.

1. We used the same approach with our first dog--no problem.
2. We used the same approach with our pittie--no problem.
3. Lucky Dog told us that the dog was fostering with a cat and they were not separated. When the foster mom delivered the dog, we told her how we'd introduce the dog and the cat, and she told us that would work.
4. The vet told us that we should surrender the dog after we told her how we'd introduced them.
5. Other posters have shared the same experiences with volunteer rescue groups.

Lucky Dog volunteer?

No, I'm not a lucky dog volunteer, though I did adopt a dog from them many years ago.

That you got lucky doesn't mean you were smart. Your approach is a liability. That you didn't learn from someone pointing that out, and have chosen to try to justify your stupidity, clearly indicates where the problem is.

Please stop adopting dogs. You're not responsible enough to do basic introductions correctly, and your massive ego prevents smarter people from educating you and helping you suck less.

[Anonymous]

I'm Lucky dog volunteer (and not PP), have a cat and fosters multiple Lucky dogs and actually not quite sure why the dog was not on leash during first introduction. Its very basic - safety first, dog should be under control when they meet cat for the first time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Before we brought the dog into our home, we separated our cat so we could gradually introduce the two animals. As soon as the dog entered the house, he smelled the cat, saw the cat, knocked down a baby gate, chased the cat under a bed, and tried to get under the bed to get to the cat. We got the dog to the first floor and literally barricaded the stairs with a table and chairs so the dog couldn't get upstairs to get the cat, thinking we'd call our vet for some advice the next day. The dog saw the cat at the top of the stairs and proceeded to knock down all of the furniture, run upstairs, and corner the cat in the laundry room. Fortunately, we were able to get to the dog before the dog got the cat...

I believe the private rescue groups are staffed by volunteers with hearts of gold, but at the end of the day, they are volunteers. If you are adopting a pet into a home with special considerations (cats, another dog, kids), I recommend going to a shelter with animal behaviorists on staff, because in my experience, they can give you a better read on the pet. They also are pretty accommodating about taking an animal back, if the situation doesn't work out. Though to be clear, in my 30 years of pet ownership (two dogs and five cats), the dog from Lucky Dog was the only pet I've ever had to return. It was that bad.

Holy fscking shit. You brought a new animal into your home without having proper control of it? That's 100% on you. 30 years of pet ownership and you pull a noob move like this? Two words, clueless: Crate. Training. New dog comes into your house on a leash and goes straight to its crate. Period. Damn...

Do NOT blame the rescue for your own ignorance/stupidity. That situation was completely avoidable, and it was your duty to both animals to provide a better-controlled environment. There is no amount of "better read on the pet" that protects against owner stupidity.

1. We used the same approach with our first dog--no problem.
2. We used the same approach with our pittie--no problem.
3. Lucky Dog told us that the dog was fostering with a cat and they were not separated. When the foster mom delivered the dog, we told her how we'd introduce the dog and the cat, and she told us that would work.
4. The vet told us that we should surrender the dog after we told her how we'd introduced them.
5. Other posters have shared the same experiences with volunteer rescue groups.

Lucky Dog volunteer?

No, I'm not a lucky dog volunteer, though I did adopt a dog from them many years ago.

That you got lucky doesn't mean you were smart. Your approach is a liability. That you didn't learn from someone pointing that out, and have chosen to try to justify your stupidity, clearly indicates where the problem is.

Please stop adopting dogs. You're not responsible enough to do basic introductions correctly, and your massive ego prevents smarter people from educating you and helping you suck less.

Right. Because introducing a dog that has strong prey drive is safe *if it is on a leash.* Once it's off the leash, or out of the crate, or whatever, everything will go well. Are you an idiot? The veterinarian said the dog shouldn't *ever* be with the cat, given it's behavior. But you know more because -- wait for it -- you adopted a dog years ago? For f--k's sake, under your logic, every dog can live with a cat so long as it is introduced to a cat properly, as you define properly, given your infinite knowledge of dogs. If that's the case, then why does Lucky Dog bother to advertise a dog as "cat friendly" or "not cat friendly"?

You know how the shelters tested dogs? A volunteer held a cat in a room with a dog. If the dog lunged, it couldn't live with a cat. After our dog passed that test, she hung out in an office with a volunteer and a cat. That's what I want.

Also, if the point is to rehabilitate Lucky Dog's image, maybe don't call people "idiots" or "stupid" or "noobs" or tell them to "never adopt a dog" (notwithstanding that they adopted a dog) in a public forum? Others have already posted about animal rescue groups shaming adopters who get dogs with issues that are not disclosed. Did ya think that people reading your unhinged posts might find them to reinforce what others have said?

But keep piling on. You are so winning!

Let the pile-on continue. You're just sending adopters to animal

[Anonymous]

Look I'm not here to rehabilitate LDAR imagine, I don't think it was right not to take that dog back immediately.

However, it does not change the fact that you screw up the introduction.

[Anonymous]

PS I fostered a dog with high pray drive with a cat for several months. He never chased my cat. Its possible for some dogs to have different behavior inside/outside of the house. If dog I your story lived with cats without chasing - it's ok to place it in the house with dog-savvy cats (not your house though).

