# questions for people who adopted a dog



## eharimoto (Apr 4, 2011)

I just have a few quick questions for people who have adopted a dog. If you would prefer your reply to be private please respond via private message.

1. Was your dog from a shelter or a foster home?

2. After you brought the dog home did he/she act differently than at the shelter? If yes, how so? (ex. friendly in the shelter, then scared in your home)

3. Did you run into behavioral problems? (jumping, barking, aggressive, timid, etc)

4. How did you try to fix the problem?

5. Is the problem fixed or still apparent?

Thank you for your cooperation~


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## 123fraggle (Feb 20, 2009)

1. From the City Pound and then he was in foster for 4 weeks.

2. Acted pretty much the same as in the foster home.

3. He was dog reactive. He lunged and growled at other dogs and reacted when they got too close by biting at them. He never made contact as he was always on leash.

4. Lots of desensitization. Used the book "Click to Calm".

5. He does agility and Superdogs, so yeah the problem is fixed.


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## GottaLuvMutts (Jun 1, 2009)

1) Shelter
2) No, crazy at the shelter, crazy at home (that was ok by me)
3) Jumping yes, but I knew that from the moment I met her
4) Have tried, pretty much gave up. It's more of a personality thing, IMO
5) Still apparent. I manage it.

IMO, it's very important to figure out what you want in a dog before going to the shelter/rescue, and then look for a dog that displays those characteristics. "Polite" was not high on my list of needs, and so I don't care very much if my dog loves people slightly obsessively. I don't have children that she can knock over. On the other hand, I had a very long list of other needs, like housetrained, intelligent, athletic, dog-friendly, biddable, not likely to run off, etc., and she is all of those things. I would encourage you to make a list of everything you're looking for in a dog, what is a must, and what you can bend on. Your list is likely to look very different than someone else's.


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## FilleBelle (Aug 1, 2007)

*I just have a few quick questions for people who have adopted a dog. If you would prefer your reply to be private please respond via private message.

1. Was your dog from a shelter or a foster home?*

Alvin: Shelter first, then pulled to a foster home
Pumbaa: Shelter

*2. After you brought the dog home did he/she act differently than at the shelter? If yes, how so? (ex. friendly in the shelter, then scared in your home)*

Alvin definitely warmed up. He is completely and 100% disinterested in strangers and so did not connect with me even a little bit the first time I met him. As he got to know me, he made more of a connection.
Because I volunteer at the shelter from which I got Pumbaa, I was able to work with her many times and in many different environments before bringing her home. I had a very good idea of her temperament and there have been no surprises since I adopted her.

*3. Did you run into behavioral problems? (jumping, barking, aggressive, timid, etc)*

Both of my dogs are excessively attached to me. Neither has separation anxiety (a diagnosed medical condition), but both get anxious if I am not around. This could be a result of previous neglect and abandonment, it could be a product of their breeds, or it could simply be the fact that I live alone with them. There is literally no one but me around, so when I'm not around, I can sort of see why they get uncomfortable. Because neither is destructive of themselves of their surroundings, I haven't really bothered to work on this. They get along fine without me, whether they believe it or not.

*4. How did you try to fix the problem?*
*5. Is the problem fixed or still apparent?*

See above.

*Thank you for your cooperation~*

No problem. Why did you ask?


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## eharimoto (Apr 4, 2011)

FilleBelle said:


> *I just have a few quick questions for people who have adopted a dog. If you would prefer your reply to be private please respond via private message.
> 
> 1. Was your dog from a shelter or a foster home?*
> 
> ...


I'm writing a paper on how dog behavior differs if a dog was in a foster home before being adopted instead of being adopted straight from a shelter. I have personal experience fostering a dog so I just want to see how other people's stories differ from mine. I'll avoid using names, and will make sure to generalize the stories so privacy is ensured. 
Although if either of you have any problems with me using your answers as data please feel free to tell me and I will remove you from my results page.


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## waterbaby (Jan 20, 2009)

eharimoto said:


> I just have a few quick questions for people who have adopted a dog. If you would prefer your reply to be private please respond via private message.


1. Shelter dog

2. She didn't change after we brought her home, except to gain confidence.

3. She was very slightly leash reactive and afraid of large, enclosed spaces (like warehouses) and indoor stairs.

4. We work on the reactivity constantly and she's much better than we was when we first got her (not that she was ever very bad - I don't want to misrepresent anything). We don't really work on the steps or the large indoor spaces - they're not things she has to encounter very often and it's just not that big a deal. She'll go up or down stairs and move around in big spaces, she just exhibits much higher anxiety than she does normally.

5. I consider the leash reactivity fixed and the other issues fixable, if necessary.


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## RonE (Feb 3, 2007)

1. Was your dog from a shelter or a foster home? Shelter

2. After you brought the dog home did he/she act differently than at the shelter? If yes, how so? (ex. friendly in the shelter, then scared in your home) Nope, still a wild, ill-mannered, untrained, too-strong-for-her-own-good hound.

3. Did you run into behavioral problems? (jumping, barking, aggressive, timid, etc) Sure. See #2

4. How did you try to fix the problem? Patience and training. Especially patience. 

5. Is the problem fixed or still apparent? She's a model citizen. Really. You wouldn't even recognize her. It only took about five years.


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## Holly29 (Feb 18, 2011)

*1. Was your dog from a shelter or a foster home? * Shelter. She'd been adopted at least once before us, by a family who couldn't handle her and dumped her at another shelter.
* 
2. After you brought the dog home did he/she act differently than at the shelter? If yes, how so? (ex. friendly in the shelter, then scared in your home)*She was extremely friendly when we met her, but more reserved at home for quite a while. 

