Adopt A Puppy Archives - Puppy In Training

7 Reasons Why You Should Adopt A Rescue Puppy

Jan 28, 2013 By Colby 39 Comments

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

Black Lab Mix Puppy — Looks like a black Labrador Retriever mix rescue puppy!

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 🙂

Want To Adopt A Puppy? Try PetFinder.com!

Oct 11, 2012 By Colby 12 Comments

Neary 8 years ago I adopted my first puppy from the Carson Animal Shelter. It was life changing and adopting Linus had to be one of the best decisions of my life.

At the time my ex-girlfriend and I were visiting many of the local breeders crooning over adorable little puppies. We saw tiny little Labrador Retriever pups, Golden Retrievers, and Australian Shepherds.

I can still remember seeing 12 little 6 week old Golden Retriever puppies come bursting through the screen door with mom and dad in tow. I can’t recall a more adorable sight. However, even after seeing all of these cute puppies I always had my eye and heart set on adopting my first puppy.

I remember seeing the blurry picture on PetFinder.com like it was yesterday:

Animal: Dog
Breed: Labrador Retriever/Australian Shepherd
Age: Baby
Gender: Male
Size: Large
Location: Carson Animal Shelter

We hopped in our car drove down to meet this little Lab/Aussie puppy and the rest is history! Read more about the day we brought home our first puppy, Linus.

For those of you who are looking to adopt a puppy and don’t think they have any pups at the shelters or rescues you need to check out PetFinder.com. There are thousands of puppies listed on PetFinder.com waiting to go to their forever homes. You can also find hundreds/thousands of local rescues as well as many adoption events occurring in your area of the nation.

We saw this little guy at the Irvine Super Pet Adoption last year.

Mix Breed Rescue Puppy — Cute Little Rescue Puppy From The Super Pet Adoption

If you’re looking for a new pet please consider adopting from your local animal shelter or rescue. As we can attest it’s a wonderful feeling knowing you helped save another life.

Did you adopt your last pet? Are you planning on adopting? Tell us about it in the comment section below.

By the way, this was supposed to be my Wordless Wednesday post, but it ended up getting a few hundred words…sorry…

What Things Should I Consider Before Getting A Dog?

Apr 28, 2010 By Colby 2 Comments

It’s been years since I adopted my first dog and thought about the question: What Things Should I Consider Before Getting A Dog? Adopting a dog is a huge decision and something you should not take lightly.

My girlfriend took me shopping several years ago…not for any old gift, but she planned on getting me a puppy as a birthday gift. I was very hesitant at first, but we spent a wonderful day visiting several breeders and playing with puppies. However, I did not make my final decision on whether a puppy would be right for me until over a month later.

I bought several books which not only outlined puppy training, but also the things you should consider before taking home that adorable puppy.

Here are a few things I considered before bringing a new puppy into my household:

What Things Should I Consider Before Getting A Dog?

Researching the breeds – I did a lot of research into dog breeds considering my own lifestyle and how that would mesh with my new puppy. I even considered the future thinking that I might need a dog good with children. In the end I ended up getting a mixed breed dog, but he was supposedly mixed with two of the breeds I was considering: Labrador Retriever and Australian Shepherd.
Shelter, Rescue, or Breeder – We initially visited several breeders. However, it didn’t sit quite right with me. I new there were many unwanted dogs and puppies at our local shelters and rescues. I started searching for a puppy on Petfinder.com and ended up rescuing a puppy from the Carson Shelter in Los Angeles County.
Financial Situation – There are a lot of expenses to consider when adopting a new dog…just ask my friends who have spent over $10,000 on a Staffordshire Bull Terrier in the first couple years. When I first brought Linus home from the shelter he had some serious issues including a stomach virus, extreme fleas, he was lethargic, and had worms. Vet bills aren’t the only thing to consider. Food, toys, grooming supplies, flea and tick medication, dog training, collars, leashes, etc. Those are just a few expenses you will encounter over the lifespan of your dog. Not to mention he may destroy a few things near and dear to your heart.
Dog Training – In my book, every dog needs to be trained. How do you plan on training your dog? Go to the store and get some books or DVD’s, take your dog to group training, private in-house training, find useful information on the internet, etc. There are all kinds of things to do for dog training. Just be sure to devote the time and effort to training your dog. I took Linus to puppy group training and then basic obedience training directly after. Since then I’ve taken Linus to basic obedience on three other separate occasions to keep him up to speed on his dog training.
Time/Attention for the dog – This was probably the most important thing for me to consider and also the reason why I didn’t get a dog in the past. I was actually taking time off from work for about a year and instead attending school. I was also on winter break and had about 5 weeks to work on puppy training 24/7. Those initial 5 weeks of constant supervision, in the end, really made him a well rounded dog.
Lifespan – Your dog won’t live for ever, but I’d plan on having him for at least the next 10 years. I’m hoping that Linus lives 15+ years.
Other Pets – We had a young cat that we were a little concerned might not accept our new puppy. However, the two got along famously and became best of friends.

