we are thinking of adopting a dog

so another thread here got me to searching our local rescues last night and i found a dog we are going to meet today.

http://bcspcapets.shelterbuddy.com/a...30728&result=9

i can't imagine a dog living in a shelter for 2 years... and having brief times in a home... how tragic.

i know she's a pit cross... but we certainly aren't going to hold any prejudices against her. i've done lots of research on pits in the past week (since getting that pup last weekend) and i believe that a pit would make a wonderful addition to our home.

Oh what a sweet face she has.

I read her profile, Zoey was the same way, returned time and time again. She was born at our shelter, and only spent four months there. Being adopted and returned so many times she ended up damaged from it. It took her the longest time to trust us, every time we left with her she would freak out, or if we left her home she would cry and destroy the house. Time and gaining her trust was all it took. Then we rescued zab and she has a buddy at home when we are gone and everything is perfect.

As far as the pit bull thing, I always encourage people to look past the word pit bull and look into the dog, the individual dog. Zoey is pit bull x shar pei and although she is a stubborn little brat, she is an incredible loving dog. The stubbornness comes from the Shar pei. My mom freaked out when she found out Zoey was part pit bull and said all sorts of horrible things. I shut her down quick and told her to hold her judgement until she met her. She thinks differently now.

I hope the meeting goes really well, and she is as sweet as she looks. Remember if you adopt her and bring her home to take both your dogs out for a good walk together before you ever bring her inside, that will help with territory issues and make a much happier homecoming for all paws involved.

Keep us updated :)

oh if we decide to adopt her, the dogs will meet at the shelter... as will the entire family go there to meet her. we won't rush into this as abby deserves more!

i would not bring her home if i didn't believe in my heart i could be her forever home. i just couldn't do that to her. she's been through enough!

so we'll go meet her. i consider myself a really great dog owner... although i didn't feel that way a year ago. i watch dog whisperer religiously, walk my dog daily and discipline her every time she needs it... then i cuddle up and give her so much love her eyes turn to pools of complete-bliss.

i never thought of myself as a dog person before annabella touched my life... now i'm very very VERY dedicated to my dog and would never consider not having one LOL weird how things change when the right critter touches your heart and you make all the nec. changes to become what they need of you!

Thats they way we did it, all of us went to the shelter to meet Zoey. We played with her, talked to her, got to know her, she fell in love with the kids. Then found out we couldn't take her home until the next day as she was getting spayed that night :( I felt horrible playing with her and then leaving her there.

I watch dog whisperer too. I love that show, he has given us some good tips on basic training like sitting, that kind of stuff. Although I am so glad I don't have major problems with my two dogs like some of the people on there.


My mom was horrible with our animals growing up, never had all their shots, never got the fixed. Her cat had 9 litters before she payed her. She would just drop them off at the shelter evertime too. It made me so mad. She finally had her spayed when the kittens were born deformed. Then I had a dog that she swore she all the shots for, she died of parvo. One of the worst cases my vet had ever seen. She still swears to this day she had her shots, but talking to my vet now, he says no way. Not with a case that bad.

So I had a "good" teacher in a since, I learned pets are family, they are not disposable, they need health care and how devastating it can be when they don't get these things. Now I am just the opposite of her. I couldn't imagine not having pets in my life, it would be very empty. They bring so much laughter to our house, the little clowns.

Kudos to you for thinking about adopting :D She looks like a sweetie, let us know how it goes.

well i'm proud to say she's been adopted. not by us, as she was gone but she has a home!!!

we looked at another dog. whitney (i don't like her name... will change that if we get her) - she's 1.5 yrs old. they say she's a pit/rottie cross but we see absolutely no rottie in her, not even her colouring... and she looks a tiny bit pit but we figure there's lots of other 'stuff' in there as well. kinda a heinz 57.

she's lived her life in the yard on a chain, no shelter... never allowed in the house for long. the owners turned her over to the spca when they came to remove her from their home.

she's been at the shelter for a week. she just got spayed yesterday.

so, we spent about 4 hours with her today. brought her into the outside play area... petted and loved her up (she's sore from her surgery) and then left her there for a bit... came back in and loved her again... gave her some commands. sit, stay. she did GREAT.

left again, came back about 10 minutes later with treats. told her to sit when i was coming through the door, she backed up and sat down. then i showed her the treat. called her over to me... told her to sit, she did. asked her if "good girls take cookies gentle?" and then lowered the cookie to her... she kept her eyes on me and left the cookie alone. i said, "are you a good girl? do you like cookies... can you wait?" and moved the cookie towards her mouth... she just sat there... didn't bite at it at all. then i put it against her nose... and she didn't move. i said, "yes take it" and she gently took the cookie out of my hand. i repeated the process with another cookie with the same results and left again.

came back with a leash and took her for a short walk (again, cause she is sore) and then we came back, left her in the outside play area again.

