Love that you want to adopt, but I am wondering if you have had dogs before. Please don't take this the wrong way, but it seems that there are a lot of "this/that won't work" things for you. If you are an experienced, long-term dog owner, then don't bother reading the rest of this post. :-)

I have not known a shelter that will let you take a dog without adopting unless you are fostering. Sometimes, it takes a lot of flexibility as you get to know a new pup and you will both adjust to one another in my experience. It can take a while, though. Patience is key. It shouldn't have taken long for the Shih Tzu to learn to go outside to go potty and I would bet she would want to listen to you and make you happy.

Anyway, good luck in your search. Hope you find the perfect pup for your home.

@cyn427....I grew up with German Shepherds. I trained the last one, Rennie. She scratched on command. Loved water! :0) She went with me on my paper route every day. We always had dogs. I'll have NO problem adopting a dog. I have been asked for references.....and I have 3. I "do" have cats. The command "leave it" may come into play. :0)

What on earth is the point of requiring a big yard? Who leaves a dog out IN the yard? I understand fencing -- to keep other animals *out*.

When we bought our first home, the seller had three little girls and a big shepherd mix. Those girls were the dog's responsibility! The back yard was fenced, but there was a worn trail all around the back of the house, where the dog would run around following the family, looking in the windows as they moved from room to room.

Another neighbor fenced her yard for a new beagle pup. Same thing. The dog went from window to window to back door, baying to rejoin his family.

Our Westies were seldom in the yard alone, and never for long. We'd put a dog in the 'potty pen' until it completed business before going into the yard. If we weren't with it in the yard, we'd be watching until it wanted in again. Our dogs were also walked. The yard wasn't a substitute.

Luciile, like to say the best thing to have done was take the dog to the shelter and let them talk to the family. That little thing is going to have a miserable life. i wonder what if …there is a chance to talk to them. Tomorrow is going to be an awakening and 2nd thoughts for them. i believe they will get rid of it somehow. putting a dog on Craig's List is a heartless thing to do. they have no idea.

??? Who does NOT let their dog hang out outside? My dog spends a lot of time in the yard, unwatched. Much more than my last one. Not because I force her out but because she likes to go out. It’s not a substitute for anything; she gets walked daily and runs free at the dog park near daily. Here she is with friends chasing a remote control car the other day:

What on earth is the point of requiring a big yard? Chisue...I missed something?

No one is requiring a big yard....are they?

@maggie200....I would have kept the dog....if they weren't threatening to come to my house and retreive it. Did you miss THAT part? Before I left I gave them my address so their daughter could come visit the dog in a few weeks. Yeah.... NOT doing that next time.

I also think it would be worth trying again to get the dog back.

No. Backyard breeding is NOT illegal in Colorado. I know when to mind my own business. It's NOT my dog. I think giving them my address and NOT having them sign the dog over to me legally was a mistake. I have no ownership rights. I need to move on....find another one that needs me. THAT "whole thang" was a learning experience. My husband tells me ALL the time, "YOU CAN'T SAVE THEM ALL."

Here...focus on this: I checked...he's been adopted. Link I love THIS guy! He has a happy ending. I'll be someones happy ending...just gotta keep looking....Link Anderson gets a home

My husband doesn't want a BIG dog....but...I like big dogs. Isn't that a beautiful face!

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is that the TM? that isn't a "big" breed, it's a "GIANT" breed. giants are not for everyone and if your husband is dead set against one, i wouldn't even consider it. giant breeds are very expensive to maintain. food, flea/tick preventative, heartworm preventative, among other things will be at least twice the cost of a small/medium breed. any sort of unexpected illness or, God forbid, catastrophic injury with a giant breed can cost many thousands of dollars.

if you insure your dogs for health care/illness/injury, that's another expense. insurance is pretty much a no-brainer with giant breeds unless you have a whole lot of $$$ set aside for such things.

i've had 11 great danes over the past 16 years and currently have 2. the money i've spent on them over that time could probably have bought me a small island in the bahamas!

