Anonymous wrote:OP here again with an update. We brought hole our new dog today and he’s absolutely perfect. We applied for pre-approval at a few rescues, and then just kept applying and waiting. I connected with one of the fosters who didn’t have the right dog for us, but he connected us with another foster and that’s who we got our pup from. So I would recommend picking a few places you like, getting pre-approved, and then start making connections.

There were some places we just never heard back from at all and some places that never had any of the breeds we were looking for, so that helped narrow it down too. Otherwise, I was starting to go a little crazy obsessively checking the websites of like 20 shelters/rescues every day.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here's what moved me up: realizing that shelters arent going to have the dog I wanted. So I stopped wasting time. A Golden Retriever with a cleared health lineage. So I went to the AKC site and found a reputable breeder (ie one who cares about the quality of the breed and not just printing out puppies) and bought one. His parents are therapy dogs...no, not the counterfeit-emotional-support-squirrel type animals people try to take everywhere.

I was extremely close to taking a golden from a neighbor moving out of the country, but he liked it enough he decided to bring it with him. So, I tried all I could to adopt.
I didnt want an animal with a questionable traumatic past and all that baggage, with my kids. I didnt want some hyper tugging thing. And I didn't need some imperious screener asking me if I ever had pet a declawed cat or planned to use an electronic training collar, which I do.

Now, that said, all I have now is a box of genes on 4 paws...I have a lot of work to do!

That’s great, but in our experience, rescue dogs tend to be the most loyal, long-lived and friendly. Designer breeds, particularly the “oodle” dogs, I’ve found to be assholes. Our neighbors have one of these and when we introduced the wife to our rescue, she lamented how she’s done with breeders. I don’t blame her. Their dog nips, is unsocial and barks at every gd thing that walks by. They don’t have a fenced yard and the poor thing is crated a large portion of the day. Poor thing.

Anonymous wrote:Here's what moved me up: realizing that shelters arent going to have the dog I wanted. So I stopped wasting time. A Golden Retriever with a cleared health lineage. So I went to the AKC site and found a reputable breeder (ie one who cares about the quality of the breed and not just printing out puppies) and bought one. His parents are therapy dogs...no, not the counterfeit-emotional-support-squirrel type animals people try to take everywhere.

I was extremely close to taking a golden from a neighbor moving out of the country, but he liked it enough he decided to bring it with him. So, I tried all I could to adopt.
I didnt want an animal with a questionable traumatic past and all that baggage, with my kids. I didnt want some hyper tugging thing. And I didn't need some imperious screener asking me if I ever had pet a declawed cat or planned to use an electronic training collar, which I do.

Now, that said, all I have now is a box of genes on 4 paws...I have a lot of work to do!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here's what moved me up: realizing that shelters arent going to have the dog I wanted. So I stopped wasting time. A Golden Retriever with a cleared health lineage. So I went to the AKC site and found a reputable breeder (ie one who cares about the quality of the breed and not just printing out puppies) and bought one. His parents are therapy dogs...no, not the counterfeit-emotional-support-squirrel type animals people try to take everywhere.

I was extremely close to taking a golden from a neighbor moving out of the country, but he liked it enough he decided to bring it with him. So, I tried all I could to adopt.
I didnt want an animal with a questionable traumatic past and all that baggage, with my kids. I didnt want some hyper tugging thing. And I didn't need some imperious screener asking me if I ever had pet a declawed cat or planned to use an electronic training collar, which I do.

Now, that said, all I have now is a box of genes on 4 paws...I have a lot of work to do!

This is interesting. We have a 10yo rescue who we got as a puppy and whom we adore, and I've always been against getting a dog from a breeder--#adoptdontshop and all. However, our rescue recently got an unexpected, devastating health diagnosis and doesn't have much time left--it's been really hard on all of us. This is our first dog, and I'm not sure if I want to take that risk again anytime soon. Also don't know if I want an older rescue dog since we have young kids in the house--don't want to take the risk of bites etc. if the dog has a trauma history. I'm sure I'll have a rescue again, but maybe when we're empty nesters. In the interim, I'm also wondering about reputable breeders and career change therapy dogs.

Good Lord. If you want a shelter dog, having children isn't a reason not to get one. Don’t pick a shy dog, an unsocialized dog, or one that doesn't like children. I have always been able to find absolutely wonderful shelter dogs without even looking too hard. Temperament is more important than cute. If you want a dog from a breeder, there is nothing wrong with that either, you haven't got to justify it to anyone. Just get the dog you want, love it and be happy.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here's what moved me up: realizing that shelters arent going to have the dog I wanted. So I stopped wasting time. A Golden Retriever with a cleared health lineage. So I went to the AKC site and found a reputable breeder (ie one who cares about the quality of the breed and not just printing out puppies) and bought one. His parents are therapy dogs...no, not the counterfeit-emotional-support-squirrel type animals people try to take everywhere.

I was extremely close to taking a golden from a neighbor moving out of the country, but he liked it enough he decided to bring it with him. So, I tried all I could to adopt.
I didnt want an animal with a questionable traumatic past and all that baggage, with my kids. I didnt want some hyper tugging thing. And I didn't need some imperious screener asking me if I ever had pet a declawed cat or planned to use an electronic training collar, which I do.

Now, that said, all I have now is a box of genes on 4 paws...I have a lot of work to do!

This is interesting. We have a 10yo rescue who we got as a puppy and whom we adore, and I've always been against getting a dog from a breeder--#adoptdontshop and all. However, our rescue recently got an unexpected, devastating health diagnosis and doesn't have much time left--it's been really hard on all of us. This is our first dog, and I'm not sure if I want to take that risk again anytime soon. Also don't know if I want an older rescue dog since we have young kids in the house--don't want to take the risk of bites etc. if the dog has a trauma history. I'm sure I'll have a rescue again, but maybe when we're empty nesters. In the interim, I'm also wondering about reputable breeders and career change therapy dogs.

Anonymous wrote:Here's what moved me up: realizing that shelters arent going to have the dog I wanted. So I stopped wasting time. A Golden Retriever with a cleared health lineage. So I went to the AKC site and found a reputable breeder (ie one who cares about the quality of the breed and not just printing out puppies) and bought one. His parents are therapy dogs...no, not the counterfeit-emotional-support-squirrel type animals people try to take everywhere.

I was extremely close to taking a golden from a neighbor moving out of the country, but he liked it enough he decided to bring it with him. So, I tried all I could to adopt.
I didnt want an animal with a questionable traumatic past and all that baggage, with my kids. I didnt want some hyper tugging thing. And I didn't need some imperious screener asking me if I ever had pet a declawed cat or planned to use an electronic training collar, which I do.

Now, that said, all I have now is a box of genes on 4 paws...I have a lot of work to do!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP above - seriously put in an application in any state, they'll approve you in the South in 48 hours because the kill shelters are overwhelmed, put gas in your car, drive there in 11 hours and then drive back.

Wham. You've adopted your first dog.

Please share the name of an agency that will let you adopt a dog within 48 hours.

This was pre-pandemic, but we adopted a dog from Lost Dog & Cat as first time dog owners a few years back the same day. It was at one of those pet store adoption events.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:PP above - seriously put in an application in any state, they'll approve you in the South in 48 hours because the kill shelters are overwhelmed, put gas in your car, drive there in 11 hours and then drive back.

Wham. You've adopted your first dog.

Please share the name of an agency that will let you adopt a dog within 48 hours.

Anonymous wrote:How do you find retired breeding dogs?