Dog adoption

Sorry, I only have experience with cats. So here's a bump.

I applaud you for wanting to shelter homeless doggos rather than purchasing a new one though. Also, I imagine that they're somewhat easier for starters because there's less you have to teach them, and you already know what kind of personality/traits they have? (´･ω･`)?

Kudos to you. I wish I had a place for a dog.
I don't know anything about it but I have a friend who fosters (she had 8 dogs at one point during the worst of the pandemic because of owners who were in the hospital) and although she is not in Europe, she might be able to give me tips about behavior and training so I'll ask her. She learned the ropes from her sailing partner who was also fostering for various shelters.

ive had 4 dogs in my life, they were all rescue's or take ins.
when recusing a dog its a mixed bag, my old dog a choc lab turned out to be formally trained, my current dog was 2.5 years old and wasnt even broken of his puppy food aggression(pics on profile). no matter ether way they are always grateful and full of love for you, and glad to be out of the cage.
im in the states so i dont know how the processes goes down for you but it seems very important that you let the shelter workers know its your first dog so they can find you one with a mild temperament, training and obedience. definitely get an older dog since its your first dog.

We adopted a young dog one and half year ago. The first months are the hardest because you need to focus that time in training the behaviour of the dog... At the end it's not so hard, dogs are so smart, you can train them with exercise and reward or just repetition. The bad behavior is "usual" when it's young but I think that it is not "bad", just young behaviour. After the first year (in my experience), the dog starts to be more mature. Our dog in particular is so nervous so she enjoys to go to the park and play with a ball and jumping and that kind of exercices... anyways, every young dog is "nervous" so you just need to know what personality it has!. This is our first time adopting a dog and it's an amazing experience, dogs are great companions (cant say anything about adopting old dogs, but pretty sure they are great too if you are good with them if they have a good temperament) 😄.

There are many dog ​​shelters and places to adopt a dog, at least here. The adoption process here in Spain is not so hard, just need to pass a test (about yourself and your home, if you have time and space for the dog...) and some money for the first treatment and vaccinations. Here in Spain is an obligation to castrate adopted dogs but I dont know in other countries. Every year you need to vacunate one time your dog, these vaccines are reminders. And the dogs have a chip to be able to track them in case of disappearance.

Sorry for my english!

Bump!

Bump!

bump

View attached image.

I'm from Brazil, so I can't tell you about policies, but I'll tell you, get a mixed-breed dog, 'cause the purebreed tend to have health issues.

For the behaviour, reinforce the positive ones with traits, pets and anything you perceive the dog liking, and if you have money, get a dog trainer and keep in mind that sometimes the pet issues reflect the owner issues

"What are you experiences with adopting a dog? "

only Wanko To Kurasou: ; )
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vi9lGza2wXg

Booomp

I adopted a dog that was being fostered by a kind soul to took in an adopted dog. Then just got the dog registered with a chip and the proper shots. The training stuff was just the usual. Maybe it helps that ours was young enough to not have any bad habits. Good luck!

I typically do medical fosters for a certain rescue but stopped for now because I have 4 dogs and one of them is getting up there in age. If you are looking to get a dog but feel uncertain about it, consider fostering as a trial period.
I'm more uncertain on how shelters tend to do things, but a lot of rescue groups will do "foster with the intent to adopt," so you would be fostering a dog to see how well they fit with you or get adopted by someone else if you don't click well. Alternatively, if you feel confident enough to adopt a puppy, there are a lot of people who can give good tips on raising them.

Thing's I've learned for puppies/dogs.

• Teach them to sit before you feed them, pet them and stick your hand in the bowl to pick up pieces until they don't mind you doing it to reduce the chance of them having food aggression. If they already are known to have it, feed them separately in a kennel if there are other dogs, do not stick your hand in the bowl. Petting is usually fine.

• treats for using the bathroom outside if they are not potty trained along with frequent bathroom breaks. Positive reinforcement always will work faster then negative reinforcement. The majority of dogs are food-motivated but I've known a couple who were toy-motivated. I find it easier to make my own dog treats but dog food kibble works well in a pinch.