@Ninapearl....My last dog was a GSD, Rennie. She had the giant gene. An ONLY puppy, no litter. She was HUGE. At 7, hip dysplasia showed up. She lived to be 12 years old. She ate a lot + medication for her HD. Then the border collie & her would play. The nips got infected. She had them lanced and drained multiple times. She once ate prickly Pear cactus, thinking it had attacked her when she sniffed it. Vet had to put her under to pull out the spines. Missed a bunch...and he put her under again. It's just part of owning a dog. 💕 My cat Ivan, fell through the mesh seat of a bench, got his leg stuck, pulled it out...was dragging his leg around. We rushed him to the emergency vet on a Saturday. X-rayed it, not broken. They gave us a script for pain meds. Just part of owning a cat. $$ Its ok. We're spending our kids inheritance. 🤣Oh....and...Ivan gets car sick every time he goes in for his annual shots. Also, foams at the mouth...so we're going to have a vet tech come to the house this year.

We're spending our kids inheritance.

same here! 😂

Dogs are far less expensive than kids and give unconditional love.

One of my friend's kids was whining one day that they spent more money on the dog than they did her, and Momma retorted "Yeah well the dog is nicer to me than you are." 😆

The costs of vet care are skyrocketing, like everything. Still the best cost / benefit ratio around though, IMO. I don't have human children, but my dogs are my furry kids and wow do they add so much joy to my life. Also, they get me up off my butt for 4 long walks around the neighborhood every day. I know most of my neighbors thanks to those walks and the exercise is good for all of us.

Nicole, I worked in the humane industry for 20+ years. Your story brought back so many feelings that I still fight even after being out of the industry for decade. I loved working with animals and helping to lead the fight for our four legged friends, but the emotional fatigue from working with people like the owners of Polerna and worse wore me down. I started to view the whole human race as animal abusers and worthless slime. I recognized that there were a few good people like you and the others that posted their love stories.

I wish you could have told them no, but I fully understand why you didn't want the emotional distress of fighting with them. I avoid emotional conflict as part of my own self preservation. I thank you for doing what you could and giving Polerna a few days of relief from her sad existence. I had to learn that we cannot save them all, we can only save them 4 paws at a time, but you will find another loving four legged friend to share your home, and every one that finds a good home is one less that ends up in a shelter or on the streets or in a bad home.

Believe it or not, I am not opposed to buying a dog from a breeder. Good, ethical breeders have a role in the world. Sadly there are too many back yard breeders, puppy mills and people who have puppies only because they were too stupid/cheep/lazy/irresponsible to have their pets spayed/neutered. Don't support them. They are the cause of so many dogs ending up in shelters.

There is nothing wrong with selecting a breed that is appropriate for your lifestyle. Good selection helps ensure that the dog will fit and won't need to be re-homed or have issues because your a couch potato and your dog is a high energy working dog that takes their frustration out by destroying your home.

For those wanting a house broken, well trained adult dog, high quality breeders will often adopt out adult dogs that they kept for show and didn't pan out as well as expected.

A recent study by the American Journal of Preventive Medicine reveals that animal rescue workers have a suicide rate of 5.3 in 1 million workers. This is the highest suicide rate among American workers; a rate shared only by firefighters and police officers. The national suicide average for American workers is 1.5 per 1 million.

https://post.bark.co/fun/compassion-fatigue-animal-workers/#:~:text=A%20recent%20study%20by%20the,5.3%20in%201%20million%20workers

My neighbors have two standard poodles. Foxwell was a therapy dog flunky. He didn't pass his final test. So my neighbors got an excellently trained dog that is a joy to have around. Then they adopted Leo from an abusive situation. He had baggage but it didn't take long for Foxwell to show him the ropes and that people can be good. He is doing well now and they are a joy to see walking around the neighborhood. Maybe you could find a dog that has failed his final test and will come fully housebroken and well trained even. Good luck in your search.

