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| TLC does not rescue nor place in adoption 'push-button dogs' |
The two biggest errors I see in dog owners that fail with their pets is 1) failure to be consistent and 2) lack of observation... NONE of us have all the answers to ALL of the questions, comments and issues with dogs... The very best any of us can do is to constantly try new things and hopefully find solutions for pet issues... But if you, as an owner, are not committed to being consistent with your dog and willing to be an observant dog owner, you are setting yourself up to fail eventually....
Take for example, the big "P" problem - be it :poop: or pee... No matter how cold it is, or rainy, or windy, every morning I go outside with my dogs... I am consistent and I am observant... They know I am going to stand outside there and watch what is going on (even in my pajamas and freezing my tuckus off!)... I want to make sure they are doing what I expect them to do, and this also gives me an opportunity to see if anyone is sick, having problems pooping or the poop is not quite 'right'... You veteran dog owners know what I am talking about here... Even the oldest dog can be potty-trained... Unless there is a medical condition (i.e. bladder infection, etc.), dogs do not want to pee and poop where they sleep and eat... It is just not in their nature... So if your pet is doing his business inside the house, you need to look at how consistent you are about keeping set hours at getting him outside...
At my house, throughout the day, they have a doggie door they use... If a new foster does not know how to use a doggie door, the other dogs will show him quickly... But if I see the dog is unwilling to follow the other dogs? Hot dogs work great at encouraging the dog to go through the flap... However, if you work and you are gone 9-11 hours a day, you do best to confine your dog to a section of your home or apartment that has somewhere for him to relieve himself if needed... If you leave your dog free-roam and you get hung up at work, you can only expect him to find a spot on the carpet when you don't come home at the normal time...
I pretty much go to bed at the same time every night... My dogs and fosters will come around about 15-20 minutes before that time and watch me... Observing me to see how close I am to going to bed... They can't read a clock nor have a wristwatch, but they know... They absolutely know what time it is... My dogs are all kenneled at night for two reasons: 1) I used to let them sleep with me and eventually figured out I don't sleep as well with them in my bed and 2) after a near miss at evacuation for a wildfire heading in our direction, we could not find one of our dogs... Afraid of the smell, the dog hid somewhere we did not think of and that was enough of a scare for me... If I have to evacuate in the middle of the night, I want to be able to QUICKLY grab my important papers and our dogs.
I use the command "Kennel Up" because it is my habit... I too am a creature of habit just like dogs... Our dogs quickly beat us to their kennel at night because they know they will also get a Greenie once in their kennel... SO easy to teach a dog to do this, and even with a new foster, I don't have to worry about finding a puddle or a present somewhere...
But I am consistent... Over and over and OVER again... If my husband uses a different command, I let him know (and/or show him) how to get the same responses I do when using the same command I do... I'm not being mean - it is for the dog's best interests that ALL family members use the same terms and commands... Dogs LOVE consistency... But they are not 'push-button dogs'...
The better I am at being consistent in something, the more responsive they are going to be when responding...
If your life is helter skelter, your work schedules vary, your social life is heavy and being consistent is not going to work?.... Then maybe your life is not really good for having a dog... If you still need a doggie-fix, any rescue or shelter will GLADLY appreciate your help - trust me on this!...
The other area that comes up with people wanting to adopt 'push-button dogs' is the wrong person is making the selection when adopting... We have parents come in all the time and want to adopt a dog for their children... Let's face reality here... Your child will grow up, go through high school and maybe into college before the puppy you adopt from us today is old... No matter how smart or committed your child is, YOU are going to be the one to be the caretaker of this puppy through its normal lifespan, so if YOU don't like the dog or don't want to take on the role of the major caretaker, don't adopt a puppy... If this is just a temporary measure for a few years, adopt an older, bigger dog breed... The bigger the dog is size, the shorter the life span...