Those are just a few things I considered before getting a dog. There are many other important things you might want to take into consideration as everyone is at a different place in their life and in a different situation.

The biggest thing I can say is get out there and educate yourself! Read a good book like the Puppies For Dummies (affiliate link) book, do some online research (if you found this article then you’ve probably already started this process), talk to your friends, talk to dog trainers and veterinarians, make sure you do your due diligence before you make that final plunge and adopt a puppy.

What do you think? What things should I consider before getting a dog?

Today Is National Puppy Day!

Mar 23, 2010 By Colby Leave a Comment

As usual I was browsing through Google Reader and learned that today, March 23rd is National Puppy Day!

Here I am writing to a site about puppy training and little did I know that there was an entire day dedicated to my cause.

Here’s what National Puppy Day is all about:

Right now there are thousands of puppies in shelters and rescues all over the country that are in need of a forever home. National Puppy Day supports the ban of Puppy Mills!! Please don’t buy from pet stores! These puppies come from cruel and horrid conditions!! If you’re looking for a pure breed puppy, there are pure breed rescues all over the country filled with available young dogs for adoption.

We’re definitely in support of the National Puppy Day cause and wanted to let our readers know about it too. If you’re interested in finding a puppy please don’t go to the pet store. Instead try your local animal shelter or rescue and if you’re looking for a specific breed I’ve heard that more than 25% of the dogs that end up in shelters are pure bred. Also, as the National Puppy day website mentions there are many breed specific rescues available. If you’re looking for a breed specific rescue try visiting the PetFinder.com website. They list over 13,000 animal shelters and rescues.

We’ve done our best to help animal shelters and rescues by volunteering our time with local rescues as fosters. As fosters we’ve rescued, raised, and adopted out several litters of puppies from the Riverside animal shelter. It’s time consuming, but a very rewarding experience.

If you don’t feel ready to take on the responsibility of adopting a puppy or dog from a shelter or rescue you might first try fostering.

Have you heard of National Puppy Day? Did you rescue your dog from an animal shelter?

Puppy Adoption – So You’d Like To Adopt A Service Dog

Dec 18, 2007 By Colby 31 Comments

Have you ever thought about Service Dog puppy adoption? I’m sure you’ve seen Service Dogs out on the streets, in your local mall, or maybe the grocery store, but did you know that you can adopt one of these beautiful, well-behaved dogs? Most of this information how to adopt a puppy is based on my experience and knowledge with Guide Dogs of America.

What is a Service Dog?

According to the American Disabilities Act (federal) any dog assisting a person with a

disability is considered a service dog (exclusive of therapy dogs). Service dogs are entitled to freely access buildings and transportation (trains, planes, buses). Some of the common

service dogs are:

Dogs for the blind – Often referred to as “Guide Dogs” or “Seeing Eye Dogs”
Hearing and Signal Dogs – Dogs trained to assist deaf people.
Assistance Dogs – A varied category. Dogs will often help by picking things up, open and closing doors, and pulling wheel chairs
Therapy Dogs – Not considered by law as a Service Dog. Therapy dogs visit hospitals, care facilities, nursing homes, etc to cheer up patients. – For the re levance of this article we will not be talking about Therapy Dogs.

How Does A Puppy Go From Puppy To Service Dog?

First, it’s important to understand the process a Service Dog puppy

goes through before achieving the status of Service Dog.