• Lots of toys to prevent chewing on furniture. Kong toys are a bit more expensive but cheaper in the long run because you don't typically need to replace them. A lot of puppies might chew on things because they are teething like a regular baby. Speaking of toys, a few are interactive puzzles that have food rewards hidden and I find dogs usually enjoy them once they sniff out the treats and realize it's there.

Do nots:
Rawhide. Dogs can and will choke on them so while they might be cheap in store it definitely will not be saving you money if you need a vet visit.
Rope toys. They tend to fall apart super fast and the dogs can and will swallow the strings. Fabric toys are better as they don't tend to end up in strings, and if you feel so inclined you can make them easily yourself with long scraps of fabric.
Don't feed them from the kitchen or table where you eat. while not really negative it does teach them bad habits like begging for scraps while you are eating and it can get pretty annoying.

If there is anything in particular you are interested in talking about, I'm by no means a dog expert but I have a lot of experience with them. Good luck!

Not really a dog person. So can't offer a lot of advise.

Probably research what breeds NOT to take home. Some dogs are more suited to different lifestles than others; one dog might be okay with a quick walk around the neighbourhood and others might require some more serious dedicated exercise. Also some breeds are much more intellgent than the average dogs and may be harder to train, get bored of toys quickly and neeed more attention. And then some dogs have both the energy and intelligence. Basically find a breed that doesn't need to take more than you are willing/able to give.

bump

Bump!

First tip is, dogs arent people or decorations.

They look to someone for direction as the packleader, or they'll act out and fill that roll themselves.

Dogs are like infinite 3 year olds, that need to be constantly reminded what the rules are, even when you can tell they know, and are just looking for an excuse.

I'd suggest watching a few episodes of Cesar Milan the Dog Whisperer to get a better idea of how dogs think, and some tips for taking calm ownership of their environment.

Bump.

Only 3 tips. Use your heart to choose, not your eyes. In a way let the dog choose you instead of the other way around. Let the people in the shelter know it's your first dog and go to a dog school. It doesn't matter how old the dog is or how many tricks he already knows, go to dog training! Those trainings teach the owner more than the dog. Great way to bond with your dog and you'll have an easy way of asking things to a person that knows the dog and has seen it's behavior. I have dogs my whole life, a few from a shelter and I go to training with each of them.

Bump!

I'm from Poland and my last dog was a dog from shelter.

I must tell you it will be very hard at the start. You have to be very very patient. It will be a long process that will take years for a dog to trust you if the dog met with bad people before meeting you.

My dog was afraid of sticks and leash because someone probably beat her before abandoning her. My dog was also afraid of plastic bags because someone probably tried to choke her with it. It took her 4 years to understand that we won't hurt her and that leash is not something she should be afraid of and that plastic bags are used to carry things and not to hurt her in any way. She even started to be happy to grab sticks but still preferred to destroy them into pieces probably as her way to cope with everything that she suffered.

A good tip from me is to also put a tracker on your dog and a phone number on the collar because dogs like that are really scared and have problems with trusting people so she escaped from us 3 times and we had to track her down or get a call from someone that found her to pick her up.

And the most important thing - show the dog all the love you can and really really really be patient.

^^

you have wamiz that's a good resource with guides, forums to share with passionate ppl , where you can take some advices to choose a dog who can match perfectly with your lifestyle, talking about health, education, food...
in french we have "esprit dog" it's a good YT channel of a canin educator, who has to deal with problematic dogs, bad educated and tough to correct, maybe something similar exists in english or in letton? I dont know if it can be subtitled for other languages
Im sorry I dont really know lot of resources in english.
I've read very good advices above, as others said, take your time to choose. I will abstain to give some because others wiill do better than me, but what I can say is you should choose a dog who match with you. Second, how you feel alone is a point because dogs can sense all our feelings and the problems owners can have with their dog often dont come from the dog, but from them. Or doing something wrong or lack of serenity or ignoring his needs
Congrats for the gesture and just the idea if you can't, wish you happy days with your new companion once you find him!