The home visit went well. We are approved for puppies but now they tell us so are like 35 other people have applied (for just that one puppy) and things are up in the air. Very frustrating. Especially since they had sent us an updated picture of the puppy and suggested we adopt that one over other dogs in the litter because she was bigger and more adventurous and would fit in better with Violet and Elvis. We had thought that we were the front runners.
They also have this weird thing where you have to live near a vet that does discount spaying for rescue dogs in order to get a puppy. They also wanted to know if we wanted to get a dog that was rescued from a puppy mill. While it is great that they rescue these dogs but I would never buy a puppy from a pet shop because it was from a puppy mill, which is addition to being horrible places breed dogs with a lot of health problems and defects. So why would I want a rescued one? It is really frustrating and now we are a little uncertain if a puppy would ever be able to come home with us from this organization because of the vet issue and they seem a little disorganized. And what kind of place sends you a “valentine” from a puppy you might not even get? Unfortunately, they are like the only active doxie rescue on the East Coast.
We are still looking at the animal shelters but it is hard in our area to find dogs that aren’t pit bulls or pit mixes up for adoption and even harder to find puppies. There also aren’t very many shelters locally (the closest is about 30 or so minutes away and none are near work) which makes it difficult to go and look at dogs frequently and a lot of the shelter websites don’t seem to be updated frequently.
I just feel like I am a responsible pet owner and I know people are really anti buying from a breeder these days and we don’t even need a purebred dog but the rescue groups are really strangely run, have long waiting lists, weird requirements and it is almost as expensive as adopting a puppy from a breeder but it might be a puppy mill dog or a poorly trained, abused dog instead of a puppy I could train from practically birth. I know lots of great rescue dogs (Elvis!) but the ordeal of adoption is daunting.
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February 19, 2008 at 12:23 pm
Roni
Hang in there…we thought we were going to have to wait for a long time and bam! Annie came into our lives.
As for a puppy mill rescue…I’d ask them what guidelines there are if you get her/him checked out and you discover a real issue. Many will be fine, but of course, some won’t.
As for the rescue folks…they’re just trying to do the best for the dog. Trying to weed out the weird folks and definitely don’t want the dog to return to them in a few months.
February 19, 2008 at 7:19 pm
rachel
I get what the rescue people are doing, but they seem VERY disorganized. It is also very frustrating to apply, have them say they have a puppy for us, only to tell us a week later it might go to one of almost 40 other applicants even though they think we’d be “great puppy owners” and were the first couple approved for the dog. I think it is really more about the organization than these rescue groups in general but unfortunately, they are pretty much the only group in the surrounding states.
February 20, 2008 at 8:42 am
chris
Have you considered looking on craigslist? They have a “pet” section and people post there looking for other people to take animals from them, sometimes very young animals. (And maybe you’ll see an iguana that you really like instead of the dog.)
http://baltimore.craigslist.org/pet
February 21, 2008 at 1:25 am
Aimee
I know a lot of rescues are run in strange ways. It does make it really hard for people to choose rescue over just running to a pet store or breeder. Personally I have no issues with people buying from good breeders, especially if they want a dog that doesn’t have a past to overcome… but rescue is a great way to go if you can do it.
Good luck!
February 25, 2008 at 9:45 pm
Deb
How frustrating! And all you want to do is give the puppy a good home! I hope it all works out for you in the end.
February 25, 2008 at 11:00 pm
whimsicalchaos
That is just nuts… I am so sorry you are having to go through that!
Hey I was looking at your tupperware page and I have a question for ya… I am looking for containers that hold 1 cup… nukeable etc… I found the Stuffables® Mini Set has a 1 cup container… but I need more 1 cup size than the bigger sizes… do you know of any others that might have a 1 cup container in a set, etc?
Thanks…