Interesting article on Length of Stay in shelters..

This is a special section for dogs needing new homes and for inspiring stories of dogs that have found their furever home through Dogster or through the love and energy of rescuers. This is also the place to discuss shelters, rescue organizations, rescue strategies, issues, solutions, etc. and how we can all help in this critical endeavor. Remember that we are all here for the love of dog! If you are posting about a dog that needs a new home, please put your location in the topic of your thread so those close by can find you! Make sure to check out Dogster's dog adoption center!

(Page 2 of 2: Viewing entries 11 to 15)
1 2

Tiller- (Skansen's- Ira in the M

I DO Exist...To- Drive You Batty

Barked: Mon Jan 7, '13 11:01pm PST


	Re black dogs....here (New England) or down south, they seem to have difficulty. The odd thing is, at adoption events? Nooo problem. I recall particularly we got this litter in...a Chow-Golden mix litter that was puppy calendar stunning, particularly two of the girls, one of how was golden and the other a striking red mixed with black, both of them pudgy and very, very fluffy. And they had a jet black sister, Hester. And it was HESTER everyone seemed to go over the moon for. I do agree with Duncan that a purebred or really good looking black dog may well not linger at a shelter. And that what the stats won't reflect/show, as it is pretty subjective, is the plain jane dogs. They are really screwed, and I am not sure it matters where they are or go. That's really the main point, the main death knell. Not so true in New England, where just about every dog who isn't a nut case is a Pit Bull , so plain or not, if you want a no problem pet and don't want a Pit Bull, the plain dogs definitely move up a notch. But in the south, ugh, too sad! Even on rescue pull sheets, where lots of rescues get sent pics and bios and decide who to pull. Wow are THOSE sad You see the lists shrink and shrink, with the plain dogs left behind. In my personal experience, Pit Bulls are not a problem other than numbers. They do get adopted, but there are so many that may get lost on you. In my experience, hounds have it worse. Pit Bulls have had a lot of bad p.r., but countering it a lot of GOOD p.r. Hounds need that BADLY, for I do think they adopt far less than Pits. Every so often one of the shelters we've pulled from (which does not adopt out Pits) will slide one, overtly Pit, into the adoption room as a Lab mix, but seldom does that happen with hounds. They just don't move. And to Sarah saying "I guess what bothered me (and maybe it's the attitude of the page that posted that article and not the article itself) is just how much blame is put on the shelters and not on the owners/public." All I can say Not all shelters are the same, true of all things in life, but they are forced to make some sense out of what they have....what the community dumps on them. It is really nine miles up my butt by now, this newer speak, where somehow this is the shelter's fault.

[notify]

Jewel, PCD

8.6lbs of fury- in a bow!

Barked: Tue Jan 8, '13 7:07am PST


	I guess that whole "black, med-sized, not standing out" think is what happened to Rose here. http://www.petfinder.com/petdetail/13010119 Since Jan 2009!! I was so happy when I saw her get marked "fostered" thinking she'd get out more, meet people and get adopted. Nope.

[notify]

Addy, CGC

Let's go for a- walk!

Barked: Tue Jan 8, '13 8:13am PST


	Black dogs are hard to photograph well, so they lose some of the advantage that being posted online gives. But black dogs, and "plain jane" dogs, if they get out to adoption events, can attract people with their personalities (and of course, the black dogs are often a lot prettier in person than in their pictures.) But who stays longest in the shelter, who is hardest to adopt out, can vary a lot geographically, too. On the beagle issue, SARL got twenty-four beagles in on one day, a result of a hoarding seizure. And every one of those beagles was in a new home within days of the dogs being released for adoption. They're a nice size, they're active, they'll enjoy spending time with the kids or an active adult. Also, of course, CUTE! But I can easily see that not being the case in areas where hounds in general are a lot more prevalent.

[notify]

Sarah,- CW-SR,- CW-G1, CGC

Million Dollar- Mutt

Barked: Tue Jan 8, '13 4:26pm PST


	Here, the harder ones to adopt are those 7months to a year or so old... They have the "puppy uglies", they have minimal training, and are pretty high energy and NAUGHTY! I work so I don't foster puppies during the school year. I typically get dogs around 1-2 years old and they seem to be a good age to adopt. 8 week old puppies get snapped up in a heartbeat, although my two puppies took over a month to get adopted. I still have mom, so I don't know if it's a color thing (black and tan) or a breed thing (momma looks like a small doberman). I also see the "extremes" thing going on- really big dogs and really small dogs get adopted quickly, especially if they resemble a popular breed like St. Bernard, Great Pyrenees, toy poodle, shih tzu, yorkie, etc. Those middle of the road dogs are tough to adopt. Long haired dogs go faster than shorthaired dogs! The woman who coordinates the pulls from the shelters told me she pulls as many of the longhaired dogs for our group as she can. And the poor cats . My group doesn't pull cats. They are SO hard to adopt we couldn't afford to pull them and have them vetted. The shelters we pull from euthanize 95% of cats . But the shelters in our area I don't think do much better... People need to be spaying and neutering. Good news is we are really affecting the euthanasia rates at some shelters we pull from. One went from a 70% euthanasia rate in 2011, to a 49.4% rate in 2012 (cats included)! I have a feeling the numbers would be much lower if it were just dogs. The AC warden said this drop is due to almost entirely to our rescue.

[notify]

Member Since
12/02/2012

Barked: Mon Jan 21, '13 10:35pm PST


	In our area, there are more big dogs that are left in shelters as most people in our neighborhood prefer the little ones. I personally don't look at the size of a dog when adopting, but I try to see if I can handle the dog's personality. If we both click, he's got a home. As far as the article goes, I think it would actually vary on the person looking for a dog to adopt, as well as the views of the shelter.