came back 20 minutes later with more cookies. showed them to her before i came through the gate. she was happy to see me... i told her to move back and sit. she did. i came through. asked her if good girls wait for cookies? she didn't bite at the cookie at all... (this was a different cookie than last time to see if a different one would give me a different response) nope. she was great. waited till i told her she could have it. (i do this with annabella as well)

she LOVES to be petted. she's an absolute sook for lovin'.

i took her back to her kennel, opened the door, she went right in. i took off her collar and told her to stay while i closed the door. she sat there waiting for me to tell her she could move. (release).

then i left... came back 5 minutes later with a cookie. when she saw me, she came over to the gate... i asked her if good girls take cookies right away? and gave her the cookie this time without waiting. she took it.

it amazed me. it was like i had trained her. she seemed to understand every command i gave her the entire time. she even took her cookie outside when i gave it to her in her kennel which is what we do with annabella at home. she takes her treats outside to eat.

we applied for her and were approved :D

she's been tested at the spca. the only thing they are concerned with is:

1/ they don't know if she's okay with cats. although i walked her by the cats and she didn't seem to care at all about them in their outdoor pen. she didn't care about the bunnies either. i took that as a very good sign.

2/ she's very excitable. if i lived in the yard with no human companionship... i would be darned excited when someone came around to gift me with some lovin'. so that doesn't worry me at all.

3/ she's great with other dogs. she meets our dog tomorrow at noon.

4/ she may not be potty trained. this concerns me... i figure though. if a dog is that smart and well trained with sitting, taking treats etc. then wouldn't she train for potty quick? (i'd love to hear some opinions on this one from people with experience)

5/ i'm concerned that other people will be freaked out by the pit in her. i don't want other kids to not come over cause of our dog. i don't want my friend's who let annabella come over for play times with their dogs won't want a pit cross over as well.

so i'd love to hear everyone's opinions/suggestions here. IF we do adopt her, she'll be coming home on saturday next week as they want her stiches to be almost healed before she comes home since we have another dog.

http://bcspcapets.shelterbuddy.com/a...37002&result=9

she didn't jump up on us today, as she's sore from her spaying... but i guess she does do this. not hard to break them of that habit though... at least not in my experience.

a firm no and knee to the chest works great.

Aleesha, honestly it sounds like the dog was meant for you and you her. The issues you brought up are easily conquered and it already sounds like you know how to handle them. There is nothing like a rescue dog, they seem to know you have saved them and they give you back 10fold. Also, there is no pic there but so many shelters say pit mix when there is no pit at all. Check out this site: http://www.pitbullsontheweb.com/petbull/findpit.html

I adore pits, I think they are one of the smartest most loyal breeds out there.

wow, it just took us forever to find the pit!

thanks for your words cat!

cat,

how are they for potty training?

They usually learn any command pretty quickly, including potty training. Pits are an awesome breed, but make sure she knows that you are the alpha or she will take advantage of you. As an older dog (not a young puppy anymore), they learn even quicker when it comes to potty. I have several things I do for potty training and it usually only takes a few days at most. One, make sure she goes outside after every meal and after waking up. Use a consistent word, like outside or potty when you are taking her out. Praise her praise her praise her when she does go outside. Try not to let her too far away from you when potty training, that way if an accident does happen, you can tell her no in a firm voice and them take her out. Sometimes I have them on leash with me until training is completed. I highly recommend a crate, they provide security plus they don't usually mess in their "den". Overall, try to have some type of routine if at all possible until she is housebroken. It really sounds like she already knows commands or is extremely intelligent (if not both) so I am sure she will fit right in and learn new things quickly.

Ohh and Jessie is another great person to talk to about dogs, I know she fosters and should be a wealth of info.

That dog, Whitney, does sound perfect for you, if she is already acting like she has been trained by you already. I hope things go well with her meeting your other dog!!

As far as your/the shelter's concerns, here's my :2cent: :

1. If they are really concerned by your cat, then see if you can't bring your cat by if she does okay with your dog.... If not, definately let them meet in a neutral territory first when/if you bring "Whitney" home.

2. I think that she will calm down too, once she gets used to things at your house. Like you said, her being cooped up in a yard and then being at a shelter, I would be super excited for attention too.

4. As far as house training, I have only ever really trained puppies, but I can't imagine training an older dog to be much different. Normally I crate train puppies, but since she is older and larger, using baby gates can work just as well in order to prevent free run of the house. I would first limit her area in the house (not necessarily all the time, but when you aren't working with her or watching her), the kitchen works really well, easy clean up if any accidents occur. I know she has been confined most of her life so far, but this would be jsut until she got used to things. Then all the basic housetraining would follow, take out at regular intervals to same spot outside with a command to potty, feed at the same times everyday so can basically know when she is going to have to go after eating, take her out after playing, training, and definately after giving treats. Personally from what you have said so far, she seems really eager to please so in my mind it shouldn't take long at all to house train her. Gradually increase her free run of the house until she is reliably going outside to potty.

5. I would just be open and honest with your neighbors and friends, maybe see what they would say in advance. I am sure that if they are given fair "warning" they would appreciate it and be more willing to meet/get to know her. I am not sure what people's reactions are to pitt mixes, and I am not sure what "whitney" looks like since there is no picture, but I am sure that things will work out just fine, especially if she is as sweet as you make her out to be!!

