Getting a dog. Pros and cons

[jochoa]

The main con in getting a pet would be getting a pet without adopting one of the many orphaned children that could use a home and loving family.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

I take it you’re not from USA because your comment, aside from being very off-topic, suggests an extreme lack of knowledge about the scarcity of adoptable “orphans” and difficulty of adoption processes for non-relatives of a child here.

 

[Irishmom2]

Children are not pets. Not sure why you think adopting a child is necessary.

 

[27lw]

I have seen a few people comment here that mixed breed have fewer health problems than a pure bred. I thought that too, and our first dog is a mix (Bichon and poodle). When I told our vet that we wanted to get a second dog, he said “let me give you the name of a good breeder”. There are even certifications that breeders can get. You can read about different breeds and likely health problems here:

The Canine Health Information Center | OFA

 

[aroosi]

The main con in getting a pet would be getting a pet without adopting one of the many orphaned children that could use a home and loving family.

This comment is really inappropriate. Considering getting a pet the same as adopting a child is really against the dignity of the child (by the way, did you notice I didn’t even use the common expression ‘adopting a pet’ in the title?).
Also, if you are not aware of it, In USA adoption is a very serious vetting process so that a child could find a family that is a good fit (and not the other way around), You don’t know anything about our family, you don’t even know if an adoption would be possible in our situation!

 

[umamibella]

I would highly recommend researching Caesar Milan, aka, The Dog Whisperer.

Please dont. His techniques and methods are quite dangerous. He is quite cruel too.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

If your dog needs training, and you’re not up to handling it yourself, ask around (vets, community groups etc) and find a reputable dog trainer local to your area who will work with you and the dog together. Don’t try to DIY based on a book or video.

 

[TheLittleLady]

After volunteering for, adopting from, fostering with, good rescue orgs, I hope you can have the same experiences.

The dogs in our care are fostered by very well experienced people. No one in a reputable rescue is sending a dog to a place with kids where they have not been vetted with kids.

 

[blackforest]

I would strongly advise against adopting a dog from a shelter or as a surrender. There is a reason a lot of dogs are surrendered and this includes aggression and anxiety driven practices. When considering a companion for a child this has a huge risk of going badly. There are too many incidents of this out there to consider it a safe practice. Adults adopting dogs and then subsequently being mauled exemplify this.

[/quote]

I’m not sure where you live, but having volunteered in shelters and worked in adoption placements here in the U.S., I must strongly disagree here.

The vast majority of surrenders were due to a problem with the owner, not the dog. Either the dogs were found stray, or the owner was ignorant about dog care - e.g. not understanding why a bored border collie chewed on furniture or why a lonely beagle barked all day. Dogs that become shy, stressed, or neurotic in a shelter environment blossom when they get home to a soft bed and the right loving humans.

At least in the western U.S., many shelters are moving to a low-kill model in which they never euthanize animals due to space considerations. County shelters cannot technically be “no-kill” because they have to take all of the animals that come to them, but the rare cases of euthanasia are now due to extreme illness or aggression.

To make a long story short, there is absolutely no epidemic of people adopting shelter dogs and later getting mauled by them!

Finally, under most circumstances, I prefer the adoption of adult dogs because they’re quicker to learn and already have their personalities in tact.

@aroosi I can’t remember if you live in the States or not, but another great idea is to adopt a dog out of a foster program. Volunteers will take care of shelter animals in their homes until permanent families are found. The advantage is that the volunteers feel personally invested in finding the best home for the animals and will have gotten to know the dog really well. This is how we adopted our cat, and I can’t recommend it enough. The only drawback is that the foster family can have a hard time letting go of the animal . . .

 

[Tis_Bearself]

Yes, it’s important to stress the difference between “rescue” and “county shelter”. Rescues will usually only pull dogs they think they can place, and they will test the dog with kids, other dogs and other pets before they let it go to a home with any of those. In some cases the parent and child will have a long series of supervised visits with dog before they’re allowed to take it home.