We have 3 adopted dogs. In the past we have joked with friends who were also looking for dogs that it was easier to adopt a child, than a dog from a rescue group! Some of the rescue groups are over the top on their adoption requirements and end up fostering their own dogs for years instead of adopting them out.

When we lived in CA we adopted one of our dogs from Westside German Shepherd Rescue

https://sheprescue.org/

They are realists and know that no home is perfect as long as the dogs are cared for and their needs are met. An apartment with an owner who gives them all the necessary stimulation is so much better than life in the kennels. They also adopt out of state or you can drive down and pick up a dog. They will only fly puppies over 6 months of age.

They have some pure shepherds, but many are shepherd mixes and medium sized.

From the photos you showed, your home is much nicer than some of the homes I have seen some of their dogs fostered in and you obviously have the funds to provide a good life for one of their dogs.

The dog we adopted from there is an amazing and mellow 50 lbs shepherd mix (we did a DNA test!) that looks like a Dutch Shepherd. I highly recommend you fill out an adoption application and tracking the adoptable dogs. You might come across one that is worth the drive. They will also cat test any dogs you are considering ... no guarantees they will like your cats, but it tests the prey drive and initial reaction to being a few feet away from a cat.

The only ”over the top” issue I ever came across was being escorted out the door because I said I once had had an unneutered dog. Mind you that was my family dog growing up, i.e. my parents’. The adoption process can be a bit cumbersome, but considering most dogs enter shelters in the first place because of unfit humans, I’ve got no problem with them being cautious and thorough. I was pleasantly surprised when a few weeks after my last adoption, someone knocked on the door unannounced to check out my adoptee and her surroundings.

@Jennifer Hogan.....A LOT of us here are very passionate pet owners. 💞 I was just trying to add one more to the fray.

I was reacting to what I thought someone here said about needing a large yard to qualify to adopt from some group. That sounds as though they think a big yard is more important than it is, and that they'd rather keep a dog in a kennel over placing it with a caring owner. I do understand reluctance to place a large dog in a small apartment, but yard size shouldn't be a rigid disqualification.

Jennifer Hogan -- There are more than single factors that lead people to commit suicide. I'd expect that individuals drawn to helping animals could become overwhelmed by a constant exposure to a harsher world that doesn't share such values.

Believe it or not, I am not opposed to buying a dog from a breeder. Good, ethical breeders have a role in the world. Sadly there are too many back yard breeders, puppy mills and people who have puppies only because they were too stupid/cheep/lazy/irresponsible to have their pets spayed/neutered. Don't support them. They are the cause of so many dogs ending up in shelters.

There is nothing wrong with selecting a breed that is appropriate for your lifestyle. Good selection helps ensure that the dog will fit and won't need to be re-homed or have issues because your a couch potato and your dog is a high energy working dog that takes their frustration out by destroying your home.

For those wanting a house broken, well trained adult dog, high quality breeders will often adopt out adult dogs that they kept for show and didn't pan out as well as expected.

so well said and i agree 100%! my first 9 danes were rescues. a few lived long healthy lives with me but i lost many to genetic issues that popped up. the heartbreak eventually drove me down a rabbit hole that i wasn't sure i could crawl out of and i had to step away from rescue for my own mental well-being. it was about that time that i was offered a retired show dog who brought me so much joy. i have since acquired 2 more danes retired from the show ring and they have brought just as much joy to me. i do still work with a couple of dane rescues, do some home visits for potential adopters and participate in transport occasionally.

while i agree that many rescues have what seem like over-the-top requirements of their adopters, i understand why. too many people will get a dog from rescue and don't take the required time to let it settle in and end up returning it before even really trying to make it work. the last thing any rescue wants is to have an animal passed around repeatedly so making sure it's a good fit from the get-go is understandable.