Anyway,those are just my opinions and what I would do, good luck with everything, and let us know how it goes with the doggies meeting!! I am hoping things will work out great!!

well we've decided to go ahead with this adoption. from all the posts here and a nice conversation with a friend who works at the surrey spca (on hour away from here) (didn't know he worked there :P)

so, tomorrow we'll take our dog to meet her... bring the kids as well... and depending on how well the two dogs do together... they said they may release her to us sooner than saturday... so we'll play it by ear.

i'll keep you all posted!!!

I would definitely get her a crate. Get one that's large enough for her to stand up in that's about a foot longer than she is. You don't want one too large where they can defecate at one end and lay down away from it at the other end. If she can't "get away" from it, she's less likely to go potty in the crate.


You still may have a few accidents in the crate, but it's much easier to clean than the carpet.

Never, ever use the crate as punishment - it should be a safe place to go. We got Diamond used to the crate by chucking treats into the back, and making a big "to-do" about it when she went in to get her treat. "Yaaaaayyyy Diamond! You are soooo smart!". We started to add the command "Load" to her as she was doing this, and now that's all we have to say to her (although her crate only comes out now when we have Canine Assistant guests, and she's quite happy to let them use it"). What's funny is that the CA's command is "kennel" and some were a little hesitant to enter it (her's has a lip in the front, theirs do not - so it's a little different). You'd see Diamond go "for god's sake, move out of the way - THIS is what she's asking you to do!". So now Diamond knows that both load and kennel mean the same thing.

Whitney's probably not seen a crate, so it may take her a few days to get used to it. Do NOT let her out of her crate when she's crying. Only when she's quiet. You don't want her to train you that when she cries she gets to come out. Diamond does have a different "whimper" when she has to go potty - that allowed her to come out - go straight outside, no fuss, no muss, and straight back to the crate. That let her know - if you really need us, we'll come get you, but don't start "crying wolf" because it gets you out of the crate.

Most of the Canine Assistants are not potty trained - we keep them on a leash at all times - you can tell the circling/sniffing behavior right before going potty - you can catch them and hustle them outside and make them think they hung the moon when they go potty outside - they'll start to make the connection. I rarely have accidents in the home with the non-potty trained dogs, and if I do - it's my fault, not theirs - because I wasn't paying attention.

I don't believe in rubbing noses in accidents, they honestly don't make the connection as to why you are doing that. Chalk it up to not paying attention and clean it up well and move on.

With Diamond - we started giving her "test runs" on being out of the crate without our supervision. We'd leave her out for 1/2 hour to 1 hour errand runs, come back, no accidents, nothing torn up - and then started letting her stay out all night. Eventually, she "graduated" from her crate and we don't crate her any longer. No accidents from her ever - unless she has an upset tummy and we can't blame her for that - she simply can't hold it. Although - knock on wood, it's been several years since that's happened - and if she has an upset tummy in the middle of the night, she comes to the bedroom door and does the persistent "I really need to go potty" whimper. She's such a good girl!

I'm an advocate of crate training. Diamond is so soft, I really believe that if we had not crate trained her, we would have had a dog with separation anxiety issues. The crate made us have a better relationship with her during her teenage years. She was not allowed to fail. If she couldn't be supervised she was crated, so that she could not tear up things, when she was out of her crate, she was supervised, so if she started to chew on something inappropriate (like a shoe), we were there immediately to give a sharp no, then offer her an appropriate toy to chew instead and praise for chewing on that instead. Don't give them old shoes as toys - a shoe is a shoe, they can't discern the difference between an old beat up one and a nice, brand new one.

Sorry so wordy! Also, I'm a huge fan of clicker training. Diamond is a clicker trained dog. Here's one of my favorite sites: http://www.clickersolutions.com

Good luck with your new best friend!

we have access to a nice sized crate for her... so all should be good - i can follow your advice robin. we've decided to name her Erin. i'm taking my son and annabella to meet her today. if all goes well, i'll go back again on wed. if all goes well, then saturday we'll bring her home. i don't want to rush this, as i don't want to hurt the kids by bringing in a dog who doesn't 'fit/work'.

that said, we really aren't going to know until we do it, so things may change and we may bring her home on wed. :rolleye2:

oh well... we introduced the dogs and whitney did not like annabella. so she's going to another home later today.

i'm just glad she's getting a forever home!

Awww sorry to hear that Aleesha. Sometimes it's a personality thing, some dogs just don't like other dogs. Sometimes even if spayed/neutered it's a gender thing. The spayed female dog I grew up with was an absolute doll with male dogs both intact and neutered but would not tolerate another female dog, spayed or not. I think it somehow disturbed her "queen of the pack" position if another female dog came around. Maybe a neutered male might be a better choice?

annabella loved her... it was the other dog at the spca who didn't like our dog.

so we'll just keep on keeping on, being open to a new friend joining our home and see what life brings us :)

how's you newest dog?