# Looking at Rescues - How to Decide?



## wei_xiao (Feb 11, 2014)

I am looking at getting my first dog as an adult (grew up with dogs) when I move into my own place next month (renting with a bunch of roommates right now - no dogs allowed). Originally, I had always planned on getting a puppy from a breeder and was interested in Standard Poodles or Airedale Terriers. I wanted a "low shedding" dog and didn't mind having to do a lot in the way of grooming.

However, I am thinking perhaps I'd like to get an adult rescue this time around and somehow ended up looking at German Shepherds/Shepherd mixes. I've had several friends with GSDs and I think they are such lovely dogs. I was put off by the shedding for a long time, but... labs shed an awful lot too. Most of my floor is wood or tile, so I could handle the swiffering, I suppose. 

I live backing up to a 100+ acre horse farm. Lots of room to run. I want a hiking and running partner and to do some advanced obedience classes. A high energy dog is fine. I'll deal with the shedding.( :lalala I want a dog that is good with other dogs, so I don't have to worry if I go to horse shows where there are other dogs. I'd like a dog that is ok with cats too. There are two barn cats at the barn that usually hide when the dogs are around, but I don't want something really vicious with cats just to be safe.

There are just so many lovely dogs available! I don't know how to choose. There are 3 in particular I'm thinking about visiting. All are unfortunately at different rescues and very far from each other. 

Dog 1 is a 4.5 year old black GSD. Was a rescue as young dog, got adopted, and then adopter got very sick and had to give him up. Already has a lot of obedience training, is good off leash, likes hiking, and already is familiar and very good with horses. Cons: occasionally chases cats but apparently "takes verbal corrections". Can play too rough with other dogs, and sometimes climbs or jumps fences (not a big issue, but, worth noting). Lots of positives with this dog, but I'm not sure about being too rough with other dogs and what that means exactly... He's a state away from me so it will be longer before I could go and visit him.

Dog 2 is 2-3 years old and is billed as a GSD/Alaskan Malamute mix. He looks "wolfy" which I have read is a trait of these mixes, so it is probably pretty accurate. He's apparently good with other dogs and has been great with cats the times he's met them. Does not like being crated, but apparently doesn't chew or have any destructive behaviors in the house. He is "unsure" about small children, which is fine because I don't have any and I'm pretty "unsure" about them myself. He doesn't have any real obedience training. He sounds like he could be a good match, but I've read that Malamutes can be extremely stubborn, so maybe not a great obedience candidate? Also, no idea how he'd react to horses. He's a few hours away from me.

Dog 3 is local to me at the SPCA (other two dogs are being fostered and through rescue groups). He is billed as a GSD/Great Dane mix, and I can see that. He was a stray but they think he's about 10 months old. They don't have any real information on him with other dogs, and as far as I know he hasn't been cat tested. He is apparently very high energy and doesn't know his size and has zero obedience training. He walks on a leash, but that's about it. He would probably be the most work out of the three and I would want to find out what he is like with dogs and cats. But if he is good with them and he would suit me, I do feel bad for him because the other dogs have nice foster homes and he doesn't. I also suspect he'd be tricky to home due to his size and energy level. I have experience with Danes and I like them a lot. In my experience they are not the best obedience dogs either, though, beyond basics.

There are other lovely dogs too, but I've stopped looking because the choices are just unbelievable.

So, my question, how do you choose/how would you choose? Do you usually "know" when you go and meet them? I haven't met many dogs I don't like, so I'm afraid if I meet them all I'm going to love them all. What do you look for as a deciding factor? I always feel guilty for leaving the others behind.


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## Shell (Oct 19, 2009)

It sounds like you have carefully considered your needs and wants in a dog. I'm guessing that you need a dog that is good off-leash to be able to be on the horse farm? 

Here's just some of my thoughts based on what you wrote about each dog and maybe how that matches what you are looking for.

Regarding the "obedience dog" part--
One thing about adult rescues is not to read too much into their breed mix as far as personality traits. Sometimes the breeds are total guesses and of course there are a variety of traits within a breed. To a large degree for rescue dogs, what you see is what you get. Especially if the dog is in a foster home where he is living a more normal life then the stress of being kenneled in a shelter. When you meet the dog, you can spend a few minutes and try teaching a basic trick and see how the dog responds-- eager, uninterested, attentive or ignoring you etc. Of course, once you actually have the dog, you can work on creating a bond and training the dog and most of them respond more and more as they get to know you. 

Dog 3 may not be quite as high of energy as he appears in a shelter since it is likely he is getting minimal exercise. Many young med/high energy dogs go kind of crazy with pent-up energy if they're kenneled for awhile. If you go to meet him, see if you can take him out for a brisk walk or at least try to burn some energy in a play yard and then try a little training session. Most shelters will dog and cat test a dog on request. Obviously most cannot horse-test a dog, but he's big enough that he isn't likely to dart under their feet (and easier for the horses to see) and he's not a herding breed that might try nipping at the horses' heels so I would think there is reasonable potential to train him to be fine around horses.

Dog 2- any idea how he is off-leash? What does "unsure" about small children equal in terms of his actual behavior? How small is small (2 year old or anyone under 10 years old kinda thing)? Is he fearful, pushy, aggressive? Even if you don't have children nor plan to have any, a dog that is actually bad with kids can be tough. You're bound to run into children in parks, at horse shows, or at friend's houses. If you're going to have the dog off-leash while hiking and on the horse farm, you would want to be pretty confident that the dog would react calmly if a 5 year old runs up and hugs your "big fluffy dog"

Dog 1- Ask for a video of him playing with another dog if you're serious considering making the drive to visit him. How much do you need a dog that *plays* well with other dogs vs just being calm and non-aggressive *around* other dogs? All the horse shows I've been to only allowed on-leash dogs so it wasn't like dogs were running around meeting each other. Of course, on some farms there will be off-leash farm dogs but if he has good recall and isn't aggressive towards other loose dogs, then his play style may not be that big of deal to you.
If he can be verbally called away from chasing cats, then he'd probably be trainable at the barn. My dog was really bad at chasing cats (aggressive towards them) and I was able to get him to the point of being safe around savvy barn cats and he now ignores cats if he's on a leash. This dog being good off-leash is a huge plus to you as well as already being familiar with horses.


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