Pound puppies????

[Hasha]

I'm dog poor right now and having serious puppy envy So I've been kicking around the idea of going to the pound and getting a puppy or maybe a grown dog if he's cat and horse friendly, I would prefer a pup, but any way, I saw a picture at our wally world of some pound pups and they had what looked like border collies, so I may go check them out.
What is holding me back is that I know I will walk away with a broken heart because I can't save them all. So it's really hard for me to even go and look. This is a real dog pound, little cages with lots of animals and when their time is up they die. I might get a barn cat or two if I find some likely candidates for the job. They would need to be quick and sharp since the horses wil probably not know what they are and try to stomp them, so kittens are out.
Of course I will have no background on the animal and I would be risking taking home God only knows what that might make my animals sick since there won't be time to get them vetted before they come home. (There will be spaying, nuetering and shots at a later date)

Should I? Yes? No? Maybe?

[Mary Ann]

I've been looking at the Petfinder ads lately, some of which are for dogs in various shelters. Most of them have an adoption fee of about $165. I'd imagine this is to help cover expenses, and to make sure that the prospective owner isn't going to treat them like disposable pets.

Sometimes, they do have background on the animal. Sometimes, they're surrendered by people who have developed an allergy to pets in their household, or by someone who has a new job and has to travel extensively and can no longer care for a dog, or by someone who has to move into a nursing home. I recently saw one in our area that has all the accoutrements available too; the crate, dishes, leashes, food, treats, toys, everything, because they can't get another dog.

And of course, there are those that (sorry if this offends anyone) that probably should be put down; the ones that are aggressive, that were not socialized for either people or dogs, the ones that refuse to be housebroken or defiantly chew everything regardless of stage of development, or that refuse to listen to the point where they're untrainable. Sometimes it's bad hard wiring, and there's nothing anybody can do. I think it's worse to keep them in little crates for the duration of their lives. It must feel like madness.

Try Petfinder, and search online in your area first. It can save some heartache.

[Sarah]

We do pound pulls as well but there are many different things you will have to watch out for in pulling from a pound versus getting a dog through a rescue group.

First is the lack of medical information on the dogs in the pound. Parvo is a big problem with pups under 8 months coming out of the pounds here.. Second is the dogs socialization.. Life in the pound does scare dogs and I personally don't feel that an unbiased temperment test can be done in that setting. I have pulled dogs who were very docile in the pound who have turned out to be holy terrors once they were "freed" from that setting. Housebreaking is another thing...some are housebroken when they go into the pounds and because they are left in small cages with no opportunity to go outside will hold it and may cause themselves urinary problems and/or may need a refresher course when you get them home.

If you do indeed pull a dog from the pound it is imperitive that you keep it seperate from your other animals for at least 7 days to keep any disease from spreading between them. We take the animals that we pull directly from the pound to our vet for all shots and a health exam and then they are isolated here for 7-14 days before they are let in with the other animals to keep everyone safe. Knock on wood we have not had to deal with a case of Parvo for close to 3 years now doing it this way....

Going through a rescue group is also a good alternative as many of the dogs/cats in rescue groups are pulled from high kill shelters when their time is up. I know our policies are that we have the animal completely vetted (all shots, heartworm testing, spayed/neutered, flea treated) prior to adoption. Our rescue animals are also housebroken and have decent manners (no jump, etc) before placement (most of the time anyway). Our adoption fees are very small compared to what we spend on each animal. Our dog adoption fee is $100 and our cat fee is $50 and that includes everything I listed above.

Mary Ann is right some dogs/cats should not be rehomed because they do have issues that could cause permanant damage to the people or other animals around them or to themselves. We have had many people offer dogs to us because "they growl, they eat cats, we can't housebreak them, they are destructive, etc". We try to balance out the good versus the not so good before we accept an animal. Of course ever situation is different and my personal dogs all have one problem or another which is why they were never offered for adoption. My dane has severe seperation anxiety, my pitt has mild seperation anxiety, my basset has bladder control problems, and one of my hybrids is a fear biter but these are my dogs and I would not think of putting them up for adoption just based on their individual problems.

JMHO for what it is worth

[tlcbouv]

if you have an idea what breed you want there are rescue programs in almost all breed clubs. go to www.AKC.org then find the breed and go to parent club and search from there.

[Mary Ann]

OMG, you don't know what you've just done.

I went to the AKC site, looked for breed registries, and scrolled down to find Pembroke Welsch Corgis. On one of the sidebars, I found a link to a study being done on something called Degenerative Myelopathy. It describes Timmy to a tee.

I'm horrified, but I now know I did the right thing in putting him down. He didn't have a chance.

Crap. Take a look at the link: www.cvm.missouri.edu/dm/

[tlcbouv]

MA

I hope the information helps you get through this rough time.

L

[Cally]

First off, Mary Ann. . .I am SO sorry for your loss. I just read the post. . .you made such a selfless decision.

Secondly, OH MY GOSH! This sounds EXACTLY like what happened to our yellow lab. Over a period of two or three days, she lost total control of her hind end. We took her into the vet, who told us that he thought a disc in her back had slipped and severed her spinal cord. We had her put down. But this sounds EXACTLY like what happened to her, and that photo is exactly what she looked like.