*3. Did you run into behavioral problems? (jumping, barking, aggressive, timid, etc)*Yes - she's very dog reactive, especially on leash. Off leash she was insecure around other dogs, and behaved very badly as a result. Her greetings were very rude, and she often tried to boss other dogs around when she met them. 

*4. How did you try to fix the problem?*This could take a while. lol 

First of all, we stopped letting her get into situations she couldn't handle well. Big improvement right there! (we were newbies to the whole dog-reactive thing, and know we made some mistakes)
We've used different tricks for counter-conditioning and desensitization to great results so far. 
Now we allow her controlled visits with certain dogs.

*5. Is the problem fixed or still apparent?*Still apparent. But much much less than when we got her.  Once she gets to know a dog, she's great with them, on and off leash.s It's been 2 years.


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## owl2010 (Mar 6, 2011)

_1. Was your dog from a shelter or a foster home?_
A shelter. She had been returned once already for excessive barking.
_
2. After you brought the dog home did he/she act differently than at the shelter? If yes, how so? (ex. friendly in the shelter, then scared in your home)_
She was very friendly at the shelter, but was scared when we brought her home. I think she was worried we were going to take her back!

_3. Did you run into behavioral problems? (jumping, barking, aggressive, timid, etc)_
Barking and growling at men. Accidents in the house, very timid with everyone else but me.

_4. How did you try to fix the problem?_
I let Dixie introduce herself to men if she wants to. No male is allowed to approach her. What I ask them to do is please crouch down. Most people understand when I explain the situation. I also have male friends come over, let her see me interact with them, then have the males rub her, play with her ears, paws, walk her, feed her, etc. A lot of time and effort was put into everything.

_5. Is the problem fixed or still apparent?_
She still has a big problem with men. We are working on it, and she is attending training classes to gain some confidence. It's tough, but we're trying to get her through it.

Best of luck to you!


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## lisaj1354 (Feb 23, 2008)

1. Was your dog from a shelter or a foster home? *Rescue to Foster home, then to me.*

2. After you brought the dog home did he/she act differently than at the shelter? If yes, how so? (ex. friendly in the shelter, then scared in your home) *His behavior here is somewhat different than his foster mom told me.*

3. Did you run into behavioral problems? (jumping, barking, aggressive, timid, etc).* He walked into my house and acted like he owned it. that hasn't changed. But he does have fears of larger dogs.*

4. How did you try to fix the problem? *I make him sit, and treat him as long as he's quiet. And a ton of praise.*

5. Is the problem fixed or still apparent? *Yes.*


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## Lindbert (Dec 12, 2010)

1. Was your dog from a shelter or a foster home? Took him from a shelter in August to foster him. Decided I couldn't let him go a month later.

2. After you brought the dog home did he/she act differently than at the shelter? If yes, how so? (ex. friendly in the shelter, then scared in your home) He was VERY calm and appeared to be a low-energy dog in the shelter. Turns out he had Lyme's Disease and when he was feeling better he proved to be the most energetic, off the wall dog I have ever worked with! The shelter "advertised" him as a low energy dog perfect for a beginner dog owner. If he went home with someone looking for an "easy" dog he would have quickly been returned because he's so high-maintenance. I took him because I'm usually not tempted to keep calm dogs, I like the live wires. Surprise, we are actually perfect for one another! 

3. Did you run into behavioral problems? (jumping, barking, aggressive, timid, etc) He had no manners or training when I took him home and had some reactivity issues. 

4. How did you try to fix the problem? Obedience training and desensitizing him to the people he was reactive towards. 

5. Is the problem fixed or still apparent? It is 99.9% fixed. He will calmly accept petting from the group of people that makes him nervous without lunging, barking, growling, etc. but someone who knows dog body language can tell he isn't completely comfortable with the situation.


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## JSporty1 (Jun 28, 2009)

eharimoto said:


> I just have a few quick questions for people who have adopted a dog. If you would prefer your reply to be private please respond via private message.
> 
> 1. Was your dog from a shelter or a foster home?
> 
> ...


1. Our older dog, Gir, is from the Humane Society of Missouri. Our younger dog, Delorean, was from Stray Rescue of St. Louis, but we adopted him from a foster home.
2. Gir was super friendly and playful at the shelter, and she remains so. I never met Delorean until he was brought to us, so I can't say.
3. When we first got Delorean, he was very scared of everyone, so it took him a while to warm up to us and to Gir. He was a bit of an aggressive player with Gir, and he growled and barked at people. He is very well behaved with Gir now (they are inseparable, even thought we have only had Delorean a month). We are still working with him on the issue of trusting everyone who walks into our apartment.
4. When we expect company, we bring Delorean outside to meet the visitor, so that we all walk up to the apartment together. That way he understands that the person coming over is welcome. We also have been working on socializing him with a lot of different people.
5. He is MUCH better. I think part of the problem when we first got him was that he was frightened because he was in an unfamiliar environment. He also seemed to not be feeling well (the foster said that he threw up a lot and had to take doggie antacids, so his crabbiness could be partly because of an upset tummy). We changed his feeding schedule and his food.

Gir never had any real behavior problems. Some people would consider her to be too high energy, and might say that's a behavior problem. To us, that's just how she is. We give her plenty of walks and throw her ball all the time to keep her energy level in check. She also has a habit of wanting to give doggie kisses to everyone because she's so friendly. Again, to people that don't like doggie kisses that might be a problem, but not to us. We have trained her not to jump on people who come to visit (although sometimes my sister gets a big hug  )


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