Adopting a dog.. longish

emerica0909

I am new so sorry if I dont know how to use this thing properly quite yet.


anyway,

Me and my boyfriend went to the SPCA today since we would love to adopt a new family member, and this one dog drew my attention almost instantly. He is 2 years old and he is a "shepherd mix". He is also neauterd.. but anyway, he was extremely shy.. and whenever my boyfriend came and stood by me.. he took off with his head down back to his little dog bed thing. He was completley unsure and so nervous looking. I asked them some background info and they told me the family brought him in and said they had to get rid of him because he barked so much and didnt have enough attention, and that she punched out the kitchen window one night since she was so stressed with this dog. They said they did a behaviour assesment and didnt notice a problem at all. I found him super calm.

Anyway, they said this family didnt sound very promising at all and just seemed like the type that were to lazy to care for this dog. But by the sounds of "punched out a window" she sounded pyscho.

Do any of you know what this could mean? And I have no experience with adopting a dog that might have had problems.. is that a bad thing? can we make him better? I would love to put him through obedience if thats a good idea, and give him a good home. They said when hes out of his kennel hes great, and he is. We took him outside to the off leash area and he was soo well behaved. He just ran like there was no tommorow and he came back when we called him, sat when we told him too.. he was soo excited to run and get out of there. They said they think that it took shock to him to lose his family and be put in a kennel like that all day long.

I just don't want to make the wrong decision and we are taking our daughter to meet him on Sunday. Her safety is also my main concern, but she is very respectful of animals and he seems pretty calm but I can't stay that is a good thing because he seems so nervous and shy. Especially around men, but when we got outside he changed his attitude

Some opinions on this would be appreciated, and tips on where to start.

Mikey

Welcome!! And kudos for looking into a shelter or rescue instead of buying Very good

This dog is not going to be the easiest for you. But really-no dog is a walk in the park. They take work and money and work and money lol

So it just depends on how commited you are. This dog can certainly become a confident loving member of the family-from your description it sounds like he was in a very unstable home and is just really unsure and anxious. This CAN be fixed.

The quesition is-on you (as it always is-the dog is never bad or evil-it's always the situation-as you can see he was not in a good one and it's hurt him)

So
1)do you have the time to spend on this dog-working with him daily on his fears?

(we can help you with this and guide you-we do like helping and have many great members who are very experienced with training).

2) Can you afford a trainer if things are not going well? Can you afford (I'm talking time wise as well as money) to do some classes with him if you need?

3) Is hubby on board to support you and help you along? It's never easy so if he's going to get impatient or upset-or is he going to be supportive and helpful? All family members need to be on board.

So I guess that's the long and short of it-it's totally up to you We can for sure be supportive, encouraging and offer suggestions

Oh and please keep us posted on your decision Welcome

emerica0909

Thank-you,
I attend post secondary during the day for about 4 hours. I am done this month, and will have a lot of time to spend with him. We only have one child so he would be more then welcome in our family and he would fit in very well.

We have the time and money to spend on classes and a trainer for sure. I was thinking that as a decision from the get-go.

The only concern I had was anyone who has dealt with a dog from an unstable family and how he would be around children at the start.

Mikey

If you have the time, money and patience-well I say go for it This doggy could use a home with any -let alone all three

With children and dogs-no matter the breed or history-you never let them alone with a child period-I wouldn't care whether it was a dog I raised from a puppy or a dog I adopted. Honestly-and I'm not a parent (well not a parent of a person ) but you want to protect them -so no matter the dog-be weary But I think the dog would be fine

As an example-my dog is a total nutcase tornado who came with absolutely no training (he didn't even know 'sit') and he's high energy, has anxiety, phobia's and problems-yet super good with children. So it all depends.

And from what you've said-well I like it Sounds like you have what it takes But by all means no matter what four legged animal it is-never around children without you there I'm sure you'd never anyways but just to reinforce that

Jakes

Just keep in mind that it will be a lot of work, but if you put in the time the dog will love you all the more for it. Just make sure that your whole family is on board!