By contrast, city and county shelters really vary in the amount of checking and prep they do. Many of the dogs there are ones that most folks don’t want (here it’s like dozens of pit bulls) and getting one from there is a more risky proposition and not for the inexperienced. There are some really good county shelters and some terrible ones.

I would say however with any animal no matter how sweet, there’s going to be some risk of a nip or scratch. The animal may be scared, poorly trained, have a medical issue or all of the above. I have an old man cat who is very nice and sits on my lap etc who I adopted from the local SPCA shelter (a county shelter but a “nice” one) and the first night I brought him home, he jumped on my chest in the night while I was asleep and bit me on the chin for no reason and drew blood. At that time he was 24 pounds so it was quite an experience and I told him he was lucky I’d had a lot of cats and no young children or his butt would be back in the shelter. He was just scared and also I found out his teeth hurt him. After a couple years, some training and two rounds of expensive dental work, he rarely bites and only when he’s super upset, not out of the blue in the night.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

I’ve flagged the child adoption posts as off topic for this thread.

 

[jochoa]

This comment is really inappropriate. Considering getting a pet the same as adopting a child is really against the dignity of the child (by the way, did you notice I didn’t even use the common expression ‘adopting a pet’ in the title?).
Also, if you are not aware of it, In USA adoption is a very serious vetting process so that a child could find a family that is a good fit (and not the other way around), You don’t know anything about our family, you don’t even know if an adoption would be possible in our situation!

My apologies for not initially offering greater clarity as to the connection to the negative consequence I observe in our ownership of animals.

If you offer your home as a home for a child in need, and your home is deemed impossible by the child or child’s governing body, then the negative consequence of valuing homeless animals over homeless humans has no bearing in your life.

 

[JimR-OCDS]

That’s your opinion which I do not agree with.

People who have learned from him have a different opinion as well

 

[aroosi]

To counteract this error, when one is considering getting a pet, one should also apply to adopt a child.

Oh my, where did you get this idea? If you enter any adoption agency stating you would like to adopt a child to counteract the error of adopting a pet, the social worker would stop your adoption process immediately.

 

[F_Marturana]

I’ve never had a dog. I’m thinking of getting a smaller breed. I’m just worried that the dog will be my dog, not the family dog. I’m home for longer periods during the day.

I really like Frenchies. I did like English bulldogs, but I like the size of the frenchie more.

They were bred to be companion animals, and I understand that they can be a bit clingy.

 

[blackforest]

A dog will always choose a favorite family member - usually Mom, in my experience. But some of them do better getting along with the whole family than others. Chow chows stick strictly with one human and don’t tend to do well with a lot of family members. Frenchies and bulldogs are sweeties but run up tremendous vet bills with their health issues. Also, both are inclined to fart a lot. Scented candles are your best friend.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

My buddy has a Frenchie. He spends a huge amount of time with it. It’s extremely cute, similar to how I think pugs are extremely cute.

 

[sorrowful1]

Apart from thinking about pros and cons, please also remember that once you get a dog, you get him/her for life. They are just like our closest family member - not a mere “companion” to play with. I’ve seen people discard the canine creature when they move or if they find it inconvenient to keep a “pet” . The misery of the poor creature is unbearable to see!!!

So, if you get one, please don’t give up on the little fur ball no matter where you go or what becomes of him/her. #dogslivesmatter

 

[jochoa]

jochoa:

To counteract this error, when one is considering getting a pet, one should also apply to adopt a child.

Oh my, where did you get this idea? If you enter any adoption agency stating you would like to adopt a child to counteract the error of adopting a pet, the social worker would stop your adoption process immediately.

The idea stems from observing us caring more passionately for animals than humans.

When asked, “Why do you want to adopt a child,” the better position would be, “Because I want to offer a loving home to any child in need.”

 

[vsedriver]

Herding breeds would be totally unsuitable

I would have to disagree with this at least when it comes to the Welsh Corgi. They are very good with children, easy to train, and have not been overbred or inbred.

A friend of mine got her dog from a prison program. He is beautifully trained.