Adoption: What to expect from your new dog when adopting
11/07/2005
When you think about the birth rate of animals, it’s not hard to understand why animal shelters are always filled with animals waiting to be adopted. Over a seven year period, one female cat and her offspring will produce approximately 420,000 kittens and one female dog and her offspring will produce 67,000 puppies during a six year period. Since there are more animals looking for homes than there are people who want to adopt them, over 6.5 million animals are euthanized each year.
Given the statistics cited above, adopting an animal can be a kind and loving thing to do. However, before making the final decision to adopt, there are several things you may want consider.
Many of the animals awaiting adoption in shelters have had a very rough start in life. Some were abused, some abandoned and some were “turned in” because the owners didn’t have time for them. Many were left alone for long periods and some were never properly potty trained. In short, when adopting an animal you must be prepared to work with him. Your new dog may come to you cowed or with feelings of trepidation and may be overly sensitive to your tone of voice or to any commands you might give him. You will need to be patient and by all means, loving. When they finally realize that they can trust you, adopted dogs will reward you with more affection and loyalty than you can imagine.
Adopted dogs are also subject to all of the behavioral problems commonly associated with dogs in general. These would include digging, jumping up on people, jumping fences, barking and nipping. There are proven solutions to all of these “offenses.” If your dog is prone to digging, and always digs in one area, there are a number of effective repellent sprays that work well. If he digs under your fence, a little buried chicken wire works wonders in breaking that habit. Spray bottles filled with water should be kept at hand to combat incessant barking. A quick spritz in the face immediately following, or during, the offensive behavior will usually bring about a quick behavior modification.
If you are sure you can handle re-training an adopted dog, then you are ready to visit your local shelter. Just remember that Visiting an animal shelter can be an emotional experience for an animal lover. It’s difficult to see all the animals in their pens and not want to take them home.