@Ninapearl...My neighbor, a single man, has a HUGE solid black dane/show dog. He has a HUGE black SUV just so it can hold the dog. 🫨 When YOU purchased your van, that was relatable.

There's a nearby dog park with hiking trails. I'd love to go there with "my" dog.

Finding a dog that's already potty trained would be a dream come true...but...the cats....it would be nice if a dog just ignored them.

Nicole, I am so sorry. That is rotten! The little dog would have had such a good home with you.

All of my animals have been rescues. Last year I took in three dogs....a very old senior, an orphan puppy that I raised on the bottle, and a puppy that would have died if someone had not intervened. All I do is take care of animals. Right now I am raising two kittens on a bottle, taking care of a wild baby rabbit that my dog caught....it miraculously survived and is doing well. They are very hard to raise because they stress easily and that alone is enough to kill them. Also getting a new kill pen horse this weekend.

I hope you find a dog....cats and dogs can get along fine together.

Jennifer, if I could like what you wrote a thousand times, I would.

I support my breed of choice rescue group financially....because giving them money is easy for me. I can't handle the stupidity and callousness of the owners of the dogs that the rescue deals with on a daily basis - so me personally being involved would not end well, for some of us anyway. Ha. So I understand your point about suicide. The stories I read tear me up inside. My faith in humanity is about nil anymore. So yes I understand why some of the rescues seem to be so over the top. They've seen the worst of the worst and they're trying their best, usually on a shoe-string budget, to place the dog in the most appropriate home for that particular animal.

I also own 2 beautiful "purebred" dogs from a nationally recognized breeder (who happens to be a past president of the national specialty club and her dogs have won breed at Westminster...we're talking a top notch human who is doing her best to advance the best of the breed!) - and it really bothers me to see responsible breeders lumped in with the puppy millers.

Rescuing a dog - I'm all for that too. I wish we could save them all!!!

I like Ivy, she has kind eyes and would be nice to kitties

Ivy is cute but there is no way that is a Bernese Mountain Dog

This is what a Bernese Mountain Dog looks like

and the description says fully grown at 56 lbs. Bernese are 70-115 lbs!

My neighbor, a single man, has a HUGE solid black dane/show dog. He has a HUGE black SUV just so it can hold the dog. 🫨 When YOU purchased your van, that was relatable.

guilty as charged! i'm the atypical minivan mom. i got mine not for 2 legged kids but for the 4 legged ones. 😂

@ Ally De if I could like what YOU wrote a thousand times, I would. while i'm all for rescues, the "adopt don't shop" phrase always makes me cringe. i dare say, the majority of people don't understand what a responsible/preservation breeder even is. they are all about preserving the best of the best of their chosen breed and go to great lengths and expense to make sure they are pairing breeding dogs that will carry on the standard they strive to keep going. when i see someone say "there's no such thing as a responsible breeder", i put on my flame suit and go to war.

All of the dogs I’ve had in my life had been fine with cats, mostly Rotties. The dogs in my extended family all seem to treat cats just like another family member. They visit each others homes with no issues. I had to evacuate for a storm once with my dog and I wound up at my SIL house who has two cats. One is a Siamese rescue who turned out to be mostly blind. My dog was on the couch when that cat got brave enough to come out and visit with us. My SIL kept saying, he has no idea there is a dog here, I didn’t believe her 😂 That cat must have jumped 5 feet when it walked up in the dog. It was actually funny. Poor Lennon 😂 This little pointer mix I have now caught a bunny once but she thinks cats are family, not prey. Dogs usually rise to your level of expectation anyway. I love dogs and cats. Been thinking about getting a cat lately.

I had to fly a friend down once to house sit my two Rotties. She had to bring her two cats. They were in the same room on day two, zero issues.

