Checklist for prospective adopters... Think you are ready?

                      
Do you rent or own?

•  Have you checked with your landlord or your apartment manager before adopting your pet?
• Are you aware of any breed restrictions that may apply to you?
• Have you paid any fees required by your landlord or apartment management? 
• Are you aware that many apartments require additional monthly fees added to your rent; per pet? 
• Are you aware that you are financially responsible for any damage your pet does to your rental property?

                                

Are you 21 years old or less? Are you a College Student? 

• Are you living at home with your parents? Are your parents aware that you are looking to adopt?
• Are you living with your fellow friends in apartment? Who is going to be the responsible owner for the pet and who will look after your pet while you are away at work or school?
• Have you thought about what will happen to your pet if you have to relocate to another State or City for future College or career prospects?
• Are you aware that most animals adopted by your age group do not spend their lifetime with the owner that originally adopted them because young people usually have to move away for school. Also younger age groups usually don't have the finances for the added expense of paying for Veterinary bills that come with pet ownership.
• Veterinary Care is very expensive. Cats are generally cheaper and dogs are expensive because of heart worm maintenance and yearly vaccinations.You also have to think about the cost of keeping your dog clean and parasite free. Not to mention if your dog has food allergies down the road or other medical issues. All of these things come with a hefty price tag.
• Are you in a domestic relationship with a boyfriend or girlfriend? If so have you thought of who will take responsibility for the pet you adopt today if you break up?

Do you have young children in the household under the age of 6 years old?

• Are you prepared for dealing with a puppy when you have young children (newborns or toddlers) in the house? Usually a puppy equates to having another child in the household and the added responsibility usually adds unnecessary strain and tension. 
• If the house responsibilities become unmanageable; it's always the animal that suffers the consequences. 

Have you ever owned a dog before?

• How long has it been since you've owned one? 
• What kind of dog did you have? 
• If you are a first time dog owner what do you know about what comes with training and owning a dog? Have you done your homework?   

                                     
Do you have a dog at home now?

• If so, please bring your dog to the Shelter to meet with the dog you want to adopt when it's on neutral grounds. 
• Most dogs are like people - Some dogs like certain dogs, and others they don't do so well with. 
• It's always in the animals best interest to know before hand if it's not going to work out. If you had to bring the dog back to the Shelter for any reason; this lessens it's chances that it will be put back up for adoption a second time. 

                                 

Are you prepared to seek professional trainers to help you deal with the dogs behavior?

                                

Are you familiar with the breed and typical behaviors of the breed that you are interested in adopting today?    

• Is the dog you are interested in a "working" dog breed? If so are you able to keep it busy so that it doesn't get bored and become destructive?
•  Are you prepared to offer ways to prevent or obstruct certain inherited behaviors that are traits of the breed?
•  If you live in a apartment, have you thought of how you will deal with the issues of noise if you adopt a dog like a beagle or hound that is almost always a howler that could disturb your neighbors? 
• Are you interested in adopting a dog that requires grooming? If so, do you know how often the breed requires to be groomed and the price involved in it's regular maintenance?  

Shelter dog's and breeders

• Did you adopt your last dog from a shelter or a breeder?
• Are you aware that most Shelter dogs are "strays" that have unknown histories? Often shelters don't know the if the dog is housebroken because a shelter environment isn't the same as a household environment. 
• Thank you for making the decision to adopt from a Shelter today. Did you know that 25 percent of dogs that come in Shelters are pure breed dogs? I can't thank you enough for not to purchasing a dog from a breeder while homeless animals at Shelters die.

                                

Prevention; not reaction is the key to a successful and smooth transition in the dogs new home.  

• You never know what you are getting with a Shelter dog. You should hope for the best and prepare for the worst. It is essential to be prepared to deal with any problems that you may not know of now. 
• There are ways to properly train the dog if you notice any behavior problems in your home. 
• Usually after 3 days of the dog being in it's new environment; the dog begins to feel comfortable in the new house setting. This is the critical time period that you will notice any behavior issues that need to be dealt with. 
• 9 times out of 10; you can prevent behavior problems by simply "crating" the dog when you cannot supervise him. Never leave them unattended.
• A canine's bad manners almost always sprouts off from humans enabling their bad behavior. It's usually the people that needs to be trained how to deal with the dog - not the other way around.

                                  

How did you potty train your last dog?

• Have you ever used newspaper or those "potty pads"? If you are one of the millions that have used this method in the past -Are you aware that it's really not a good idea to put newspaper down or use this method if you are trying to train your puppy to go pee outside? By using potty pads; it gives the dog a mixed message. By using them you are actually telling your dog that's it's okay to pee and poop in the house. These tools are usually used to make things easier for "people" to use to clean up the mess puppies leave behind, but they do nothing for teaching your puppy not to potty in your house.
• Are you claustrophobic? If so then most likely you are against using the crate training method - but really is that fair judgment? Most will stop reading by this point because they are so turned off by the idea. The idea and the picture that you have in your head about "crate training" is bad and is cruel punishment so why would you do that to your beloved pet!
• Don't you owe it to your puppy to be well informed and educated on your decisions before making any judgement? The decisions you make now will determine what kind of "owner/pet" experiences that you both have.. It's now or never!

                                  
How does "crate training" work?

The "crate" is a important training tool that is used to.... 

TEACH YOUR PUPPY TO HOLD IT'S BOWELS. 

Taking your puppy's age in consideration; it can only hold his bowels and bladder for a limited amount of time. For example.... 

• 0 - 2 months only 1 - 3 hours.
• 2 - 4 months only 3 - 4 hours.
• 4 - 6 months only 4 - 5 hours.
• 6 - 8 months only 5 - 6 hours 
• 8 months - and up 8 - 10 hours MAX

In addition to crate training; it is also important to feed your puppy on a regular schedule and potty them at regular intervals. Be consistent and the rest comes easy.

