"I'm Not looking for a showdog" - Page 4

Regardless, It's nice that some people who just want a pet do care enough to provide a good home to a rescued dog.

Interesting topic! One thing is strange though and does not make any sense in this context: A couple of months ago, there were some news articles that shelter dogs from other countries are imported into the U.S. to fulfill the demands for dog adoptions. What are your views on that? How does that fit into the overall picture? That is why I did not think that these wellbred dogs would sit in rescue shelters. Chris

Don't believe everything you read. lol too funny

I don't think one could easily find a well bred dog in a shelter, but I honestly don't think it would take more than a few weeks to find one. I like to torture myself and read the petfinder site a few times a month and do see quite a few dogs that look good on their photos. It's a shame that we even need to talk about dogs in shelters, isn't it?

Do Right I agree with EVERYTHING you said in your posts. The majority of dogs I have owned in my life have been from the pound or found wondering the streets. I'm a pretty good judge of doggy character but anyone can accidentaly aquire a dog of bad health or vitality, breeder or pound wise. I have personaly NEVER had a sick dog with bad health, ecxept for at the time I take the dog. Once I bring them home and feed and excersize them right, they polish into little diamonds in the rough. Veronica we all know your a breeder but come on! How can you discredit shelter dogs this way? Dogs of your breeding are no better because of the paper they have behind them. Your dogs have just as much possability of having nerve and health issues down the road at some point. I have always found mutts to be more hardy and easier to care for. I think many breedrs are just pissed their dogs can't do as well on Gravey Train and so easy to train a child can do it. I can honestly say, I have better luck with my shelter dogs and rescues than the dogs I accuired from breeders. More robust and just better dogs all around for a pet home. Who the hell is anybody to say their $2000 pup is better than the little puppy down at the shelter, my neighbor got for his daughter? Will that $2000 dog love you more, be dedicated to his death, and easier to train and fit into the home because of his price? Also I have never owned an eyesore of a dog. It's easy to find pure bred or nice looking mixed breeds at any shelter. Thats the saddest part!

birdy, i have a ? although i don't use bio-spot, what is the problem w/it? i use frontline plus on our 2 dogs and i feed them royal canine. i did use bio-spot a few yrs ago w/a different dog and had no problems. was i missing something?

If you will go to Leerburg's site, I believe Ed Frawley a similar philosophy to mine, except that he says it in the no nonsense way that only Ed can, LOL. Lonewolf, I strongly state that the dogs in my program are much better. I think you have a sort of blindness all your own on this topic, or you have not personally owned the kind quality dogs that I have. If pound dogs are so great, why do SAR, Police, Schutzhund, etc, buy well bred dogs? Why not go to the pound and clean it out of those great pound dogs? Yes, there are a few who make it into real work, but if you looked at the greater majority of working dogs, they are from good breeding programs. The mutts and BYB dogs that do make it into real work are the genetic flukes that have popped up from the genetic soup of their ancestry, and you have a serious breeder somewhere, however far down the line, to thank for their capabilities. I have not had anything for the pound but: a dangerous rotwielder(for no apparent reason, snapped in my daughter's face when she walked up to it and it almost got her lip, and that was not all he did), an ill, totally selfish imbecile dog who was cute to look at, and a dog who had a heart full of worms from the pound who cost me several hundred dollars to treat who was also not the sharpest or prettiest tool in the shed but was an okay dog in her way. So my experiences are the exact opposite of your own. I am not espousing an across the board statement concerning dogs from the pound, rescues, or homeless dogs off the street. I am sure there are a few who are great dogs, but I belive the great ones are far and few between, with mediocrity being the norm, and even useless nervy dogs having a high representation in that population. Like Desert Ranger said, it is nice that some people can adopt some of these dogs and give them a good home. The mediocre adoptable dogs meet the needs of some people just fine.

I am friends with a woman who worked as the Dog Warden in my little local town. A few years ago, they found a dog (appeared to be a long hair GSD). Absolutely BEAUTIFUL dog. But he never responded to anyone when spoken to. They had the dog examined by a vet, thinking he was deaf. After a few days, she called me to come look at him. She knew that I spoke German, and asked me to give him commands in German. I did, and he responded in a snap. He preformed everything from basic OB commands to "going out", seaching, and even bite work. (ALL commands given in German). We contacted local PD's, clubs, etc., in our area, to no avail. We never did know his pedigree or background, but SOMEONE had obviously taken the time to do wonderful training on this dog, and then just threw him away. There are chances to get some really nice dogs out of the pound. HOWEVER, this is NOT always the case. And as with anything in the world today....it's Buyer Beware!!!

Anyone who has the time should just sign on to petfinder.com and see what is available in your area. You might be suprised.

Blitzen makes an excellent suggestion, You might be surprised at the well bred dogs that sit in pounds/shelters. We have lately had a run on Boxers and German Shorthairs. Shepherds we get here are not very well bred, they are washed out, shy, and no structure to them. With the exception of two that we have had here. Two were very nice dogs with some breeding behind them, and training as well. But of course no Microchips or ID tags. It's sad how insignifigant a family member can become when someone decides they have no more use to them.