7 Reasons Why You Should Adopt A Rescue Puppy
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Are you thinking about bringing home a new puppy? If so, you should consider adopting a puppy from your local animal shelter or rescue. We adopted our little Linus from the animal shelter over 8 years ago and it was perhaps the best decision we ever made!
Every year we try to support our local animal rescues and shelters by visiting, donating, and volunteering our time at the large pet adoption events. We’ve volunteered as fosters for puppies and dogs for Cuddly Canines Rescue. And of course we always like to share pictures here on the blog and at our Facebook page of adoptable pups and dogs from the adoption events we attend.
There are a lot of misconceptions about rescuing a dog or puppy. Here are a few we hear all the time.
A Few Misconceptions About Rescue Puppies
- There are only mixed breeds at rescues and shelters: The Humane Society estimates that 25% of dogs in shelters are purebred. We love our Aussie, Lab, Husky, Chow mix breed (actually that’s just a guess) Linus, but there are plenty of breed specific rescues out there too. Just go to PetFinder.com and search for your breed of choice.
- They don’t have puppies – Linus was an adorable 10 week old puppy when we picked him up from the Carson Animal Shelter. Check him out: Linus the Aussie mix puppy. Cuddly Canines rescues puppies and has adoptable puppies all the time. Check out their page: Cuddly Canines
- They don’t have purebred puppies – While it may be more difficult to find a purebred puppy of your choice we do see them all the time at rescues and shelters. I’ve seen litters of purebred Labrador Retrievers and German Shepherd puppies recently up for adoption. I also saw a litter of Labradoodles (technically not a purebred, but a very popular hybrid cross) up for adoption at PetFinder.com a few days ago.
So now that you know that there are puppies even purebred puppies available at animal shelters and rescues what are the 7 reasons why you should adopt a rescue puppy?
7 Reasons Why You Should Adopt A Rescue Puppy!
A rescue puppy will change your life! Every day I see the popular paw print bumper sticker “Who Rescued Who?” It’s so true!
#7 – They Will Make You More Social
First of all, a puppy won’t just make you more social it will make you the most popular person amongst your group of friends, family, neighbors, and even strangers. Trust me, as a puppy foster and guide dog puppy raiser everyone becomes your best friend.
A second benefit is as your puppy gets old enough to go on walks through the neighborhood you’ll notice that you talk to your neighbors a whole heck of a lot more than before you had a puppy.
#6 – They Will Help Reduce Your Stress
Check out this study on stress relief and pets. Just in case you don’t want to click through to that article recent studies have shown that spending time with your pet may be a better stress reliever than talking your problems out with a friend!
Recent research shows that, when conducting a task that’s stressful, people actually experienced less stress when their pets were with them than when a supportive friend or even their spouse was present! (This may be partially due to the fact that pets don’t judge us; they just love us.)
Linus and Stetson are great listeners!
#5 – Your Future Jogging Partner
A new puppy will help get you more exercise. When they are puppies they probably won’t make great jogging partners, but as they get older they will make at least a good walking partner.
Of course as puppies you’ll probably be walking them back and forth to their potty spot in the backyard…also great exercise!
#4 – You Are Saving A Life
Some people have told me that this isn’t necessarily true because who wouldn’t have adopted that adorable puppy? I do agree that an adorable puppy will get adopted, but the longer he stays at the shelter or rescue the more likely other puppies and dogs will not be able to occupy his space in foster care or at the shelter.
That’s right I said other puppies may not have a place at the shelter. Did you know that some shelters will euthanize puppies if they are too young (under 8 weeks of age). This is because even though the pups would easily get adopted the shelter does not have the resources to care for a young litter of pups and if a rescue cannot come in and save these little guys the animal shelter is forced to euthanize 🙁
#3 – You Won’t Be Supporting Puppy Mills or Unethical Breeders
Please, please, please do not purchase a puppy from the pet store! I’ve heard and read that 99% of puppies at pet stores come from puppy mills. While I’m not sure where this statistic comes from I do know that the percentage is very high. So please, please, please, do not purchase a puppy from the pet store.
#2 – You Save Money
Adoption fees for a puppy from the animal shelter or rescue are much less than going to a breeder. Many breeders will charge thousands of dollars for their puppies. However, rescuing a puppy like Linus from the animal shelter cost us $37 and that included microchip and his first set of vaccinations. When I fostered for Cuddly Canines the adoption fee was $350 (a bargain in my books), but that included spay/neuter, de-worming, first round of vaccinations, grooming, and microchipping.
