Adopting a dog from a shelter, what to expect, what to do and what not to do

Cons

This is her picture from the website

How many times have I not heard... "a dog is in a shelter for a reason, there must be something wrong with them". I believed this myself for quite some time, until I helped out at a shelter in the Netherlands for a couple of months. And yes, I have seen dogs with a lot of problems, but all those problems were solvable when proper training was applied. In the majority of cases unresponsible ownership creates the behavioural problems which causes the dogs to end up in shelters, and yes, when you adopt those dogs there is something wrong with them, but it is in most cases fixable, as long as you have patience, set up a good training plan, ask advice and guidance from a professional and spent some good quality time with the dog. You will be surprised how lovely and well trained those shelter dogs can turn out to be.

Amber in the shelter as a pup

Probably the biggest negative of getting a dog from a shelter as compared to getting a puppy from a breeder, is that most of the time you can not see the parents of the dog, and often you do not know what breeds and thus what genetic characteristics are hidden in this dog. You will not know if there is some genetic diseases, or breed characteristics that could lead to certain problematic behaviours. You will have to find that out over time and by observing your dog you will get to know them better. Most of the time the staff in the shelter will know the dog pretty well, they can advice you on the fact if the dog will fit in your family situation or what activities this dog would be good at doing.

One dog I will never forget, she was a border collie x labrador, a small slim black girl with gorgeous brown eyes and the sweetest face. She actually looked a lot like Amber but black and with floppy ears. She ended up in the shelter for being fearfull, and apparently snapped at someone. And yes, she was very fearfull of loud sounds, sudden movement, other dogs, loud people... I think that she might have been mistreated by her previous owner, who knows what happened to her. I really wanted to take this dog home, I knew that if I would just make her more comfortable in new situations, boosting her confidence and overall train her in a very positive way, she would get less scared over time, and since she had a massive will to please, she would have turned out like an amazing dog! But it wasn't to be, I still lived at home and a dog was not appreciated...


Pros
There is a lot of dogs in shelters all over the world, many never get a chance of a new home and are being put down, this of course is very sad, considering that many new puppies are born everyday, and a percentage of those will again, end up in shelters.

Amber when she arrived in the shelter,

Getting a dog from a shelter will definitely give you the idea that you did something good, maybe you even feel like a bit of a hero for saving this dogs life. And it gets even better, because you are not just saving this dog, but thanks to taking the dog out of a shelter, a new spot will open up for another dog looking for a forever home. I also believe that if you are a reponsible owner and your rescued dog shows its loveable sides to the world, you will get other people inspired to first look at shelters before getting a pup.
Another positive of getting an adult dog from a shelter compared to getting a puppy, is that the dog is already fully grown, neutered and vaccinated. This way you can skip all the difficult and frustrating puppy and puberty phases. Often the personality of the dog is already clear, so finding a perfect fit for your family will be a bit easier.

What to do
If you can, visit the shelter, do not just go for looks, ask the staff at the shelter which dog they think will suit you best, and be openminded. Meet the dogs, and if possibly foster them first to see how they are in a home situation. A shelter is a stressfull place for many dogs, and they might not show their true self in this environment.

I was not able to visit the shelter in Spain where I got Amber from. Eventhough I would normally not advice that, for us, it turned out perfectly fine. I looked on many websites, read the stories of the dogs and started selecting my favorites. I did not go for looks so much, I just wanted a dog medium sized or smaller, about 1 to 2 years old, and a female. I knew about Podencos before I saw Amber on the website, I really loved the breed, met some at the veterinary practice and started researching the breed more. I started emailing the shelters with a whole bunch of questions about the dogs that I selected as my favourites. Questions like: can they be with other dogs, how high is their activity outside / inside, is the dog fearfull in new situations... anything. I asked for more pictures and videos, I didn't manage to get a video but a whole bunch of pictures.
After about 4-5 emails back and forth I made my decision, I was going to adopt Amber.
I first got a housevisit (which I think is really good when shelters do that) which got approved. 

Then the waiting process started, she needed to get some blood tests done, vaccinations and a flight to Stockholm. I was lucky because she got a flight booked within a month (they need someone to travel with the dogs, which can sometimes take several months) because it was around christmas time and many people are flying to see family and friends.

