Dog Adoption Discussion – Knowing What You Want
Have you given modern dog adoption processes much thought lately? I wonder what has changed since we adopted Lilly in October 2004. I am truly curious about one thing in particular.
Full disclosure, I’ve worked in and written about so-called animal welfare for quite some time. For years long ago, I volunteered in what would now be called a “kill shelter” or old-fashioned “dog pound.” I was there when dogs came in from animal control or from people who no longer could care for them. I was there when they were selected to die, when they died, and when their bodies were loaded into the crematory.
As a volunteer I didn’t have the authority to approve of decline adopters, but I helped people do meet and greets between dogs and families and dogs with other dogs.
Back then (like many places today), the adoption application asked about:
- Past and current pets
- Home ownership or landlord permission
- Fenced yard
From the sidelines (later), I watched and even wrote about the use of pet-matching systems, which explored adopters’ wants and expectations in their pets, including things like:
- Breed
- Age
- Size
- Coat length
- Exercise needs
- Personality
These tools seemingly better probed a family’s lifestyle, and they tried to best characterize a dog’s personality and needs … with the goal of making a better match.
I say it all the time, “Dog Girl, Know Thyself.” All these years, I’ve believed that it’s important to know who you really are in life and what you want from your relationship with dog.
While we’re nowhere near ready to adopt, just 7 months since Lilly’s death, I am researching adoption policies and adoption applications. In some ways, things have changed a lot, with questions about:
- What you think of dog crates
- How many hours a day you are gone and/or your travel schedule
- If you plan to move / retire / change jobs in the next 5-10 years
- What you feed, including direct questions about feeding raw
- How you plan to train your dogs, including direct questions about punishment-based methods and tools
- Your use of vaccinations
- Your use of heartworm and other parasite preventives
You know all of those questions are fraught with a strong bias, right? Like talking religion or politics. Or as if a trap door opens based on your answer.
The Big Question
But the one thing I’m genuinely curious about is this:
Is it now considered rude / improper / selfish to head into an adoptable dog search with clear ideas about what you’re looking for in a dog (or puppy)?
I ask because a year or more ago someone I know (online only) who runs a successful dog rescue … that transports dogs and puppies from high-kill areas into a community with high adoption demands … posted a full-blown rant about people who call or arrive with “criteria.”
I also ask because I’ve seen plenty of rescue sites — particular breed-specific ones — where the dog adoption criteria and dog adoption applications all but say, “Look, we know what our dogs need, and we’re probably going to turn you down.”
My sense of parity says it’s fair for adoption criteria to swing both ways.
Last Adoption Experience
When we adopted Lilly in October 2004 from the Humane Society of Boulder Valley, I’d been watching the online dog profiles for quite some time. We’d met and not been a good match for several dogs. (Ginko was kind of a stinker to them.) Our current dogs ALWAYS have veto power over an adoptions. Their needs come first.
At the time, our criteria was pretty simple. We wanted a dog who was:
- Big enough to play with Ginko without getting hurt
- Small enough NOT to ruin Ginko’s new $6,000 knees
- Medium / athletic build
- Short (or at least NOT long) coat
Next Time
My list is much longer now. Having lived with a border collie, it is hard to imagine choosing another breed. So that’s one thing, but I also have thoughts on temperament and energy level and other traits.
I’ve shared my ideas with our herding instructor (who breeds border collies and has like 10+ of them at her farm / ranch), and she agreed with my assessment of what kind of dog would be my best match. (More on that later.)
Still … I return to my main question. Is it considered bad form to approach dog adoption with specific ideas in mind?
Thoughts? Especially from those of you who work / volunteer in modern shelter or rescue organizations.