Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with dogs and shelter

London Puppy Buying: The Pitfalls

bollockovnikov — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 08:18:41 -0800

Looking to buy/acquire a puppy in (North) London. I am worried about vaccinations etc. and have some questions about ethics of the whole thing. Can I get a puppy from a shelter? Or should I feel happy about paying for one from a 'good' home through a website? I have looked on websites such as Gumtree and pets4homes.co.uk. Although these methods feel dodgy sometimes, I feel that they take the place of the old 'look in the local paper' method quite well. I will of course visit the animals before I think about buying.

I would be quite willing to take a dog from a shelter, but I do want to have a puppy, rather than a grown dog. This is for training purposes, and because I feel it fits better with the nature of the home it will belong to (i.e. me and my girlfriend).

Are puppies readily available at shelters? I am thinking Battersea dogs home, but as I said, I live in North London and something closer to here might be better.

A lot of the puppies are assured to have had 'both sets of injections'. Is this standard before a puppy leaves mother?

A particular puppy I have my eye on has NOT had these injections. Should I insist? Is that my problem? How much do injections like this cost for new puppies?

Just to let you know. I live in a 2 bed house, with outdoor space/smallish garden. Lots of green spaces nearby. Me and girlfriend have a history of family pets and I believe we are 'ready' for one of our own. I have given this a lot of consideration and believe we could give a very loving home to a dog longterm.

Thanks in advance for your advice!

Is there a good Maltese breeder in IA or Quad-Cities?

lynnie-the-pooh — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 08:51:10 -0800

Does anyone know a good breeder for Maltese dogs in Iowa? Or even the Quad-Cities (Davenport/Bettendorf/Rock Island)? Iowa has a lot of puppy mills and I don't want anything to do with them. I'm looking for a reputable breeder that cares about health and personality. Thanks.

Dog "magazine" to benefit shelter--ever seen one?

HotToddy — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 11:33:05 -0800

I'm thinking of doing a small quarterly publication on caring for dogs (basic training, dealing with behavioral issues, fun things to do with your dog, etc.) to benefit my local animal shelter, and I'm wondering whether I'm reinventing the wheel. Have you ever seen such a thing in your area? If so, please tell me everything you know about it. Also, if you saw something like this at the cash register for $1, proceeds to benefit the shelter, would you buy it? All comments/advice welcome.

New York Animal Charity

2bucksplus — Mon, 03 Dec 2007 09:19:25 -0800

This Christmas I would like to make a donation to a New York animal shelter or cruelty prevention group. I have worked with a number of Animal Shelters in Brooklyn and Manhattan, and sadly most of the ones I have worked with are disorganized to the point that I feel a small ($500) donation would be lost. (For example: I have been stood up by 2 separate No-Kill animal shelters in Brooklyn in the past month. I realize these are largely volunteer organizations, but it doesn't make me want to gift money).

Because I cannot have a dog, but would like to help pets LOCALLY, which one group would you recommend and which group "could use the money" but won't be defunct in two months.

Also, getting a charitable tax credit is low on my priorities list, but if possible I'll take it.

Are we crazy to adopt this rescue puppy?

freebird — Tue, 06 Jun 2006 11:01:09 -0800

Are we crazy to adopt a puppy? She seems quite sweet, but her mom was put down when she was but 5-6 weeks old, and was some sort of Wirehair Terrier. We're largely homebodies these days, and ready for the commitment involved in a puppy. But we really want to do a good job, and not bite off more than we can chew. We're worried that some of the Terrier breeds tend to be high maintenance, barky, and aggressive, and that we don't have the dedication or knowledge to do right by her.

So I guess my concern is bipartite:

1) For any breed, are we going to be bad parents if we leave her in a secure space for 4 hour stretches several times a week while at work (we'll be doing some doggie daycare and lunchtime visits)? We've both had family dogs, but it's been years. We've been sitting other dogs as a test, and think we're pretty decent at it, but haave no pretensions of being Dog Whisperers.

2) How can we get a better guess as to the eventual demeanor of the puppy? She was rescued at 6weeks, and while she seems quite nice and well adjusted, can we really tell at that age? Noone know who her daddy was, though we've guessed labrador. All we know about her mom is that she was some sort of wire hair terrier looking dog, possibly a Black Russian. If the dog isn't barky now, how likely is that to change? I guess I'm really asking about Nature vs. Nurture here aren't I...

Is 200 pounds of dog just nuts?

ambrosia — Thu, 27 Oct 2005 08:30:54 -0800

We are thinking of adopting a second dog. Currently we have one dog, Jack, a four year old shepherd-rottie mix. He is very smart, and a great dog. He LOVES other dogs. We are both gone during the day, and from time to time think about getting a second dog. We suspect that he would be happier with another dog around. He is a big dog (108 pounds) and a bit, er, enthusiastic in his play, so any dog we adopt would have to be big enough to hold his own with our current dog. That means at least a 70 lb. dog, or more. Our dog already has indoor/outdoor access all day, and the second dog would as well. But we wonder if there will be any transition issues. Other than the obvious things like feeding, walking, and cleaning up the poop, is it easier or harder to have two dogs rather than one? If we determine that we have to crate the new dog while we are gone, for housebreaking reasons, will that drive both dogs nuts? Our current dog normally has excellent leash manners. We would train a new dog to do the same. But I stop and think about how both dogs together would significantly outweigh me, and I question whether it's really a good idea.

There have been lots of posts here about introducing new cats into a household, but nothing about dogs. Obviously, Jack would have to be introduced to any new dog to make sure that they get along. The new dog would be adopted from a shelter or rescue organization (as Jack was.) Please share your experiences, good and bad, and any advice you may have.