What to expect

Amber before her flight

Before she arrived I asked some measurements, so I could get her a collar, bed and a winterjacket (it was really cold in Sweden at that time).
When we went to pick her up in Stockholm we first met up with a volunteer from the shelter. We signed a contract with her and spoke about the whole process of getting her accustomed to her new life.
When she arrived in the waiting hall it was a bit awkward, we saw someone with a dog cage but weren't sure if it was our dog, I tried to look inside but couldn't see much. When the person with the cage saw us looking she introduced herself and yes... this was our dog! When they opened the cage she came walking out very slowly, tail between her legs, eyes watery and tired... really sad... She was wearing a jacket which was a bit too big (see DIY projects, where I recycle the jacket into something more awesome). When we wanted to walk to the car she refused to walk, sat herself down and looked extremely depressed. So we carried her to the car, tried to walk her outside, but again, she wouldn't move a foot. I guess the snow must have shocked her quite a bit too.

Terrified at the airport

One funny thing that happened in the car though, she looked like she just wanted to die, but then I got a cookie out, for myself initially. Her eyes lighted up and she really slowly moved towards me, grapped the cookie very slowly and politely out of my hand and started eating it. I didn't mind her stealing my cookie, I guess I just didn't expect it! I wanted to give her some dog food and water, but she didn't want any. So we started driving home (3 hour drive through a snowy dark country). Michael sat with her in the back, but she moved all the way to the other side of the car, and faced the window, the whole time she had just been looking out of the window, completely ignoring us. Michael was a bit disappointed and said that she was quite a strange dog.

When we got home she still did not want to walk outside, she did slowly walk around the house, a bit scared of us, and especially Michael. When she found her toys it looked like she couldn't believe that that whole pile was all for her. She very calmly played with all the toys for a couple of minutes. When I picked her up and put her in her bed next to ours she immediately fell asleep until the next day, after which she finally peed!... in the bedroom... but at least she peed, I didn't mind.

Potty training
Walking her that first week was quite annoying, she was very scared, would go outside but only around the house, she refused to walk any further than that. Also she did not do her business outside, but as soon as we would be inside, she would do it straight in the room, but always when we didn't see her. We solved this by making sure she was always around us, closing all the other doors and keeping her in sight. Whenever she started sniffing the floor, I would distract her ( don't scare her or punish, it will only make it worse!) and take her outside, or take her to the balcony. She still didn't get it though. Only when we started borrowing a friendly neighbour dog, who she really liked did she dare to walk outside and eventually pee outside! Thank god! Whitin a month no accidents anymore, just keep her in sight and take her on a lot of short walks around the house. Initially she liked to walk further and explore more.

Meeting new people and dogs

The big scary dog is now her best friend

She was quite fearfull of new people and bigger dogs. The first people that visited us was a asian couple who was picking up something from the house. She hid behind us on the sofa shaking and growled at them. On the street she would first hide behind me when seeing other people and dogs, but eventually she started barking and growling at them. I solved this by giving her lots of treats and distracting her whilst people walked past, a couple of weeks later, people weren't so scary anymore and she ignored them. Dogs however, she started barking at them, especially when they would walk right towards us, I decided to do some BAT  (behaviour adjustment training) like training by avoiding dogs as much as possible at first. When a dog approached us I would cross the street, or make room for them to pass, whilst sitting with her, holding her and keeping her calm, if she was able to stay calm I would treat and praise her. If I saw a dog in the distance I would halt, make her look at the dog, then look at me, and praise, or distract her with a toy or treats. This worked better and better, she now reached a stage where she copies the other dogs behaviour, if she spots an out of control dog she shows crazy playing behaviour, when another dog barks at her agressively she sometimes barks back (if I don't keep her calm on time), when an under control calm dog walks past, she ignores them and there is no problem. So she is not there yet but definitely improved!

Some people that visit us, or that we visit she just doesn't like. Some people I expect are a bit loud, move quick, have scary beards or stare at her in a funny way. Some people just have no idea how to respond to dogs that do not know you (suddenly grabbing her from behind for some wrestling, or wildly patting her right on her head) we have seen it all, she normally avoids those people, but if they are being really creepy or do not get the message in her eyes she sometimes barks or growls at them, that is where it stays though, no snapping. But I do always tell those people to go a bit easier on her, ignore her and stop staring at her, she normally calms down after that.
I never punish her for showing these signs, this is her way of communicating that she is not comfortable, and if we do not listen to her telling us that, or if we punish her for communicating you can create a dangerous situation, next time she is not comfortable she will skip the growling because she knows that that is something that she gets punished for, she will go straight for the bite, and you want to avoid that.
I normally use a word for when something is fine, I say her name and just tell her 'it's oke'. I have the idea that she understands and it does actually calm her down.

