BoulderPets.net

Adopting a dog

Adopting a Dog is an incredibly generous a way to bring a new member into your family.

Many rescue or shelter dogs will come from a life of poor social upbringing and need to be taught how to get along with others in the most basic way. They may need rescue simply because their owner had no idea how to live with a dog and teach a dog how to live with a human. They may come into our care because of abuse, neglect, or simply lack of education.

Other dogs may come into rescue already well behaved and socialized, perhaps through loss of an owner, or through financial difficulties. Some may be unwanted puppies that never found a home. They all need someone to look after them, someone to teach them, someone to care for them, and, being dogs, they need someone for whom they can do the same. Most dogs also need a job.

If you take one of these dogs into your home and help it overcome its circumstances through careful loving care, you will see how naturally loyal, social and big-hearted these creatures are. You yourself will never be the same again.

A rescue dog will likely already have been housed in a foster home. The dedicated work of foster volunteers can give them a great head start towards integrating well into a permanent home. Foster families work with them on such basic things as housebreaking and social skills. This can go a long way towards educating the dog, but it also gives us a basis of information to make a good fit between a dog and an adopter. In addition, it will help us give you more information on any special needs a dog may have or how it responds to various circumstances or methods of training.

While foster families work hard to teach a dog these things, the adoptive family must continue with training and reinforcing good behaviors. That may include any number of the following things:

• Housebreaking
• Teaching it get along with others, both human and canine (feline would be a bonus too)
• Obedience training
• Teaching basic manners
• Giving it a job to do (a job can be as simple as sitting at your feet for a time or as complex as bringing your dairy bull in from the pasture.)
• Teaching him your specific “house rules” so that you can all live together happily.

A rescue dog who has lived with a foster family prior to adoption has the advantage of being fairly well known and the foster family will be able to tell you a lot about how that particular individual responds to various situations, people, animals, and training methods. Though they often do get to know a dog a bit and some sort of evaluation, a shelter dog will be more of an unknown. The shelter situation simply does not allow for a lot of interaction, nor does it usually allow a dog to behave normally.

Regardless of which situation yo adopt a dog out of, there are always things that are unknown in a rescue or shelter dog’s history and unexpected behaviors may come out in new situations. Many shelters and rescue groups understand this and are willing to both work with you and your new dog on the things that you encounter, or if needed will take the dog back and work with you on finding a new dog that better fits your needs. Other times it is best to contact a professional dog trainer for help. They will have a wealth of knowledge and personal experiences to draw from to help with your adopted dog's behavior and training.