When Sharron started her job, we started taking Parker to doggy day care. I know it sounds silly, but he’s a VERY social dog and he loves interaction. When Sharron lived in Atlanta, she had to get him a dog to keep him company. He LOVED doggy day care. The people there said he was probably their best day care dog. On a hot day about 6 weeks ago, all of the dogs were inside and they’d let all the big dogs in the with small dogs. One big dog ended up attacking Parker, even though he submitted, and he ended up needing stitches. It was pretty bad for us. We no longer feel we can trust the day care facility as it’s often hot or rainy here so they bring the dogs inside. Our other solution is to do what Sharron did and get him a dog for some company. Easier said than done.
We started looking back in January just to see what was out there. The first place we looked was the Connecticut Humane Society. We thought we’d at least see 10 dogs and get an idea of what size/type we’d like. However, they only had 6 dogs. We thought this was pretty strange. When we checked again about 6 weeks ago, they had a few more dogs, maybe 12. They had 2 we were interested in that we’d seen over the Internet. When we got there though, 1 had been shipped off to “somewhere” (more on this later). This was pretty mysterious as he was on the Internet as their “Dog of the Week.” Seemed very strange. The other dog was very nice and we asked to meet him. He was a Jack Russel Terrier. When the attendant came to let us in to his cage, he asked if we’d ever owned a Jack Russel Terrier before. We haven’t and told him so. He then told us that we probably shouldn’t meet the dog as they weren’t going to let us adopt him. Their stance was the Jack Russel’s are highly specialized and require an extraordinary amount of care. When we told them about our dog and how he’s highly active they just looked at us like we were crazy. We’ve vowed to not go back to this facility again.
At the same time, Sharron has been researching the different breed rescue groups in the area. She’s contacted a bunch of them, but many have the same requirement as the humane society: Breed experience. A few have been interested in letting us adopt a dog, but when they ask about our house, yard and feeding habits, they get all crazy. We have a big back yard (.6 acres) that is completely fenced in. The fence was designed with dogs in mind and to blend in with the forest. It is not chain link, but instead a vinyl coated metal fence (very similar to chain link). People don’t seem to like this fence when it’s described and I’m not sure why. They just can’t seem to wrap their minds around it. Also, we feed Parker a brand of dog food called Solid Gold. It is a holistic brand meaning that it doesn’t have any preservatives and is all natural. The rescue groups also can’t seem to wrap their minds around something that’s not Purina or Alpo and think we’re crazy. We’ve pretty much given up on them.
This weekend, we went to the Ellington Dog Warden’s (the dog catcher) office to meet a dog named Bella. She was pretty much perfect for us. Their only stipulation is that she go to a home with no other dogs. We brought Parker along just in case and we let the two of them play for awhile. They got along great. We filled out an application and we’re hoping that with the attendant’s recommendation we’ll be allowed to adopt her. However, we’re not holding our breath.
Finally, yesterday we found out that the dog that had been at the Humane Society we’d visited had been shipped to a different Humane Society in southeastern Connecticut. We called them and they said he was still available, so we jumped into the car with Parker and headed down there. It took us about 1.5 hours to get there and we were pretty excited to meet him. When we went inside though, they told us, “Jack? No, he’s not available for adoption as he’s in quaruntine.” We told them we’d called and their response was, “You did? Well, sorry about that.” That’s it. We couldn’t even meet him.
We’re pretty much done with dog shelters, humane societies and breed rescue groups in Connecticut.
I’m sorry to hear you are so frustrated. I’ve adopted dogs through two different rescue organizations but didn’t have nearly the trouble you’ve been having. I think you’re feeling the way many people do when rescuing – why make me jump through hoops when the alternative is the dog getting killed?
I can explain this a little – dog rescues have 2 concerns: that you’ll re-abandon the dog (after taking it home and it doesn’t work out traumatizing the dog even more) and liability (the dog bites someone because it gets out of your yard, eg). The problem is that most rescues do little to prevent either, other than making is so difficult to adopt.
I happen to be biased but try Our Companions out of Bloomfield (their website is http://www.ourcompanions.org). They don’t have a shelter but they do have local dogs for adoption (many breed rescues ship dogs in from out of state) and most are straight out of another home, not from a pound. You can also try John Gagnon’s in Colchester. He operates a day care but takes in dogs when he has space. I recommend both because they do some things that most rescues never do. For example, they do some obedience training before you adopt and after.
I hope you’ll try again.
This shouldn’t be such a trying and difficult process, for people with an awesome home to offer and all the love in the world. We were so happy at my shelter, to see anyone come in that wanted to adopt, and we’d help all along the way, with any medical, behavioural or diet issues, etc.
I know you have Bella right now, and I know her issues…just know we’re here for you with whatever we can do.