Dog - where to get one?

[Anonymous]

OK this is blunt. I don't want to get a poorly bred pitbull from a back yard breeder with unknown socialization during a critical period of life-ages 7-16 weeks.

I am fortunate enough to own a "poorly bred pitbull from a back yard breeder with unknown socialization during a critical period of life-ages 7-16 weeks." Got him from WHS. He loves other dogs, cats, and kids of all ages.

An individual member of any dog breed can be a poor fit for children. The fact that there are more poorly-bred and socialized bullies has to do with idiot humans. WHS (and all of the other good shelters listed here) take great care to evaluate dogs as individuals and place them accordingly.

To the OP's original question, a lot of the shelters mentioned are great and I would add that you might consider getting a dog that has been fostered for awhile - an animal that's been in a home for awhile is much more likely to show its true personality than one in a stressful shelter environment.

[Anonymous]

Just Puppies in Rockville

[Anonymous]

DON"T GO TO JUST PUPPIES. Look it up on Yelp. So sad.

[Anonymous]

Just Puppies is a sad place. I wish I could walk in, pay for every dog, and leave.

We just adopted a puppymill Yorkie from a local rescue - A Forever Home - and she's wonderful. We're experienced with the breed, and have small children, but since we've had a Yorkie in the past, they knew we were a wonderful home. So many great dogs die everyday at shelters - look into a hound. We have a hound, he's mild tempered, easy, fun, smart and has a scary bark He's our big love and couldn't ask for a better dog for our children.

[Anonymous]

My suggestion is to

a.) Avoid pet stores, puppy mills and backyard breeders at all costs. You can wind up with huge medical bills and heartache. There is a critical window for socialization that these dogs miss so you'll have to be very good at training to overcome these problems.

b.) I wouldn't recommend a rescue dog if you haven't trained a dog before and are at all nervous about a dog around your kids. Its one thing to understand that a puppy is going to nip you but you'll train him not to do it and having an adult dog lunge or snap at your kids. Its not the adult dog's fault because he's scared and didn't get the training he needed but the stress and worry about how to deal with this shouldn't be under estimated. I don't think rescues do a good job of explaining food aggression, or how a dog can change depending on the circumstance. Adult rescues require a lot of work too. Puppy rescues often come from backyard breeders or puppy mill situations.

c.) If you're familiar with dogs, understand dog body language and are up for the above then a rescue is great.

d.) A puppy from a reputable breeder is not a guarantee but the risks are greatly reduced. A puppy is a lot of work and a big responsibility.

[Anonymous]

Our Brownie Troop recently made cat toys and prepared dog treats for animals at the the Montgomery County Humane Society. With a 9 year old girl, we are in the market for a dog. Well, dropped off the treats for the animals and then took a look at the dogs at the shelter. Mostly Pit Bulls. Noisy, angry, scary pit bulls. Sorry, we have to pass. The few sweet little non pitbulls had been adopted already. Pretty sad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our Brownie Troop recently made cat toys and prepared dog treats for animals at the the Montgomery County Humane Society. With a 9 year old girl, we are in the market for a dog. Well, dropped off the treats for the animals and then took a look at the dogs at the shelter. Mostly Pit Bulls. Noisy, angry, scary pit bulls. Sorry, we have to pass. The few sweet little non pitbulls had been adopted already. Pretty sad.

You need to look at petfinder.com for e.g. poodle mixes, terrier mixes, smallish mixed breeds, less than say, 4yo. There are LOTS of these being fostered within an hour radius of DC. Search for: Schnauzer, Cairn, Westie, Scottie, Poodle.

Also try Briggs Animal Rescue in W.Virginia, a wonderful organization.

[Anonymous]

a.) Avoid pet stores, puppy mills and backyard breeders at all costs. You can wind up with huge medical bills and heartache. There is a critical window for socialization that these dogs miss so you'll have to be very good at training to overcome these problems.

b.) I wouldn't recommend a rescue dog if you haven't trained a dog before and are at all nervous about a dog around your kids. Its one thing to understand that a puppy is going to nip you but you'll train him not to do it and having an adult dog lunge or snap at your kids. Its not the adult dog's fault because he's scared and didn't get the training he needed but the stress and worry about how to deal with this shouldn't be under estimated. I don't think rescues do a good job of explaining food aggression, or how a dog can change depending on the circumstance. Adult rescues require a lot of work too. Puppy rescues often come from backyard breeders or puppy mill situations.

While I agree that you should avoid pet stores and puppy mills (mostly because it is inhumane and I think you should avoid feeding the demand for such puppies), I don't know that all "backyard breeders" are always so problematic. Occasionally there is some dope who for whatever reason decides not to get their dog fixed and they have a litter (for some reason fixing your dog is not as popular in a lot of rural areas/exurbs). The puppies are not necessarily abused or poorly socialized, and often it results in some accidental but wonderful crosses (for example, my childhood dog was a lab/Aussie cross who happened when the Aussie in heat escaped the yard and met an intact lab, and he was great). I also disagree that a dog with unknown pedigree as a young puppy is always problematic--even if they come from a puppy mill or backyard breeder. You can get dogs with wonderful personalities from a puppy mill and dogs who are nasty from a reputable breeder. Health issues also happen in all pure breeds, even if you have health clearance, and often mixes tend to be healthier.

As far as rescues go, a responsible rescue will only give an adult dog to a family with kids who has been observed with kids and has a pretty steady temperament. Not all rescues have been abused, or will lunge at people. Some rescues come from families who just can't take care of their dog anymore for some reason (health, moving, overwhelmed with a new baby, change in finances). Dogs can change depending on environment, that's true. But a three year old golden retriever who has always been observed to be great with children (even strange children) is unlikely to freak out and become a psychopath unless you are a really terrible dog owner.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our Brownie Troop recently made cat toys and prepared dog treats for animals at the the Montgomery County Humane Society. With a 9 year old girl, we are in the market for a dog. Well, dropped off the treats for the animals and then took a look at the dogs at the shelter. Mostly Pit Bulls. Noisy, angry, scary pit bulls. Sorry, we have to pass. The few sweet little non pitbulls had been adopted already. Pretty sad.

Lab rescue gets them out and fosters them. http://lab-rescue.org/content.asp?pl=778&sl=788&contentid=788

Be careful since many OTHER groups stick bully breeds under mixes and list lab [broad faces and stocky] if possible to make the dog more adoptable. See the breeds of dogs that make this list. Fairfax County is mostly pitbulls :
http://www.vdacs.virginia.gov/animals/dogs.shtml

WHS even has a cane corso mix for adoption. The cane corso http://newanimalcontrol.org/screenfail.shtml
http://www.canecorsoinfo.org/temperment.htm note the temperment of many in the US