Get A Puppy Or Adopt An Adult Dog

Deciding whether to get a puppy or an adult dog is a difficult decision which many potential dog owners face. This can be a difficult decision for a number of different reasons. The family may be drawn to a puppy because he is cute and essentially a clean slate when it comes to training but they may also be considering an adult dog who is in a shelter or foster care situation and may have a difficult time finding a home because many families prefer puppies. In making this decision the family should consider a number of different factors including the amount of time they have to devote to training, the activity level of the household, the age of children in the house and the temperaments of any other dogs living in the household. I personally, have adopted and fostered both adult dogs and puppies. I found both types of experiences to be equally rewarding but I also found both situations to have their own set of unique challenges. In this article I will offer some of my personal experiences adopting and fostering both adult dogs and puppies in the hope that my experiences will help readers determine which option is best for them.

The first dog I adopted was an adult dog of approximately 1.5 years of age. She was a good natured Labrador Retriever who adapted easily to our home, had some basic obedience training and no serious issues such as aggressiveness or lack of potty training. At the age of 1.5 years old, she was an adult dog but not yet fully matured. While she was full grown, she still had a very youthful exuberance and a great deal of energy. In the case of adopting this particular adult dog it was almost an ideal situation. She was completely potty trained, had learned some basic obedience and readily adapted to her new living situation and family members. I couldn’t have asked for an easier first dog. She did have some issues including the fact that she was approximately 25 pounds overweight and had issues with separation anxiety but each of these issues were easy to overcome. We put her on a diet and increased her activity level and she shed the excess weight rather quickly. We also confined her to a small area of the house by using baby gates early on and only left her for short periods of time until she gained confidence and no longer felt anxious when we were gone.

While my first adopted adult dog was a great experience, I also fostered a number of adult dogs who required a great deal of special attention. In particular there was one seven year old German Shepherd Dog mix and one year old Labrador Retriever that proved to be especially problematic for us. First we will discuss the older German Shepherd Dog mix. We agreed to foster this particular dog after he had been in the local shelter for a number of weeks with no potential adopters during that time. He was a wonderful dog that got along great with my other dogs and that did not show any aggressive behaviors, was completely potty trained and was fairly well mannered. However, the problems with him were largely associated with his age. Upon bringing him home, we added him to the foster care website and received an immediate inquiry about him. However, during this time we also took him to our vet to address a small cyst on his head. The cyst was determined to be benign but the vet recommended hip x-rays on him as his gait was awkward and German Shepherd Dogs are prone to hip dysplasia. The original set of x-rays displayed an anomaly which concerned the vet as having the potential to be an indication of bone cancer. The vet recommended performing another set of x-rays in one month to determine whether or not the anomaly was indicative of bone cancer. The theory behind this was a larger anomaly on the subsequent x-ray would indicate the presence of bone cancer because the disease was progressing while an anomaly of a similar size would indicate the anomaly was indicative as an old injury or other cause and not bone cancer. Fortunately, subsequent x-rays indicated the anomaly was simply an old injury which had not healed correctly but it serves to illustrate how older dogs may have pre-existing health concerns. Potential adopters should be aware of this when adopting an older dog and should be prepared to deal with the possibility the older dog may not be completely healthy.

Another issue with adopting older dogs is there may be pre-existing behavioral issues which can present problems. We foster a year old Labrador Retriever who had some very serious behavioral issues. This particular dog had been picked up by the county as a stray and has spent some time in a shelter before we fostered her. Her living situation before entering the shelter was unknown since she was a stray, but the behaviors she displayed in our home seemed to indicate she had no previous obedience training and had likely lived on her own for quite some time. The first day she was in our home, she bit me on two separate occasions when I went to pick up an object from the floor. It was determined she was displaying this type of behavior because she had never had an owner who assumed the Alpha role and has always had to take care of herself. Most dogs prefer to have an owner who is the Alpha but when this is not an option they attempt to act as the leader of the pack. In biting me when I picked up objects form the floor this dog was attempting to assert her dominance over me. She also had issues with toy aggression and would not give up toys readily. It took a great deal of work to teach her that she was not in charge in our house but after a few months of training she came to realize she could depend on us to take care of her. Once this occurred, she began to relax more around us and became a much more obedient dog, however, it took a great deal of time, effort and training to help her reach this point.

The second dog I adopted was a young puppy of approximately four months in age. She was a highly intelligent dog that was fairly easy to train. She did have some bad habits already but in general she was a clean slate in terms of training and was fairly receptive to the positive training techniques we used to train her in basic obedience, potty training and even more advanced tricks and behaviors. Puppies at a young age often require a great deal of training but they likely do not require a great deal of re-training at this point. This is because young dogs are eager to learn and have not had much time to develop bad habits unlike older dogs that may have been performing a negative behavior for a number of years. However, puppies will require a great deal of time and attention from the owner. Potential dog owners who are considering acquiring a puppy should be prepared to spend a great amount of time training their puppy. They should also realize puppies will have a tremendous amount of energy and need a great deal of exercise.

Before acquiring either an adult dog or a puppy, the potential owner should carefully consider his living situation. Some situations are ideal for an older dog while others are better suited for a puppy. In general an older dog will appreciate a quieter household with either no children or older children. Conversely, a puppy will likely appreciate a more active household with a great deal of activity and young children who have a great deal of energy to play with the puppy. Other dogs in the household should also be considered. Older dogs that have a quiet temperament may be more accepting of another older dog as opposed to a puppy that will attempt to engage the older dog in play. However, a household with younger dogs who have a great deal of energy may appreciate the company of a puppy that will enjoy playing and being active.