And there are dogs that shouldn't live in the house with cats, period. I had a foster like that as well, managed for a week, it was rehoused to the foster without cats with the note on the file.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Before we brought the dog into our home, we separated our cat so we could gradually introduce the two animals. As soon as the dog entered the house, he smelled the cat, saw the cat, knocked down a baby gate, chased the cat under a bed, and tried to get under the bed to get to the cat. We got the dog to the first floor and literally barricaded the stairs with a table and chairs so the dog couldn't get upstairs to get the cat, thinking we'd call our vet for some advice the next day. The dog saw the cat at the top of the stairs and proceeded to knock down all of the furniture, run upstairs, and corner the cat in the laundry room. Fortunately, we were able to get to the dog before the dog got the cat...

I believe the private rescue groups are staffed by volunteers with hearts of gold, but at the end of the day, they are volunteers. If you are adopting a pet into a home with special considerations (cats, another dog, kids), I recommend going to a shelter with animal behaviorists on staff, because in my experience, they can give you a better read on the pet. They also are pretty accommodating about taking an animal back, if the situation doesn't work out. Though to be clear, in my 30 years of pet ownership (two dogs and five cats), the dog from Lucky Dog was the only pet I've ever had to return. It was that bad.

Holy fscking shit. You brought a new animal into your home without having proper control of it? That's 100% on you. 30 years of pet ownership and you pull a noob move like this? Two words, clueless: Crate. Training. New dog comes into your house on a leash and goes straight to its crate. Period. Damn...

Do NOT blame the rescue for your own ignorance/stupidity. That situation was completely avoidable, and it was your duty to both animals to provide a better-controlled environment. There is no amount of "better read on the pet" that protects against owner stupidity.

1. We used the same approach with our first dog--no problem.
2. We used the same approach with our pittie--no problem.
3. Lucky Dog told us that the dog was fostering with a cat and they were not separated. When the foster mom delivered the dog, we told her how we'd introduce the dog and the cat, and she told us that would work.
4. The vet told us that we should surrender the dog after we told her how we'd introduced them.
5. Other posters have shared the same experiences with volunteer rescue groups.

Lucky Dog volunteer?

No, I'm not a lucky dog volunteer, though I did adopt a dog from them many years ago.

That you got lucky doesn't mean you were smart. Your approach is a liability. That you didn't learn from someone pointing that out, and have chosen to try to justify your stupidity, clearly indicates where the problem is.

Please stop adopting dogs. You're not responsible enough to do basic introductions correctly, and your massive ego prevents smarter people from educating you and helping you suck less.

Right. Because introducing a dog that has strong prey drive is safe *if it is on a leash.* Once it's off the leash, or out of the crate, or whatever, everything will go well. Are you an idiot? The veterinarian said the dog shouldn't *ever* be with the cat, given it's behavior. But you know more because -- wait for it -- you adopted a dog years ago? For f--k's sake, under your logic, every dog can live with a cat so long as it is introduced to a cat properly, as you define properly, given your infinite knowledge of dogs. If that's the case, then why does Lucky Dog bother to advertise a dog as "cat friendly" or "not cat friendly"?

You know how the shelters tested dogs? A volunteer held a cat in a room with a dog. If the dog lunged, it couldn't live with a cat. After our dog passed that test, she hung out in an office with a volunteer and a cat. That's what I want.

Also, if the point is to rehabilitate Lucky Dog's image, maybe don't call people "idiots" or "stupid" or "noobs" or tell them to "never adopt a dog" (notwithstanding that they adopted a dog) in a public forum? Others have already posted about animal rescue groups shaming adopters who get dogs with issues that are not disclosed. Did ya think that people reading your unhinged posts might find them to reinforce what others have said?

But keep piling on. You are so winning!

Let the pile-on continue. You're just sending adopters to animal

Okay, hothead, you go off however you like. Just know that anyone who has ever done this correctly sees where the issue is, and it's you. Unambiguously.

I've trained multiple dogs with high prey drives to leave my cats (and birds, and bunnies, and...) entirely tf alone. It starts by controlling them from the beginning and then, you know, training the animal. New dogs are crated and drag a leash for weeks around here, sometimes months, until they know the rules and have been properly established in the pack order. You can't train an animal you can't control, which is why anyone sane doesn't bring a new animal into an environment with other animals without having them under control.

You're a fscking mess. Stop bringing animals into it and maybe get some therapy for your psychological instability and anger management issues.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Look I'm not here to rehabilitate LDAR imagine, I don't think it was right not to take that dog back immediately.

However, it does not change the fact that you screw up the introduction.

This isn't about Lucky Dog at all. That poster is an idiot. Like idiots do, they're blaming anyone but themselves.

No shelter can counter that. PP needs to learn before someone gets badly hurt or an animal gets killed. But their attitude is preventing them from taking responsibility for their own involvement in the mess, and they're blaming entities that can't possibly control what goes on in PP's home.