How shelters as well as rescues failed when I embraced my very first pet dog

The story of how I embraced my very first pet dog subjects a common flaw in the U.S. shelter/rescue system – a lack of communication.

To get a lot more dogs adopted, one of the most crucial aspects is to swiftly as well as politely respond to adopters’ questions. as well often, those concerns are ignored.

So here’s my story:

I embraced my pet dog Ace in 2007.

I was available to the breed of pet dog I would get, however I understood I wished to embrace a pet dog vs. go to a breeder. It was crucial to me to assist a pet dog in need.

At that time, I had no concept that some shelters will turn down adopters who don’t have a fenced yard. I likewise didn’t understand working full time is sometimes a red flag.

Still, the process of trying to embrace a pet dog was not a unfavorable experience for me. I keep in mind believing the whole process seemed odd, however I provided the adoption organizations the benefit of the doubt.

I was your typical 20-something who worked full time, rented an apartment, had grown up with dogs as well as was lastly prepared to adopt.

I didn’t have an “in” with any type of of the adoption groups like I do today. I was not a volunteer, as well as I was not included in the regional pet dog neighborhood yet since I didn’t have a dog.

Looking for the ideal dog

I was extremely accountable about selecting the ideal dog. I understood precisely what I might as well as might not handle.

I didn’t care about breed, size or gender, however my future pet dog had to be feline friendly, potty trained, kennel trained, quiet, low to medium energy as well as still able to go running.

In buy to discover the ideal pet dog for my lifestyle, I started out by checking out the dogs at my regional humane society (after I had stalked them on the internet for months). This was a little shelter that might hold as much as about 15 dogs.

The worker there enabled me to take a couple of the dogs out of their cages as well as into an outside play area. This was nice, nevertheless she seemed hectic as well as irritated that I was asking questions, as well as she did not understand if the dogs were potty trained or feline friendly.

I was particularly thinking about two six-month-old black lab mixes as well as was told they were most likely not potty trained.

I then asked about a peaceful husky mix however was told huskies can’t go to houses with cats.

OK, no huge deal.

I made a decision none of the dogs at that shelter were a great match. This didn’t bother me, since I understood there were actually countless others out there.

Waiting to hear back

So the next thing I did was phone call a regional rescue group, which seemed to be the only rescue in my area at that time.

Since the rescue did not have an actual shelter (the dogs were in foster homes), I couldn’t go to a facility to satisfy them. I called the number on the web site since there was no email address listed.

I never got a phone call back.

ESTÁ BIEN. hacia adelante.

Next, I emailed a couple of humane societies from close-by towns. By “nearby,” I indicate one was 100 miles away as well as the other was 200 miles away, however it wouldn’t be a huge offer to drive out to them for the ideal dog. I resided in North Dakota.

The very first shelter never responded.

Thanks to gmail’s archives, I am able to look up the message I sent back in 2007.

In it, I innocently describe that I online 200 miles away as well as would like to get some info about the dogs before making the drive. I told them I resided in an apartment or condo as well as had a cat. I likewise stated I organized to take the pet dog running for an hour every day.

Ninguna respuesta.

ESTÁ BIEN. Onto the next.

This humane society did email me back, as well as when I asked about a specific husky mix, they really provided me the phone number to the dog’s previous owner as well as told me to speak to her if I desired information.

I was uneasy calling this person, however considering that the shelter motivated me to do so, I did. I wished to get as much information about the pet dog before driving 100 miles to the shelter.

I will never fail to remember that heartbreaking experience of this dog’s former owner – a total complete stranger to me – crying on the phone about exactly how her landlord only enabled two dogs as well as she had been required to select which of her three to provide arriba.

“If you might please discover it in your heart to embrace Hallie …” she said, crying.

The next day, I got a nasty email from the shelter director asking exactly how attempt I phone call the dog’s previous owner?

This shocked me, obviously, however I still didn’t hold it against anyone. I just figured it was a miscommunicAtion, así como realmente me disculpé.

Dado que “Hallie” no roró como una gran forma para mí, le pregunté al refugio si podrían enviarme un correo electrónico si ocurrían para encontrar en un perro mascota que puede ser un ajuste mucho mejor.

De nuevo, nunca escuché nada de vuelta.

¡Y todavía no ubicé el juicio sobre ningún tipo de estos grupos! Esto demuestra que los adoptantes normalmente son bastante indulgentes y comprensivos, ¡sin embargo, vamos!

Cómo finalmente descubrí a mi perro

Lo último que hice fue volver al sitio del Grupo de Rescate Regional (el que nunca me llamó). Volví a buscar con sus perros. Esta vez, tenían lo que se llamaba una lista de “cortesía”.

Una mezcla de laboratorio negro llamada Junior se proporcionó como una “cortesía” que indicaba que su dueño actual todavía lo tenía, sin embargo, estaba tratando de volver a dominarlo. El rescate le permitía promover al perro mascota en su sitio, así como su número de teléfono personal se proporcionó como contacto.

La descripción de “Junior” declaró que era amigable felino, amigable para mascotas, extremadamente suave, entrenado en baño, kennel entrenado, de 1 año y castrado.

¡Perfecto!

Realmente no estaba pensando en una mezcla de laboratorio negro “aburrido”, sin embargo, lo que sea. Sonaba como un gran partido.

Gracias a Dios, hice esa llamada telefónica desde que terminé con el mejor perro del mundo.

El propietario de “Junior” en ese momento respondió a todas mis preocupaciones pacientemente y con excelente detalle. Ella fue la primera persona en hacerlo realmente.

Tengo en cuenta que le pregunté si a “Junior” le gustaría ir a correr, así como ella dijo: “¡Le gustaría eso!”

Le pregunté sobre todo, si estaba pacífico en su perrera, exactamente como estaba con otros perros, exactamente cuánta energía tenía.

Cuando en broma declaré que todos los laboratorios son de gran energía (solo para probar su respuesta), ella me dijo: “No, él no es así en absoluto”.

Entonces, aproximadamente dos semanas después, hice el viaje de 60 millas a la pequeña ciudad agrícola de Ada, Minnesota, así como satisfecho a mi futuro perro, ahora entendido como as.

Un fracaso para comunicarse

Mirando hacia atrás, ahora reconozco que todos esos grupos de adopción perdieron la marca.

Descubrí el mejor perro, sin embargo, mi perro mascota “perfecto” se produjo como de la única persona que se tomó el tiempo para responder a mis preguntas.

Si hubiera tomado algún tipo de organizaciones de adopción exactamente la misma cantidad de tiempo para ayudarme, le aseguré que habría encontrado mi perro mascota “perfecto” de ellas, ya que estaba muy emocionado de conseguir un perro.

No entiendo cuál era el problema. Tal vez no les gustó que residiera en un apartamento. Quizás todos los voluntarios estaban agitados para contactarme. Tal vez necesitaba ser mucho más paciente, para llamar telefónica cinco o seis veces en lugar de una o dos.

En mi caso, funcionó bien y aún podía ayudar a un perro mascota necesitado. Sin embargo, ¿exactamente cómo muchos otros terminarían yendo a un criador, un anuncio clasificado o la tienda de mascotas regional?

Creo que muchas personas realmente quieren abrazar a un perro, sin embargo, debe ser mucho más fácil para ellos hacerlo.

¿Qué piensan ustedes?

Si abrazaste a tu perro, ¿tuviste una experiencia positiva para llegar al proceso de adopción?

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