Adopting puppy from shelter--advice?

[Anonymous]

We've put down a deposit to hold a puppy at our local humane society. The puppy has been in a foster home because it was so young when they got her so we haven't even seen her in person. Got a voice mail today saying that she is scheduled to be spayed on Monday and we can bring her home Tuesday!

We will of course call tomorrow during business hours to get the details, (and hopefully we can meet her before the procedure--the message didn't indicate if she'd been moved from the foster home to the shelter) but I'm nervous about bringing home a puppy that has just had surgery. Is this pretty standard? A friend has offered us a puppy pen and a crate--what else do we need?

[Anonymous]

The puppy probably will not even slow down from the surgery. Ours didn't.

[Anonymous]

As with any puppy, I recommend to you either work from home or take a week off as the puppy acclimates to your house. I just got a puppy about two months ago and I was able to work from home the first two weeks. That was extremely helpful for bonding with the puppy and potty training him. By the time I was back in the office he was completely housebroken And he is a small breed, so rather than the crate I got him a little doggie playpen from bed Bath and beyond. Initially I kept him in that, now he gets access to the whole kitchen as we just have baby gates everywhere

[Anonymous]

I am the last poster. For clarification. He's kept in the kitchen while we are at work and school. He does have access to the house once we are home. However we do not leave them in rooms alone as, while he has not had any accidents,he still might. And he picks up everything from the floor so we like to be able to monitor him so he doesn't accidentally ingested something he should not

[Anonymous]

You need to see the puppy in person before you adopt. I once saw a cut dog online, once I saw it in person I could tell it was a pitbull but I couldn't tell just from the photo.

[Anonymous]

Get one from a proper breeder. Shelter dogs are low class

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Get one from a proper breeder. Shelter dogs are low class

You're a terrible person.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You need to see the puppy in person before you adopt. I once saw a cut dog online, once I saw it in person I could tell it was a pitbull but I couldn't tell just from the photo.

Agreed, I would never adopt a dog without meeting her first!!!

[Anonymous]

The dog will need to go out every X hours, where X is months old.

Make sure the dog has chew toys and a specific place where his toys are kept.

Put anything you don't want chewed FAR out of reach.

If the dog has had its shots, sign up for a training class ASAP.

Talk with the foster family about what food the dog eats, if it needs to go back to the vet, where it sleeps, that sort of thing.

Make sure you have a crate and/or baby gates for when you can't supervise the dog.

Spend as much time with the dog as possible. Take it on long walks and have plenty of play time--a tired dog is a good dog.

[Anonymous]

I would try to negotiate delaying spaying. General consensus is to have one heat cycle before the spay.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would try to negotiate delaying spaying. General consensus is to have one heat cycle before the spay.

Shelters do not negotiate on spay/neuter.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would try to negotiate delaying spaying. General consensus is to have one heat cycle before the spay.

Shelters do not negotiate on spay/neuter.

Great. Let's add to already exsisting problems due to bad breeding, malnutrition, no health checks for parents, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would try to negotiate delaying spaying. General consensus is to have one heat cycle before the spay.

Shelters do not negotiate on spay/neuter.

Great. Let's add to already exsisting problems due to bad breeding, malnutrition, no health checks for parents, etc.

You are spreading a lot of incorrect advice.

The American Veterinary Medical Association recommends spaying by four months. And in general, a mixed breed you get from a shelter is more likely to be healthier than a pure-bred from a breeder - that is common knowledge.

https://www.thespruce.com/spaying-and-neutering-2804978

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would try to negotiate delaying spaying. General consensus is to have one heat cycle before the spay.

Shelters do not negotiate on spay/neuter.

Great. Let's add to already exsisting problems due to bad breeding, malnutrition, no health checks for parents, etc.

You are spreading a lot of incorrect advice.

The American Veterinary Medical Association recommends spaying by four months. And in general, a mixed breed you get from a shelter is more likely to be healthier than a pure-bred from a breeder - that is common knowledge.

https://www.thespruce.com/spaying-and-neutering-2804978

Let's go to the source instead of some obscure spruce bs

https://www.avma.org/KB/Resources/Reference/AnimalWelfare/Pages/Elective-Spaying-Neutering-Pets.aspx

[Anonymous]

I just brought home a foster pup, four months old, last Tuesday--and she was spayed on the day before (Monday). She was very much in demand and is an amazing pup, so I accepted the early spay, but it wasn't my preference. My other dogs were always spayed later, but as a PP noted, shelters don't negotiate.

As it turns out, she's recovered beautifully. She didn't even appear to slow down. I took her to my own vet on Friday, who checked the stitches and said pup is healing nicely, and pup has a soft e-collar that can come off in 4 days.