[LeftWingLock]

We have an almost 2 year old female beagle who has been a great dog. She doesn't bark or howl (except when clearing the backyard of rabbits), doesn't dig, and is great with our boys (7 and 11.) My wife however is convinced that the dog is bored and lonely and needs another beagle companion to play with.

She has almost talked me into it but we have different opinions on what dog to get and where to get it from. We both want to get another beagle and she wants to get a puppy from a local breeder. I however have found a 1 1/2 year male at our local humane society who is a bit overweight but very sweet and calm. When all of the other dogs at the shelter where barking and howling he just sat there and licked me.

We have always gotten puppies in the past but I kind of like the idea of saving this guy from the shelter and not going through all of the puppy stuff. We are a bit hesitant about house training an adult dog, especially as beagles can be a bit stubborn and male beagles have a tendency to mark their territories.

Anybody have any experience adopting adult dogs (especially beagles) or opinions on getting a new puppy as opposed to rescuing the adult from the shelter?

[Peter]

Cody Dawg has lots of experience with dogs and adoption i think?

[Mastrap]

I can't imagine that a rescue dog would be more work than a puppy. And they tend to be so grateful to have found a home that they make very loving companions.

[Cody Dawg]

LeftWingLock:

Please contact BREW which is a WONDERFUL beagle rescue organization if you want to consider another option besides the dog at your local shelter.

Here is their link.

The benefit of going through the local shelter is that if it doesn't work out (and sometimes it does not for a myriad of reasons including the fact that your current dog may just decide to downright hate a new dog for no apparent reason) then you can return the dog to the shelter.

to you for considering an adoption.

Just don't get in over your heads! Seriously, sometimes woman confuse an urge to get another dog with the urge to have a child and they're not the same...

[mitchell_pgh]

Originally Posted by Mastrap

I can't imagine that a rescue dog would be more work than a puppy. And they tend to be so grateful to have found a home that they make very loving companions.

I think the original poster is saying that a puppy will probably be more work, but the work pays off after you train the puppy... where an adult dog may never be able be properly trained. It's sometimes true... but not always.

I think the original poster should be commended for looking towards the local humane society. If you both decide you do want another dog, that's the place I would go. I wouldn't worry about training the new dog. I think you will find that the one dog will learn from the other dog rather quickly. Also, it's still young... so IMHO, very trainable. Worst case, it's not the fit, and you take it back to the pound... and you extended the life of the dog a few months [I wouldn't go in with that attitude, but worst case, you have an out].

My 2¢ and we want pictures!

[agentz]

Hi LWL
Personally I'd go for the older dog because I'm a sucker for pleading eyes at the rescue centre. We were having almost this exact conversation recently, the whole puppy vs. older dog thing.

We've decided that now is not the right time for us to take on a puppy so we went to our local rehoming centre and came across the most gorgeous (alleged) black GSD and we fell in love with him. He's about 18 months old and is calm as all hell, came from a busy household with 4 kids and 2 cats so will slot in really well with us. He's really quite nervous around strangers and other dogs but we've been to see him and walk him every day for the last week and a half and he's really gotten used to us.

A picture of him can be found at http://i7.tinypic.com/21eqd13.jpg (although I apparently forgot to rotate it!).

A few people who've seen the dog with us don't think he's all GSD, some have said they think he's more like a Groenendael, but whatever really

There's one slight issue with this dog - he has pancreatitis (I think they said juvenile pancreatic atrophy). The local rehoming centre seem to think it's being managed pretty well but he was seriously underweight so a diet change was in order.

He's perked up a hell of a lot in the last few days, much more energetic, a lot more alert. We think we know all the important stuff we need to know about managing his condition, the rehoming society will pay all vets bills relating to this condition and will also contribute towards the cost of a prescription diet.

He's seeing the vet again tomorrow and provided he's improving OK we should be able to bring him home on Wednesday

[mac1896]

Re: Breeder vs. Dog Pound

In the last 14 years I have gotten 2 dogs from the local pound (which is NOT a keep alive until placed pound).

The first was a spayed female Corgi/mix, but was an older dog, apparently abandoned by snowbirds returning home.

She was the love of our lives for 5 years until we had to have her put down (we think she had a stroke, rear legs paralyzed).

Our second was a female American Staffordshire that we had gotten from Florida Voices for Animals (Organization and pound for abused animals).

She had been set on fire by some punks and had burns on her left rear leg and on her back, and was about to be destroyed because no potential adopters wanted to take the time to bring her into a "Family group".

All they saw was what they THOUGHT was a "pit bull", and an abused one at that, so, no takers.

We found out about her through a veterinarian assistant friend, and went to meet her.

While a staff member went to bring her out for us, we took a seat on the floor, so as not to intimidate her when she was presented to us.

The staff TOLD US that she WAS going home with us !

Tasha's personality was slow in coming out (she lived on on the far end of the couch, and nowhere else for 3 months, by her choice), but it did come out, and after the 3 months, you wouldn't even think it was the same dog !

The biggest change came literally overnight, when, one morning she hopped up on the bed with us, and snuggled herself right under my arm, and stayed there until we got up.

She still had her fears though. One day we had her in the truck with us and we went to gas up, she caught the scent of gasoline, and tried to crawl through the floorboards to get away from from it. She gradually got used to that too, when she learned that we weren't going to hurt her.

All in all, she suffered no irreparable damage, except to the burn marks where no hair ever grew back. She LOVED to play with the kids across the street, and would every chance she got, and she loved to RUN for about 5 minutes every day. around the yard, up and down the length of the (private dirt) road.

She's been gone for four and a half years now, and I miss her terribly.

It was worth the labor of love we put into her. Every bit of it. I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

A breeder will keep trying to sell the dogs until they are gone.

A pound only keeps them for a period of time, and then the animals are destroyed (Euthanized is such a clean, sterile, politically correct way to say "killed").

Our local pound also gives you a you a gift certificate for a spay or neuter if the animal isn't already.

It may not be as hard to work with a pound dog as you might think, as many are already housebroken, but will still need to have boundaries set for them (just like little kids), but every bit of it is a labor of love, and well worth it.

This is just a fair warning:

If you have small children, please heed the staff warnings about ANY dog not being "kid friendly", or "other dog friendly", and also teach your children not to bother ANY dog (from breeder or pound) while it is eating.

[LeftWingLock]

Thanks for the replies everybody.

We took our dog (Claire) in to meet the dog (Eddie) at the shelter and things could have gone better. The good news is that my wife and kids fell in love with Eddie and he was very friendly and happy to see us. The bad news is that it turns out Claire is a bit of a snob. She didn't want anything to do with him at all. There was not any growling or other aggressive behavior, she just flat out ignored him. In her defense, there was a line of caged rabbits and a cluster of caged cats not too far away and I think she more than a bit more interested in them than in meeting Eddie.

We are going out of town for a few days and when we get back I'm going to try it again. I'm going to try to get them to let me take the dogs outside or to a more private room where they won't be distracted by the other animals. Claire has always been friendly to other dogs and I think that her little beagle brain was just overwhelmed with all of the new smells.

[Cody Dawg]

^^^I was afraid that would happen.^^^

At least you know first before you brought Eddie home. One thing to explore is to ask about a 48-hour trial period.

Agentz:

Make SURE you ask your vet to run a liver function test on your dog and discuss with him something called a liver shunt (internal and external). Your dog almost sounds like it might have a liver shunt and if so you want to be aware because as simple of a thing as a diet could make or break the quality of your dog's life.

Good luck.