Recently I met a young woman who came in to the store to check out our food, harnesses, etc. because she was about to drive down to Oregon to meet a shelter dog she was interested in adopting. She was looking for a smart active energetic dog who could keep up with her active life full of outdoor activities. She had experience with Cattle Dogs (the breed she was looking at) and also obviously had some experience with positive training. We talked a bit about rescue dogs, and I suggested she ask a lot of questions at the shelter and gave some tips on evaluation. She had the skill set to take on a lot of stuff but knew that the one thing she did not want to work with was reactivity/aggression to other dogs since her life included so much outdoor time and she wanted her dog to be an active participant - running, playing, hiking and enjoying the Pacific Northwest. She was waaaaay more thoughtful than most people are when they embark on choosing a dog.
Today at work she came back in with her boyfriend and the dog. Immediately I could tell something was off by the look in her face. She came up to me and said that one of my coworkers had suggested she talk to me about some behavioral issues she was seeing in her new dog. It ends up that the dog she adopted was a complete love with people but was highly reactive to other dogs and also a lot of sounds. So far no pattern to the reactivity was determined and she had only had the dog one week.
And here's where I get so angry! Not at her but at the shelter people (and you can replace shelter with "rescue" because plenty of rescues do this too). So she did the right thing, asked the right questions and was assured that this dog was fine with other dogs on and off leash. They completed the adoption process, paid the fee, and then AFTER that happened the shelter person dropped a few comments about some behaviors she had seen. They were serious red flags.
After getting home and seeing this reactivity getting worse as time went on, she started seeking help - reading about B.A.T. protocol for reactive dogs, talking with training centers. She was overwhelmed but determined to try her best. She called the shelter back, explained what she was seeing and was told that the reactivity she was seeing was her fault because she wasn't enough of a leader to the dog. Their suggestion - squirt the dog in the face with bitter apple spray when the dog reacted to another dog. Sigh.
So there are so many things wrong with this situation and so many things that make me frustrated with the shelter. I'm not saying this adopter is absolutely perfect - nobody is - but I would adopt one of my fosters to her any day. She's a pretty stellar adopter - the kind I wish I could clone.
My rant is that no person who is in the business of animal welfare should knowingly mislead an adopter. Not just for the one instance where they have lied to a person and set both the dog and the human up for a rocky beginning, but for a bigger picture reason as well. In getting that one dog into a home, the shelter person very well may have ruined that person's opinion toward shelter and rescue dogs for life. They may never opt to adopt in the future. On top of that, if the experience was especially bad you can be sure they will spread the word far and wide about how difficult the situation was, possibly changing other people's willingness to look at a shelter/rescue dog. Our actions never exist in a vacuum.
And so I ended up at the counter at work, with this poor woman who wanted to do the right thing and was full of regret and guilt for all she was feeling - second guessing everything she was doing and thinking she was the reason for things getting worse. We talked a lot about things to try, good trainers she should look into, books to read and You Tube videos to watch (all the videos she had already watched - I'm telling you - stellar adopter!) And then I said the only thing left I could say. "This is not your fault. You're doing an amazing job and I am so, so sorry this is happening to you." And then she was crying and I was crying because it all was just so wrong and there was no way to fix the heartbreak in this situation.
So if you are involved in animal welfare and there is a dog you badly want adopted, don't ever mislead someone and get them to adopt a dog who has issues they've said they really don't feel willing to deal with. Not only will you do that person and the dog an injustice, but who knows how many people you may just have ended up turning away from future rescue dogs due to the one negative experience that you have set into motion.
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2 comments:
We had something similar happen to us. When we adopted our baby we where told he was very healthy and was 2 years old. I kept asking for his vet records and they kept saying they were sending them.
Until about 2 months after we had adopted him I called them to ask for his records and they told me he was heartworm positive. I was shocked and very upset. I thought I had a healthy pup and it turns out he had a life-threatening disease. they apologised and paid for the treatment (still they did not sent me his vet records). I took him that night to the vet they use in Wa(the dogs come from the South and get sent here to be adopted) and he received the treatment. but for the next 6 weeks I had to force him to be in the down low. He was just getting to know us and we had to force him not to play with us.
He´s mouth had the worst smell. so after the six weeks we took him to the vet for a teeth cleaning, in the middle of the procedure we got a call from the vet telling us he had a horrible abscess and he needed to extract his 2 upper k9 and 2 upper molars. from a simple procedure it became a big surgery with a big price tag. for the next 4 weeks we could not give him treats, bones or any toy. That was 10 weeks of him not being able to have fun. We finally got his vet records, 6 months after we had adopted him and we had fixed his teeth problem. The vet records clearly stated that he had an abscess on his k9. The rescue was well aware of this and never told us.
My husband was infuriated that they would lie to us even after we fostered 12 dogs for them. 12 dogs in 2 months by the way! and the fact that we had to spend a lot of money for a problem that they should of told us when we adopted him.
I was mostly heartbroken. I was so sad that my baby had to loose 4 teeth because of human neglection. the humans that are supposed to be protecting him. He got diagnosed in April and got his teeth fixed at the end of October. He spent 6 months in horrible pain and the infection spread from 1 teeth to 4. Loosing the 2 back molars really affects him when he eats.
We felt lied and cheated. When they told us he was heartworm positive they should of told us about his teeth.
There are so many wonderful dogs out there that need help. and I will always be an advocate of adopting instead of buying but things like these make you take a step back.
I don't want to discourage anyone from adopting. I had a bad experience but I had a wonderful one as well. This group got me to adopt under false pretences but they work really hard to save dogs. and they spend a lot of their personal money into medical expenses for dogs and cats. They make a huge difference in the life's of many many dogs and cats. Including my baby.
He brings me tons of joy every day and I love him with every ounce of my body.
Its so rewarding to see how he improves everyday. all the fears that his past owners bestowed on him are slowly going away. He has taught me to forgive and forget, that no matter how much pain someone can cause you (his past owners tore his ears and scared his face) you can always love and trust again.
Hello, a very interesting post indeed! Last summer I adopted Skipper, a rat terrier approx 2 years old. While I (apparently) handed the rescue society the most comprehensive adoption application they had seen, I am still waiting for the promised paperwork that was to been given to me when I paid the adoption fee. Never mind as I wanted to have him to be registered with a local vet and have a checkup anyway, and as a precaution, had all necessary shots etc done, as at this point, how do I even know that he had had them, even though they told me he was up to date?
Like the lady in your post, I too was prepared to take on many "projects" with a new dog, but personally did not want to work with a very re-active or aggressive animal. To my chagrin, in the beginning Skipper was so reactive that I sought out a local behaviourist who held "Growl Classes". As it turned out, I could not take Skipper to them immediately, but when we were ready to book some sessions I realized that Skipper and I no longer had to attend them, as in the interim he had day-by-day, ever so slowly, began to relax and take on more confidence. We had a regular routine and I never pushed Skipper, and kept his stress level low. Gradually, every walk better than the last, Skipper lost his urge to growl and pounce (! ) and today he is a delight and is the most polite of dogs. I hope the lady in your post allows herself, hard as it is, to be patient and to build that bond with the dog that will conquer all. Diligence, routine, reward, small steps at a time, does work!
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