When I got my last GSP I had seen one that was on a rescue site. She needed a special home, had been abused, had emotional issues. With my background and ability I knew I could provide her the patience and love she needed and she would have had a wonderful outcome. The rescue denied my application because I didn't have a fenced yard. I tried to talk to the adoption lead, but she didn't care what my background was or how well qualified I was, didn't care that I had national awards for my work with animals. Nope - no fence, no dog. I ended up buying from a breeder.

my first dane came from a rescue that required a fenced yard and no intact dogs already living with me. my male corgi came from a show home (a dear friend) and since she occasionally wanted to show him in veteran classes, he remained intact.

i live on 20 acres in the middle of nowhere. they voted and of the 5 members on the board, only 1 objected to placing a dog with me. also, they didn't want me to pick the dog up (she was in st. louis, 80 miles from me). instead, they sent her here with one of the board members who, after spending the day with me and my 2 corgis, decided i would be the perfect home for her. she was 7, going on 8 when i got her and she gave me 3 wonderful years.

Sometimes in the long run it’s easier to stick with objective rules than to make subjective exceptions. For the firsr time in 20-something years I’m not annoyed at having been rejected for having a non-neutered dog. I answered the question incorrectly and they followed their rules. In hindsight, my parents should have had that dog fixed.

When I placed animals we had a rule that you couldn't adopt a cat that was not going to be kept indoors. Some of the cats that were turned in or picked up didn't use a litter box. No one was going to adopt these cats and keep them in their home if they didn't use a litter box. We had people who wanted to adopt a barn cat. I would tell the potential adopters the rules before they filled out the paperwork so they knew to say it would be kept as an indoor cat. (Kept in the barn). Saved the cat from living for years in a 2" x 2" kennel or getting euthanized. Keeping animals in shelters indefinitely is not a good life either. Many animals cannot cope with the stress of being in a shelter environment and become kennel crazed. They may shut down or become aggressive or self destructive.

Knowing the common rule for cats, you coached the prospective adopters to stretch thr truth (i.e. lie) in order to get around that rule. In all your experience with dogs, surely you knew shelter commonly require a fenced in yard. It dodn’t occur to you to lie?

Best wishes for all, Nicole!

Nope...can't do it. I am not adopting a dog...I looked at a 2yr old white golden doodle. I took him home on a trial basis. He was neutered, up-to-date on his shots. I gave him a large rawhide bone...he loved it. A toy. Fed him, Walked him. Threw the toy. He should have been worn out after a few hours. Then the drama started: .....he tried to hump me...I had to fight him off...THAT is NOT going to be my life....😂 I put bedding down...he tried to shredd it. He tried to shred the rug, my shoes I took off. I went to take a shower... he barked incessantly. ALL the clothing I had on smelled. Not in love....at all...with THIS particular dog. He's NOT house trained. He'd just peed outside on his 2 walks. We turned talk radio on, it helped with his anxiety...but still barking. The only way to stop the shredding...put him in a kennel or play with him non-stop. Humping? He's VERY high energy...bouncing off the walls....literally!

I'm going to be a happy cat lady. 🐾 Yeah...a little female dog would be fine...but...I think...I need a break. This is too much pet drama.

Quite common in that ”breed” I think. Can be very high energy. Probably why he was up for adoption at 2 years old. Sad.

@ foodonastump - Google maps. Can't lie about having a fence.

After all you've been through you deserve to take a break. And just maybe while you're not actively looking fort a dog - one will show up.

Wise advice from maire_cate.

@nicole___ Not everyone has the ability or desire to deal with a dog that isn't well trained. Shelters get a few well trained dogs, dogs that were relinquished due to issues other than the dogs behavior, ( the owner died, lost their home, lost their job . . . ) but most that are owner relinquished are brought in because the owners were irresponsible and didn't train the dog and are fed up with the dogs behavior. Strays are more of a mixed lot. Sometimes we got some really nice dogs in as strays and were sure someone would claim them, but no one showed.

Most of the nice dogs got cherry picked by rescue groups because they were easy to place.

