Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Pets > Dogs
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 04-19-2010, 01:28 AM
 
29 posts, read 242,969 times
Reputation: 22

Advertisements

Quote:
Originally Posted by zugor View Post
There are currently about 30,000 labs, lab mixes listed on Petfinder in need of good homes. Chances are that at least one of them would be a great companion for you.

Every one of them came from someone who didn't want to or couldn't keep the dog. They are often acquired as cute puppies on a whim without really thinking through what it involves. When a rescue organization places a dog they want to make sure that the dog will not end up homeless again in a few months or years. Many require that the dog be returned to them even years later if the adopter can not keep for any reason.

That is why they take a little time to evaluate people who want to adopt a dog. Yes, there are some groups that have requirements that are absurdly restrictive but most just want to find homes that are good enough, not perfect. They also want to move dogs and get them adopted quickly so that they can go pull more dogs from the pound.

Most folks who foster dogs in their homes are people with jobs and families and critters of their own to deal with in addition to volunteering the time and energy to care for a dog until a home is found. So show a little consideration with them.

To wait a week or 10 days should not be a problem. If it is, then you may not have the patience to train a dog so that it is a well behaved companion that is a joy to share your life with, rather than one who is destructive of your home and your nerves and so it gets dumped at the pound.
It's not the patience, it's the time frame I have to work with. I'm free completely for the month of June (moving into the new place on June 1st). So, I figure this would be a perfect time to get a dog. I have 30 days to spend with it before I get more busy with my job. But if the paperwork stall and I ended up with the dog on June 20th or so... then I will have much less time to train it.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 04-19-2010, 07:02 AM
 
Location: 500 miles from home
33,943 posts, read 22,393,156 times
Reputation: 25806
I lived in a Condo with a small, older dog that did not require much in the way of exercise. He was a 10 lb maltese. Also, he was not very 'barky'. The Condo I lived in was the end unit - directly next to an vacant, wooded, field . . .we got lucky. Had I not had the end Condo and next to the field . . it wouldn't have been so great with a dog. The condo's were separated by two garages . . so it was as close to living in a 'house' as you can get without actually living in a house.

I cannot imagine living in a Condo with my high energy, vocal, Westie. We'd be thrown out in the first week!

It is sooo nice to have a house with a yard (fenced is wonderful) if you have a dog. No, it doesn't take the place of walks and socialization but Ringo runs around that yard all day long. It's almost an acre of fenced yard and he loves every inch of it.

So, I vote for a house if it's in your budget! You won't regret it.

Let's not even talk about the resale value of a Condo. I had to rent mine for about 4 years before I actually found a buyer. Huge pain.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 04-19-2010, 07:47 AM
 
7,380 posts, read 15,627,563 times
Reputation: 4975
Quote:
Originally Posted by Apollonewton View Post
It's not the patience, it's the time frame I have to work with. I'm free completely for the month of June (moving into the new place on June 1st). So, I figure this would be a perfect time to get a dog. I have 30 days to spend with it before I get more busy with my job. But if the paperwork stall and I ended up with the dog on June 20th or so... then I will have much less time to train it.
these rescues have requirements that take over a month and a half to fulfill? i find that hard to believe. why don't you ask the rescues what the general timeframe is for the application process, and then start it that amount of time before june 1? you can also look at local shelters; purebred labs are pretty common in shelters and there will always be a lab mix available. puppies go fast but they do show up in shelters. most shelters don't have an application process that takes more than a few days; the one where i got my dog just had me fill out a questionnaire about what my expectations were about taking care of a dog, they looked it over, and i got her the same day.

keep in mind, although some rescues have really draconian requirements for adopters, most are pretty reasonable and they only screen potential adopters the way they do for the sake of the dogs. they don't want to adopt to a neglectful or abusive home, or someone who is going to give up the dog again because they didn't know what they were getting into with dog ownership. as others have said, a reputable breeder would take even longer because not only would you have to fill out paperwork and probably have a home visit, you'd also have to reserve a pup who hasn't even been born yet, then wait for it to be born and get old enough to leave its mother.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > Pets > Dogs
Similar Threads

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top