Breeder Dogs are housed by foster families near Service Dog facilities such as Guide Dogs of America in Sylmar, CA.
Breeder Dogs are bred and have litters at the Service Dog facility.
The litter stays at the facility until approximately 7-8 weeks of age.
At 7-8 weeks of age puppies move on to live with individuals and families called puppy raisers.
Puppies are evaluated and learn basic obedience throughout the puppy raising period for approximately 18-22 months.
At 18-22 months the puppies are brought back to the Service Dog facility for formal training.
Puppies attend formal training for 4-6 months. During formal training puppies learn advanced commands specific to the disability they will assist.

This is just a short step-by-step and does not include every detail in a Service Dog Puppy’s training.

How Can I Adopt A Service Dog Puppy?

Service Dog training programs are very rigorous and not all puppies will become Service Dogs. At Guide Dogs of America it is said that approximately 40% of the puppies who start the program will not make it as a Guide Dog. So what happens to the puppies that are career changed (don’t make the guide dog program)? The puppy raiser has the first choice to keep the puppy. If the puppy raiser declines to keep the puppy then the puppy is adopted out. Who gets to adopt the puppy? Currently at Guide Dogs of America there is a 5 year wait list for people interested in adopting a retired or career change guide dog. They are not accepting new applications.

Guide Dogs are not working service dogs their entire lives. Working Guide Dogs can be retired due to health problems or old age. The blind partner has the first option of adopting his/her retired working Guide Dog. The puppy raiser has the second option of adopting the retired Guide Dog. Finally, if neither opt to adopt the dog then the dog is adopted out to a family/individual who applied for puppy/dog adoption.

What about other Service Dog Groups?

There are many other Service Dog groups and their policies and procedures for puppy adoption are probably similar to Guide Dogs of America. However, other groups may be accepting applications for new adoption families. Here are a few groups I’ve come across on the web with headquarters in California:

Guide Dogs of America

Guide Dogs for the Blind

Guide Dogs of the Desert International

Canine Companions for Independence

Are you interested in Service Dog puppy adoption? Have you ever raised a Service Dog puppy or adopted a Service Dog? I’d love to hear what you have to say. If you’re interested in adopting a service dog then check out our list of service dog schools with adoption programs.

My First Puppy, Linus – How To Adopt A Puppy

Aug 1, 2007 By Colby 11 Comments

Our story on how to adopt a puppy began over 13 years ago when we visited a few backyard breeders for my 32nd birthday. Of course, we did not end up with a purebred puppy, but instead found the perfect Australian Shepherd mixed puppy and adopted him almost immediately at our local animal shelter. ———–>

I’ve always been fond of dogs as long as I can remember. Our first family dog was a Golden Retriever who was very personable and friendly. Our second family dog came from the shelter and was some kind of Border Collie/lab mix…we think. He had energy to spare and was one of the smartest dogs we’ve ever seen (if only we could channel his energy). In college, I helped raise my ex-girlfriends husky mix puppy, my roomates mutt and collie. I practically raised my landlords two rescue dogs. One was a Australian Shepherd mix and the other was a doberman pincher mix.

How To Adopt A Puppy

After college I entered the work force and assumed that I did not have the time to raise a puppy/dog of my own. So, for about eight years after college I was without a dog until December 2004 when my latest ex-girlfriend decided to get me a puppy for my birthday. We were looking for either a Labrador Retriever or a golden retriever. I love the personalities of both breeds and was looking for something in the medium to large sized dog. After visiting several breeders and actually putting a hold on a yellow lab I finally decided I wanted to rescue a dog from one of the shelters.

I had been looking to adopt a puppy online at petfinder.com while we were visiting the breeders and came across a litter of Australian Shepherd Labrador Retriever mix puppies. They were at the Carson Shelter in Southern California, only about a half hour from my house. We went to the shelter and they had two puppies. One, a female, had the aussie shepherd tri-color look and the other one, a male, was all black with a small white spot on his chest. I did plenty of research on how to choose a puppy and put both puppies to the test. I very much liked the look of the female tri-color, but tried not to be biased as I know the personality is what counts. After putting the pups through several personality tests I thought both would make great pets, but was leaning towards the male with the white spot on his chest. I was very tempted to take both puppies home with me, but in the end I went with the little male puppy and have not regretted it. Linus is a wonderful dog, a little shy, but has a very sweet personality. I do often think it would have been nice to have adopted his sister, but I’ve heard that two dogs growing up together will often have weird attachment issues and I didn’t want that for my dog/dogs.