When the time is right and you have the emotional energy to find a new family member you may want to look to a rescue that fosters dogs in homes. The foster family will know if the dog is good with cats and how the dog behaves and any issues that they have had with the dog. A lot of foster families spend a good deal of time housebreaking, socializing and training the dog before it gets placed.

Other options are

Watching CL or next door for dogs being placed because of some outside force and not just "we don't want the dog."

Asking your vet, friends, family members to keep an eye out for a good dog needed to be re-homed.

Checking with breeders from the AKC website for an adult dog

Going to a dog show and talking to the breeders that are attending the show. They can talk to you about their breed of choice and often know about the local dog clubs and availability of adult dogs.

at this point, after all you've been through recently, taking a break is a wise decision.

i'll just put this out here in case you, and maybe others reading this thread are unaware...rawhide chews are not a good idea for any dog. they are notorious for causing blockages that more often than not, will require abdominal surgery to remove. i don't know why stores even sell these!

Keep trying! Take a little break and start again. Last fall I fostered a dog who did very similar behavior and she was 2 years old. Sadly I had to take her back but the next week I fostered another dog and he became the very best dog ever. 7 years old at the time he came home with me and he's still quite energetic but not that 2-year-old stuff.

He came fully House trained has not chewed up anything in the house whatsoever and he plays beautifully with his ball outside several times with me And he loves to snuggle and sit in my lap. I had to teach him how to leash walk and he's afraid of a few things like gunshots but not rain. And overall he's a very very good boy!

Ugh....yeah...I've got the cats. They are precious! They do sleep most of the day in their heated kitty beds....it's supposed to snow today. I don't blame them for being warm and safe....napping. They were rescues with a happy ending. 🐾

Note: He was going to eat the dog bed stuffing he'd shredded....that would have been "bad". I got it away from him, in time.

I've always hated raw hide and agree with Ninapearl that it's just awful stuff.

I have one dog who liked chewing so I was letting her have beef pizzles. Yeah, I know - they're gross. But she loved them and they are better than rawhide...you know, in theory.

I always monitored her chewing. Well, almost always. Except for one time I didn't, and she ate a huge piece which got stuck in her throat. She almost died that day. We grabbed her and raced to the emergency vet which is literally 2 minutes from my house. Her tongue was turning blue and I could feel myself basically dying along with her.

$3000 later she's fine. But I learned a very valuable lesson. I will never again give another dog anything like that. She isn't a "gulper", doesn't normally try to eat large pieces of anything - I guess it was just an unusually large piece and very sticky and she almost died because of it. The vet told me they see many dogs turn up in various life or death situations because of it.

No more pizzles in this house.

I was fortunate to have the best two dogs I ever had for the last 15 years. Neither ever chewed things in the house, never peed or pooped in the house and were never sick just going to their annual wellness check every June. Never a trip in between. This week last year, my sweet 15 year old Ziggy died and a month later Wally died at 17. Never will I ever find any as well-behaved as these two with no medical problems till they were blind and deaf at the end. I will keep them in my memory forever and celebrate my good fortune. From now on I will have just my cats and hope to always have them or others if something happens to them. I don't need the stress of a dog and cats are self-sufficient and my job is to love them and take care of them.

Ally, we never feed rawhide and although we've found some alternatives, the calories on some of them are just amazing. (We started tracking treat calories when we noticed our pup was expanding.) Someone suggested pizzles and controlling calories by monitoring her chewing time. So, we tried one and have just concluded getting her digestive system back on track. She woke us up crying to go out with the runs for about three nights. No more pizzles in this house, either. Your story was so scary.

As you're scanning the online profiles, look for a beached whale. He's been the best!!

And I know his toenails are a little long. We need a vet visit for that.

OK. Beached Whale. GOT IT! ❤️❤️❤️

I love his spotted tummy! He looks like a character. Hanging out ..... enjoying life.