And?... Dogs don't teach children responsibility... We as parents do... If we are not consistent in our role modeling, our kids won't be either... If you are too tired to get up and take that dog out at 6AM on Saturday mornings when the dog has been going out at that time Monday through Friday, the dog is going to have an accident in the house because your child is not going to do anything they don't see you do...
Barking?... Well, that is not really something that is 100% genetically programmed in dogs... Dogs in the wild don't even bark - we humans taught domesticated dogs to bark... The only real difference between dog barks and breeds is the size of their lungs and how deep in volume a bark is going to be... But if barking is tolerated (or even encouraged as puppies), your adult dog is going to bark when they are bored, if they are still intact (not spayed or neutered) or hear a strange noise... I don't 'untrain' dogs in regards to the door bell, but otherwise?... I don't like barking dogs... Consistency and a water spray bottle works wonders, but only if you get up and use it IMMEDIATELY over and over again until you have broken the habit in the dog... Hollering out the window to 'SHUT UP' only causes your neighbors to hate you more than your barking dog!
Your dog is NOT going to like each and every one of your friends... Face it... Do you?... Of course not!... Some dogs seem to have a much higher level of tolerating all kinds of smells... Maybe they were introduced to a lot of smells as puppies and aren't surprised by some of these outlandish aftershaves and perfumes... If one of your friends 'smells funny' to your dog and acts nervous around your dog, your furbaby is simply NOT going to like them... Nothing personal... Just not your dog's cup of tea... So when that friend comes over?... Let Spot take a nap in the bedroom... Easy to fix...
A car gets older, it seems to need more mechanical work... We get older, we take more trips to the doctor's... Same goes for your dog... The older they get (and especially if you've fed them junk dog food all this time and didn't do dentals every few years), the more your dog is going to need to see a vet... With a car we intend to keep, we are much more diligent about the maintenance of it... But dogs aren't leased - once no longer cute and a puppy - and maybe with bad habits you've taught them or allowed them to learn - surrendering to a rescue or a shelter is not a good thing...
But if you HAVE to surrender your dog, the MOST and HONEST information you can give at time of surrender will be more insurance that your pet finds a good, furever home... There are people that will adopt a dog that bites children - but don't neglect to give the shelter or rescue this kind of information... If your dog lifts his leg in the house all the time, this can be fixed (neutering is the first step, installing a cat scratch tree right outside the doggie door and applying chemicals is another quick fix)... As long as we know what the issues are, we can quickly either re-train or advise an adopter of what still needs work...
NONE of us knows what the future will bring... When you brought that cute puppy home, you might not have known your new husband is a wife-beater and you can't stay married to them... Moving is something we ALL know about ahead of time, so that is not a good reason to surrender a dog (IMHO)... Just about any other reason, any reputable rescue (if they have room) should not make you feel guilty about surrendering your dog... And most will try and give you proven suggestions and tips that we use... I always ask, "Do you REALLY want to keep this dog?" and if a pet owner does, I really try to help...
Most good shelters have pet retention programs in place now, so if you have issues you need help with, why not contact your local shelter, be HONEST with them about what is going on and there is a good possibility that you don't have to give up your dog... But only if YOU made the right decision at the beginning and did not expect your pet to be a 'push button dog'...
We as humans, are genetically programmed to respond to respond to cute, wiggling puppies and sweet babies... If you are totally not affected by one or both, you've learned to ignore the heart tug... But if you adopt based upon what you believe a breed WILL BE LIKE, or because you had that breed as a child instead of how that dog is acting after 10 days in your life with your lifestyle, you are simply going to find there are no 'push button dogs'...
Throw out your misconceptions of what is old (dogs do NOT age seven years to every one human - it all depends upon their size), which dog breeds are naturally aggressive, sex determines temperament and/or automatic bad habits along with the idea that rescue or shelter dogs are 'broken', 'less than', 'someone else's nightmare', etc... Dogs are no more 'push button' than we as humans are...
Think outside the box (and the button)... There are a wealth of homeless dogs and cats that need a home and yours just might be the best ever!
