Tips on picking out the perfect dog for you:

Whether from a shelter, rescue or breeder.

1.      Have a rudimentary understanding of the most common dog breeds. I like mixed breeds because I love saving shelter dogs and I think a mutt is generally healthier than purebred.* (*granted if you are super super into bloodlines this may not be the case )

Generally how a dog looks is a fairly good indicator of what it is.. e.g. pitbull mix, lab mix, jack Russell, etc.

Granted, I ‘ve been super surprised before as my last dog Jasper looked like a smaller Irish wolfhound but he was actually this: 

 My latest shelter dog looks primarily a border collie and has lots of characteristics of a border collie just not the full gamut thank goodness. He herds, is super energetic, great with my toddler and gentle with his mouth but also he is also not crazy energetic unlike a typical border collie. I will do a post on his genetics when they come in. I am guessing border collie, Afghan hound, bird dog mix as of now.

2.      Don’t let sympathy completely drive your decision. Just like you should never do a pity date. Just don’t do it.

I got suckered into picking up this shelter dog bookcase I was having a mid ish life crisis and the facebook post was “oh she’s been dropped off, she’s an old dog, she doesn’t have much life left” she was super super ugly but ok mid size and looked grey so away I went with her. TURNSOUT she wasn’t just dropped off she was a destroyer of my house literally. I did all the right things, slowly stepped up the time she was alone, exercised her, worked on training and introduced the crate. I came home after work for the first full day and she had chewed out of the crate, the window, the sink, etc. I wanted to kill her.

She had separation anxiety so bad I couldn’t find a trainer to work with her and my sister and mom winded up tag teaming her so she was never alone (would also like to say my sister medicated her UP, like Prozac, etc and it still didn’t help)

Lesson learned. Yes emotions come into play when picking out a dog but they should not be the SOLE decision maker.

3.      Be brutally honest with your energy and time commitment. When I got Jasper I was lonely and lived in an apartment. I got a dog who was crate and potty trained from his foster parents thank goodness but he was a sight dog with high energy. We went through 2 doggy obedience classes to work through a lot of issues. If you are in a super busy season where you can’t take your dog a lot of places, it’s kinder to get a dog of generally lower energy. Something like a bulldog.

my sweet Jasper who always needed an outlet to chew something and run up until his last few years when he really slowed down

4.      Understand that at first, it’s super tough training a dog up but it will happen. There will be times you regret adopting your dog or puppy. I have yet to have a dog where I am wondering what have  I done. The first day of doggy obedience class Jasper started a fight. But through the classes and years together he was my BEST pal. He knew so many tricks, he knew when bedtime was and he knew exactly when he could go on a ride with me, etc etc. He was literally perfect. Doggy obedience classes, youtube are great resources if you are not an experienced dog trainer and it’s actually quite simple it just requires patience and repetition.

5.      List out your requirements. Size? Age? Non- allergenic? Here was my list for the most recent dog I picked out at the shelter:

-must be:

                Good with cats, KIDS, livestock, other dogs

                Dignified

                Not yapper/big barker

                Can be slightly protective but something I won’t have to worry about introducing new people to

                Likes to ride in cars

                No hounds or pit pulls

This is going to be very personal for everyone, I’m sure there are some things on my list that sound a little weird.

 winston hopped right up in my truck the first day and continues to love to ride in everything!

6.      Understand at the shelter, a lot of dogs won’t act like they will at home. And once at home, there will be a decompression period until they acclimate. For example, Winston my new dog has actually gained quite a bit more energy after he’s settled in. He is learning his jobs and feeling more comfortable and I just have to accommodate the energy a bit more. He was a bit more reserved at first and now he requires us to be outside several hours every day moving and letting him play.

7.      Go with your gut. As soon as I saw Jasper and Winston I knew this was my dog. When I saw Jasper’s fuzzy picture online I knew he was the dog as my heart gave a little pitter patter. When I walked down the cages at the pound and saw Winston, my heart knew.

I am the biggest proponent of rescuing a dog from a local shelter. And it doesn’t have to be your local shelter. I searched around for weeks and weeks at shelters looking at dogs because I didn’t want an ordinary dog. My dogs are truly integral in my life and now mine and my familys life so I really looked and looked no matter how bad I felt at all the dogs I knew needed homes I knew I needed to find my “perfect” dog.

He's SUCH a good dog. shelter dog winner

Good luck in your search for your new best pal!

Happy Tuesday folks.