• If you are consistent; your puppy's body will become regulated and you will have a better idea of when it will need to go to out to potty. 
• If you are being consistent with taking your dog outside to potty at regular intervals your puppy will automatically learn on it's own - that going outside is where they go to relieve themselves. It's that easy.

Only give a puppy enough room to stand up and turn around in a crate; when you are trying to teach it to "hold" it's bowels.

• If you give the puppy too much room he will go to the back of the crate and he will not be learning to "hold" his bowels. When a newborn pup is nursing with it's mother, when it wants to go to the bathroom the puppy crawls away from it's mother to use the bathroom. Only after it's done - the puppy crawls back to the mother to snuggle and continue feeding.
• A puppy does not want to go to the bathroom where it sleeps and will hold it for as long as they possibly can. This behavior in nature is hard wired - as explained in the sentence above.
• If you buy a crate that is too big for the puppy - block off the back of the crate with something that cannot be destroyed by the puppy. 
• Don't leave the puppy in the crate unattended for any period longer than recommended for it's age. 
• Do not offer food or water while the puppy is being crated!

Start off in a common family room. Puppy proof the room and use baby gates to keep the puppy safely contained in that area.

• Never leave the puppy unattended with children under the age of  10 years old with no adult present.
• Never leave the puppy unattended.. period!!!!
• While playing with the puppy in the common room - Do observe and watch your puppy for signs that it may need to go out to potty. Is it searching and sniffing out a spot to pee or poop? If so.. be ready to jump up at a moments notice to grab the puppy up to bring it outside to reinforce that it's is suppose to go to the bathroom outside. Soon you may notice that your puppy goes near the front door.
• Do not rub the puppies nose in it's poop or pee - it doesn't understand - all this will do is scare the pup.
• Do not punish your puppy if you left him unattended in the room and he damaged your furniture or pooped on your rug - Who's fault is it really? It's not the puppy's fault.. you should have put him in the crate.. Remember prevention is the key... not reaction after the fact!

Never use the crate as punishment - Keep it positive!

• If you crate train your puppy properly, crates actually can make your puppy feel secure.
• Keep it positive by offering them a safe chew toy or bone and a blanket. 
• Never get mad and yell at the puppy and slam the crate door at them when putting them up. 
• Never use the crate to punish the puppy for it's bad behavior.

Can I cause my dog to have Separation Anxiety? 

• Certainly, yes you can. Have you ever heard the saying "it goes down the lead?" The owner makes a great dog; not the other way around. Do your homework and rest assured you will have a great dog!
• Don't over baby your new puppy. I know it's hard not to coddle your puppy (and small breed dogs) but you REALLY shouldn't. 
• You should place your puppy's crate in the furthermost part of the house if possible.  
• Place a light sheet over the top of the crate to cover the visible access to the doors and windows so the puppy doesn't see you through them and cry for you to get them out of the crate.
• Do not place the crate next to your bed at night, especially during it's imprinting period.
• During the day, if your puppy cries for you it doesn't necessarily mean that it needs to go out to potty. You have to use your best judgment on this one. For example, If you know your puppy already went poop and you are trying to clean your house and don't have time to watch your puppy so you crated it and it's crying for you.. Let him cry it out! It's not any different than you having to leave your baby that is crying in the crib.
• Letting your puppy cry it out in the crate doesn't make you a bad person or a bad dog owner. Look at it this way, if go you overboard trying to please your puppy running to it's every whim - it causes many behavior problems down the road. The most common one we can create is called separation anxiety.

Adopting an Adult Shelter Dog

• Since most Shelter dog's don't have known histories it smart to  start off with ground rules from the get go.
• Crate! Never leave them unattended! Shelter dogs are already used to being in a kennel environment so it's not going to be that much of a culture shock to continue kenneling the dog after you bring it home from the Shelter.
• Never let a Shelter dog come into your house and have free roam to every room in the house. Just like with puppies; start off in a common area and never leave them unattended.
• Never assume that it's your child's responsibility to take care of a dog you adopted; even if the dog was adopted as a "gift" to your child. A adult should always be responsible for supervising the care of the animal.
• As time goes on and you have built up a certain amount of trust, then you can give your dog more freedom. As a general rule, I don't recommend you letting your dog roam freely in your house during the first year that it was adopted from the Shelter. Start off slow.
• Let your children participate in feedings. Never free feed your dog. Leaving food down all day doesn't teach your dog where their food comes from. The dog will have a certain amount of respect for whom ever is in charge of feeding them. Also it is good to measure your dogs food out so that you don't over feed your pet.

                                    

Are you adopting a animal as a gift for someone else?

• Typically it's NOT a good idea to adopt a animal as a gift to someone else who might not be ready for the added responsibility and expense that comes with owning a animal - or they might have wanted to "pick" one out themselves.
• It's a better idea to give a dog bowl and pet supplies and a "voucher" to adopt the animal that "they choose" to adopt. 

                                     
Some animals are housed together in the same kennel. Should they have to be adopted together?

• While there are times that dogs come into the shelter together and we would like them to remain together, we do not require this. 
• Other times at Shelters, we mix animals because of lack of space. Just because they are in the same kennel doesn't necessarily mean that they came from the same place.
• It is in the best interest of the animals to be adopted even if it means they will be separated. Two good homes are better than none.
• Puppies are the quickest ones and at least risk at the Shelters for being euthanized once they are up for adoption. You should never feel that you have to adopted two puppies!

                                   
Shelter at risk dogs - Which ones are at greater risk of being euthanized? 

• Black dogs 
• Older dogs
• Larger dogs