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Top 10 Reasons to Adopt a Rescue Dog
Mary and Doug Clark, Labrador Retriever Rescue, Inc.
Why on earth would anyone want to adopt a rescued dog? After all, aren't
they like used cars? Who wants someone else's problems? If the dog is so
wonderful, why would anyone give him away? If he was a stray, why didn't
someone try to find him? I'd rather buy a puppy so I know what I'm getting,
and besides they're so cute!"
Labrador rescues often hear a variation of this conversation. Many
prospective lab owners are just not convinced that owning an older (i.e, 6
mo.+) "pre-owned" lab is better than buying a puppy. But there are a
number of reasons why adopting a Labrador from a rescue that carefully screens
and evaluates its labs can provide an even better alternative. Here are the
"Top 10 Reasons You Should Consider a Rescue."
10. In a Word - Housebroken
With most family members gone during the work week for 8 hours or more,
housetraining a puppy and its small bladder can take awhile. Puppies need a
consistent schedule with frequent opportunities to eliminate where you want
them to. They can't wait for the boss to finish his meeting or the kids to
come home from after school activities. An older lab can "hold it"
much more reliably for longer time periods, and usually the rescue has him
housebroken before he is adopted.
9. Intact Underwear
With a "chewy" puppy, you can count on at least 10 mismatched
pairs of socks and a variety of unmentionables rendered to the "rag
bag" before he cuts every tooth. Also, you can expect holes in your
carpet (along with the urine stains), pages missing from books, stuffing
exposed from couches, and at least one dead remote control. No matter how well
you watch them, it will happen - this is a puppy's job! An older dog can
usually have the run of the house without destroying it.
8. A Good Night's Sleep
Forget the alarm clocks and hot water bottles, a puppy can be very
demanding at 2am and 4am and 6am. He misses his littermates, and that stuffed
animal will not make a puppy pile with him. If you have children, you've been
there and done that. How about a little peace and quiet? How about an older
rescue lab?
7. Finish the Newspaper
With a puppy running amok in your house, do you think you will be able to
relax when you get home from work? Do you think your kids will really feed
him, clean up the messes, take him for a walk in the pouring rain every hour
to get him housetrained? With an adult dog, it will only be the kids running
amok, because your labby will be sitting calmly next to you, while your
workday stress flows away and your blood pressure lowers as you pet him.
6. Easier Vet Trips
Those puppies need their series of puppy shots and fecals, then their
rabies shot, then a trip to be altered, maybe an emergency trip or two if
they've chewed something dangerous. Those puppy visits can add up (on top of
what you paid for the dog). Your donation to the rescue when adopting an older
pup should get you a dog with all shots current, already altered, heartworm
negative and on preventative at the minimum.
5. What you See is what you Get
How big will that puppy be? What kind of temperament will he have? Will he
be easily trained? Will his personality be what you were hoping for? How
active will he be? When adopting an older dog from a rescue, all of those
questions are easily answered. You can pick large or small; active or couch
potato; goofy or brilliant; sweet or sassy. The rescue and its foster homes
can guide you to pick the right match. (Our rescue is full of puppies who
became the wrong match as they got older!)
4. Unscarred Children (and Adults)
When the puppy isn't teething on your possessions, he will be teething on
your children and yourself. Our rescue routinely gets called from panicked
parents who are sure their lab is biting the children. Since biting implies
hostile intent and would be a consideration whether we accept their give-up,
we ask questions and usually find out the dog is being nippy. Parents are
often too emotional to see the difference; but a growing puppy is going to put
everything from food to clothes to hands in their mouths, and as they get
older and bigger it definitely hurts (and will get worse, if they aren't being
corrected properly.) Most older labs have "been there, done that, moved
on."
3. Matchmaker make me a Match
Puppy love is often no more than an attachment to a look or a color. It is
not much of a basis on which to make a decision that will hopefully last 15+
years. While that puppy may have been the cutest of the litter; he may grow up
to be superactive (when what you wanted was a couch buddy); she may be a couch
princess (when what you wanted was a tireless hiking companion); he may want
to spend every waking moment in the water (while you're a landlubber); or she
may want to be an only child (while you are intending to have kids or more
animals). Pet mis-matches are one of the top reasons rescues get give-up phone
calls. Good rescues do extensive evaluating of both their labbies and their
applicants to be sure that both labby and family will be happy with each other
until death due them part.
2. Instant Companion
With an older labby, you automatically have a buddy that can go everywhere
and do everything with you NOW. There's no waiting for a puppy to grow up (and
then hope he will like to do what you enjoy.) You will have been able to
select the most compatible dog: one that travels well; one that loves to play
with your friends' dogs; one with excellent house manners that you can take to
your parents' new home with the new carpet and the new couch. You can come
home after a long day's work and spend your time on a relaxing walk, ride or
swim with your new best friend (rather than cleaning up after a small puppy.)
1. Bond, Labby Bond
Labbies who have been uprooted from their happy homes or have not had the
best start in life are more likely to bond very completely and deeply with
their new people. Those who have lost their families through death, divorce or
lifestyle change go through a terrible mourning process. But, once attached to
a new loving family, they seem to want to please as much as possible to make
sure they are never homeless again. Those labbies that are just learning about
the good life and good people seem to bond even deeper. They know what life on
the streets, life on the end of a chain, or worse is all about, and they revel
and blossom in a nurturing, loving environment. Most rescues make
exceptionally affectionate and attentive pets and extremely loyal companions.
Unfortunately, many folks think dogs that end up in rescue are all
genetically and behaviorally inferior. But, it is not uncommon for us to get
$475-1000 dogs that have either outlived their usefulness or their novelty
with impulsive owners who considered their dog a possession rather than a
friend or member of the family, or simply did not really consider the time,
effort and expense needed to be a dog owner. Not all breeders will accept
"returns", so choices for giving up dogs can be limited to animal
welfare organizations, such as rescues, or the owners trying to place their
own dogs. Good rescues will evaluate the dog before accepting him/her
(medically, behaviorally, and for breed confirmation), rehabilitate if
necessary, and adopt the animal only when he/she is ready and to a home that
matches and is realistic about the commitment necessary to provide the dog
with the best home possible.
Choosing a rescue dog over a purchased pup will not solve the pet
overpopulation problem (only responsible pet owners and breeders can do that),
but it does give many of them a chance they otherwise would not have. But,
beyond doing a "good deed", adopting a rescue dog can be the best
decision and addition to the family you ever made.
Rescue a dog and get a devoted friend for life!
Reprinted from Labrador Retriever Rescue, Inc.http://www.lrr.org/
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