Not walking further than this!

People have told me that this is not the way to respond, that you should punish the dog when they show 'aggression', logically, this does not make much sense to me, growling is not a form of aggression, but it is a warning, just as when I tell someone to stop doing something I don't like, doesn't mean that I am being aggressive. The fact that I have kept Amber in a positive environment, listen to her and understand her has really improved her. When people come over now, she is excited, greets them at the door and whitin an hour she lays on their lab ready to be stroked. Doesn't that prove enough? Instead teaching people to have respect for your dog's need of space creates trust between the dog and you, and it avoids a lot of unnecassary aggression both from people and the dog.

Leave my shoes alone!
Image, you have lived your whole life in a cage, you are bored and whatever you find in this cage is yours, and you can do whatever you like with it. That must have been Ambers thoughts when she first arrived in our house. Everything in the house she picked up and either played with it, broke it or tried to eat it.
One of her canine teeth punctured my phone (it was old so a good excuse to get someting more hip), she snapped an electric cable (not connected luckily), she pulled some wallpaper off the walls (old house that was going to be sold anyway), and she ate all the corners off the pillows. It wasn't as bad as when we watched a border collie pup during his teething phase... but still... quite annoying.
Whenever she got something that she shouldn't be playing with, I said 'no' (not loud, but loud enough to get her attention), took it from her and gave her a toy instead, whenever she played with one of her toys I praised her, treated her or played a bit with her. I only once scared her by shouting out 'NOOO!' really loud, this was when she got an electric cable. It startled her so much that she never even got near them after that. It took some weeks but she got the idea pretty quick. She now still occasionally gets something which is new (new shoes for example), to test out if it is a toy I guess. It's easy to hear when she has something, because she starts prancing around the house with it like a show horse. I just tell her ' Ambeeer??? Is that a toy?? No it's not..... get this instead' and give her a toy. After that she normally leaves it alone.


To leash, or not to leash...?
When we first got her, she was scared and wary about everything. So when we let her off lead in the forest, she stayed very close. She did also open the front door once (she is very smart) and tried to find Michael who just went outside to feed our rabbits. She ran into the other direction and raced to me at full speed when I went out to look for her, happy that I was with her again. I still cherrish these nice off leash moments, it's so nice to let your dog run around and explore wherever they like whilst walking peacefully through the forest.

Getting more confident

I still curse the hare that ruined it all!
Amber was getting a bit more adventurous, but still stayed close and came when called. We went for a walk in a nature reserve close by, and when we walked to our car a hare jumped out of  bush right in front of us and bursted off into the forest. Needless to say, Amber went after it in full speed howling and squeeling. She was 'gone' for about 45 min. We did see her zig-zagging trough the forest, nose down. Sometimes she would run right at us, and then quickly turning around again and going after the hare. She was so involved with finding the hare that she didn't even notice me walking up to her when she was intensely sniffing some area, I could just lift her up and carry her home. Of course you are pissed off, but it is not smart to be angry at the dog, next time they will never get back to you or even let you get near them.... Well that was the last time she was allowed off leash. I think she wasn't aware what was out there before, and now that she knows that wildlife exists, this triggered her hunting instincts and she can't wait to meet all the animals in the forests. After this incident there has been moments where her lead broke (twice), where she opened the front door again (someone forgot to lock it) or when she escaped from her harness several times. In all those cases she displayed the same behaviour, intensely sniffing the ground, not minding anything around, sometimes running close to us, but then running away again. But eventually, when she gets tired she does come back to us, panting, wet and happy.

Overall changes over time
It is so hard to say how a dog will be at home when you meet them in the shelter, or even after the first couple of months. I think it took about a month before Amber was fully comfortable with us, it took about 3 months before she dared to play with us properly, it took another couple of months before she initiated playing with us, and it took about half a year to a year until she really showed us that she was happy when we came home, when she started making sounds when we stroked her or when she wanted attention. It definitely took me half a year until she would finally get excited about me taking treats on a walk and listening better. And still to today she is improving and suprising us with new things we didn't know about her yet.
   

This video I made during our first half a year with us. She was so excited about all the new things in her life!