The Good And The Bad Of A Shelter Dog

I had read many books on how to adopt a puppy, but reading a book and actually experiencing puppies first hand at the breeders, rescues, and shelters is a whole different story. As I mentioned many of the puppy training books we read discouraged bringing home siblings.

So what have I learned from adopting a puppy? First of all the price is right when you choose a shelter pup…the fee for one of these pups is only $37 with a refundable $50 deposit at the time your dog is spayed or neutered. It is also very rewarding to know that you’ve rescued a dog from the shelter. Even though the dog you chose may have been adopted anyway, the sooner you can get them out of the shelter, the sooner the shelter will have room for another dog that may have been scheduled for euthanization.

There are definite disadvantages to the shelter dog. When I rescued Linus he was not healthy at all. He was very anemic and had very little energy to move around. My ex-girlfriend actually thought he was dead when we got him home because he wouldn’t move out of the back seat of her car. He was covered in fleas (so much so there was dried blood behind his ears), he had worms, mites, and he had a stomach infection that required him to take medication for several weeks.

Volunteering At Rescues…Rewarding And For A Good Cause

I’ve also volunteered for a local dog/puppy rescue called Cuddly Canines. The adoption fee for one of their puppies is $300. These dogs come from the shelters, but are taken in by a foster family and have a loving home for a minimum of two weeks with the family. During this time the puppies/dogs are spayed/neutered, dewormed, deflead, and are current on their vaccinations. These rescue groups do a wonderful job with their animals and provide a great service to the community. If you are interested in fostering a litter of puppies, a dog, or would like to adopt please visit the Cuddly Canines website and give them a call or send them an email.

If you are interested in adopting a puppy I highly recommend saving a pup from an animal rescue like Cuddly Canines.

The Breeders

Finally, I’ve gone to the breeders who charged anywhere from $300 – $1000+. Of course the advantages here are you know the breed of dog you will be getting, you have a general idea of the personality (based on the parents), you know the lineage, you will have an idea of what kind of health issues they may have, and you can find out if the parents are certified for hips, eyes, elbows…or any other possible genetic conditions your breed of dog may have.

Time For Another Dog?

When I’m ready for another dog I will probably adopt a litter of puppies through Cuddly Canines and choose one from the litter. I know this is not for everyone, but please don’t be hesitant to adopt a puppy from a rescue group. This will free up their resources and allow them to save more puppies from the shelters. The $300 donation/adoption fee is a small amount of money considering the dog will not have fleas or worms, will be neutered/spayed, current on vaccinations, and will be in good health. The initial fee for my dog Linus was cheap, but after all of his medical expenses including his neutering the cost was well over $500.

There are plenty of wonderful dogs out there and a variety of ways to acquire one. I highly suggest contacting a local rescue group or shelter and adopting one of their puppies or dogs and of course once you do come home with your puppy get started on their puppy training. The things they learn as a puppy will carry over to adulthood. We’ll talk more about training later…

Update: Fast forward now to 2012. Linus is a 7 year old dog and he’s awesome! I’ve raised 3 Labrador Retriever’s and I’m currently raising a Golden Retriever for Guide Dogs of America and I just wrote an article on How To Choose A Puppy that retells the familiar tale of how I got my buddy Linus from the shelter.

Update: It’s now 2018 and I have some bad news. This past week Linus passed away at 13 1/2 years old. I’m planning on making some updates to this post as well as putting together some tribute posts for Linus after the pain of his loss has lessened.

If you’re wondering how to adopt a puppy I would start by visiting PetFinder.com and checking out some of the puppies that are available at your local animal shelters and rescues.

Have you adopted a puppy? Are you in the market to adopt a puppy? Tell us your story in the comments section below.

7 Reasons Why You Should Adopt A Rescue Puppy

A Few Misconceptions About Rescue Puppies