Since my old sweetheart will be headed for doggie heaven in a few months, I started to look into getting my third -- and probably last -- dog. My goodness, it is discouraging. Go to the usual websites and all you will see is pit bull mixes, huskies, Great Pyrenees, German shepherds, etc.
Of course, their inventory is dominated by dogs that people don't want -- the desirable dogs practically sell themselves. I wonder if they even make a new entry in the website when a dog comes in that will "sell" in 24 hours?
It is difficult to think without making generalizations about breeds. You do have to start somewhere. As the process goes on, you have to remind yourself that you are adopting a specific individual, not a statistical generalization.
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| A visitor to my camp once upon a time, who was an extreme example of the difference between an individual and a breed-stereotype. |
This time around I won't spend much effort researching dog breeds. I did the first time around, but it didn't help much.
Looking at the world of people and dogs, you can only conclude that people have little common sense. They choose dogs with their eyeballs rather than their brains.
They say dogs are the first domesticated animal, and that it happened around 10,000 years ago. Nevertheless most breeds were developed the last couple hundred years, when people were less urbanized and cramped than today. Their dogs had to do something useful, such as hunt, guard, herd, kill rodents, retrieve ducks, etc.
Therefore it would make for a better world today if most dog breeds "went out of business," and were superseded by dogs meant for today: 10-25 pound, low-shedding pets, with calm and well-rounded personalities, and without any extreme behavior towards guarding, chasing, or fighting. The behavior that makes for an entertaining video is not the behavior that makes for a good pet experience.
There are miniaturized versions of schnauzers, poodles, and Australian shepherds. Why hasn't somebody gotten deservedly wealthy developing miniature golden retrievers or labradors?
When a person gets old enough to suspect that a puppy might outlive its owner, it is probably a good idea to adopt an adult dog, rather than a pup.
Comments
Wound up with a pitbull/Labrador blend.
Turned out to be a perfect dog for us. Kids run up to him at the risk of a sloppy lick.
I am surprised to see shelters mentioning negatives about a dog. They must be tempted to censor themselves. But that certainly wouldn't help the adopter -- and if doesn't help the dog if the adopter brings the dog back in one week.
Adults only,
Must be the only pet,
Does not get along with dogs/cats,
Are all common comments.
In our case the description was very accurate.
Are all comments in all shelters in the country accurate? Likely not.