#1 – Puppy Breath!
YES! The Puppy Breath! It’s kind of a stanky, skunky smell, but if you’re a puppy lover I’m sure you already know and love the PUPPY BREATH!
There you have it! 7 reasons why you should adopt a rescue puppy! We adopted Linus just over 8 years ago and we haven’t regretted it one bit. Linus is a unique, one of a kind Australian Shepherd, Chow Chow, Labrador Retriever, Siberian Husky, and who know what else mix. We wouldn’t give him up for the world!
So how about you? Are you looking to adopt a rescue puppy or have you adopted a rescue puppy in the past? If so, tell us your story in the comment section below.
If you are looking to adopt a rescue puppy and you don’t know where to start might I suggest checking out PetFinder.com? That’s how we found our little Linus 🙂
Top Picks For Our Puppies
- BEST PUPPY TOY
We Like: Calmeroos Puppy Toy w/ Heartbeat and Heat Packs - Perfect for new puppies. Helps ease anxiety in their new home. - BEST DOG CHEW
We Like: Mighty Paw Naturals Bully Sticks - All of our puppies love to bite, nip, and chew. We love using Bully Sticks to help divert these unwanted behaviors. - BEST DOG TREATS
We Like: Crazy Dog Train-Me Treats - We use these as our high-value treats for our guide dog puppies. - BEST FRESH DOG FOOD
We Like: The Farmer's Dog - A couple months ago we started feeding Raven fresh dog food and she loves it! Get 50% off your first order of The Farmer's Dog.
Check out more of our favorites on our New Puppy Checklist.
Hey Colby!
We just recently adopted a 6 week old lab mix pup from the shelter. When we were looking at him/playing with him there he had tons of energy. He was neutered before coming home with us and 3 days later he sleeps all day except to go out to potty, drink and eat. Should I be concerned that something is wrong with him? Or is he just recovering from the surgery still as well as the kennel cough he has?
Congratulations on your new puppy! If you have concerns about your puppy’s health it is best to bring him in to your veterinarian for a checkup.
Nice points 🙂
I always bring small puppies at home and feed them.. Now, most of the dogs are familiar with me.. But I never adopted those puppies.. I have my cute pug which I have bought few months ago.. 🙂
Great post Colby! Rescue dogs make great pets! It’s too bad others miss this simple truth. Six years ago we adopted a Chocolate Lab from a local shelter and have had the best four legged friend a family could ask for! I would highly recommend anyone looking for a pet to start at the local animal shelter and save a life.
Well said! Linus is has been my best buddy for the almost 9 years now and it all started when we made the decision to rescue from the Animal Shelter.
Thank you for this article! My family has been owned by 3 dogs in my lifetime and they have all been rescues. We even adopted a purebred Cocker Spaniel out of our local no-kill shelter. Next weekend we’re bringing home our first ever puppy. She’s a Miniature Australian Shepherd/Beagle mix. So I’m really glad I found this site! TONS of useful information!
Hi Jamie,
Thank you for rescuing! I hope everything is going well with your new puppy. Good luck with your puppy training!
Take care,
Colby
What a very nice and detailed article. I agree with you specially on reasons number 2 , 4 and 6. We save money by adopting a rescued puppy, we save a life and the puppies will love us and reduce our stress in return.
Hope you’ll write more articles like this.
Thanks Wendy! We are big fans of puppy adoption. We used to foster litters of pups back before we started raising guide dogs.
These are some great points about rescues! I wish more people would adopt a pup as opposed to using puppy mills and breeders. We adopted our dog, Labi, from the streets of Congo and it was the best decision we ever made!
Hi Eric and Tracy,
Thank you for sharing your story! We adopted Linus from the animal shelter years ago and just like you it was the best decision we ever made as well!
Take care,
Colby
Nice article about an adorable subject. Thanks for mentioning fostering and volunteering so much too. Both are great ways to be around dogs and cats shorter term if your not able to commit to a life long partner but still want animals in your life.
Hi Emmber,
That’s very true that fostering is a great way to have a shorter term if your not able to make that long term commitment. I was lucky to have never failed as a foster (that is adopting my foster), but I did end up adopting one of my career changed (nice way of saying dropped) guide dog puppies.
Thanks for stopping by!
Colby
Thanks for this.. this give a tips to all why we would adopt a rescue dog.
Yep! Those are just a few of the reasons why we should adopt. There are definitely many other reasons out there.