3 Expert Secrets to Choosing the Perfect Dog for You

Is it a superpower? Maybe!

Have you ever met someone with a strange superpower? Like someone with excellent intuition for an obscure thing? Sometimes I think instinct and intuition are a frustratingly unquantifiable measure of the human condition. It’s a lot like the Tupperware sniff test. You pull old food out of the fridge. Is this still good? you wonder as you crack the lid, simultaneously examining its contents for unnatural colors or shapes.

If you’re anything like me, you usually don’t even have to sniff because you skipped lunch and then went to the grocery store, leading you to impulsively buy the organic pumpkin gnocchi and plan an ambitious dinner that you have no time to prepare because the cat puked, your toddler crapped her pants, and you have to choose between a shower or the pumpkin gnocchi. You resign yourself to another chicken nugget dinner. “Maybe tomorrow,” you whisper to the gnocchi as you slide it to the back of the fridge.

Tomorrow never comes and your gnocchi grows sad and moldy, thus eliminating the need to sniff it. It goes in the trash. The end.

All of this to say, we are all humans and we were all given incredible survival techniques like instinct and intuition. Some might even call them superpowers. 

Our friend Elizabeth with the Southern Indiana Animal Rescue (SIAR) has a crazy superpower where she can pair dogs with the perfect human. We actually call her the matchmaker.

 I think that two things contribute to Elizabeth’s success rate in keeping dogs in their homes by finding them a human:

 1.)   Years of rescuing and rehabilitating medically fragile dogs that require a TON of medical care. Nothing leaves you with a better understanding of the animal and its spirit than medical rehabilitation.

2.)   Badass intuition and the ability to read situations, hear the spoken as well as the unspoken by both humans and dogs.

After helping hundreds of families over the years and having the privilege to work with organizations like SIAR, we know a thing or two about keeping dogs in their homes and it starts with choosing the right dog for your family from the start. Read up on the latest pet rehoming statistics here.

This is yet another hot topic that is always front of mind in our profession. So here is your little mini survival guide to choosing the right dog for you.  

Determine what your need is. Why are you looking to acquire a dog? What purpose or need will that dog fill for you? Perhaps a dog just showed up on your doorstep and you are considering adoption. Can you find a need or purpose for the dog? I can’t understate enough that breed is everything when considering adoption. Regardless if you are considering a purebred or mixed breed dog, knowing about the breed characteristics will help you plan. Not sure what breed your dog is? Check out our favorite doggie DNA testing by Embark! We like Embark because it offers the most specific breakdown by breed instead of generalized results.

While researching a breed, it is imperative that you remain honest with yourself about the time and resources you have to devote to a dog of that particular breed. And before you say “Melaney, I didn’t come here for a lecture”, remember that we see families every day with complex, stressful, and frustrating dog issues that could have been avoided with a simple Google search.

“I didn’t know my Cane Corso would guard me,” is one we hear at least weekly. I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention this: dogs are living creatures with the ability to independently make decisions. They are not robots. Your new Cane Corso puppy, while adorable, will grow into an adult one day and have many needs. If you don’t give the dog what it needs, you and your family will suffer the consequences.

And if you’re an old lady reading this and considering adopting a German Shepherd, please call us immediately. Let’s talk this through.

Your new dog won’t be your old dog. Head into your mission to find a new dog with an understanding that you have to let go of your expectations of your last dog who was perfect. Your new dog won’t ever be able to live up to your expectations. They are going to need to be shown how to live in your house and interact with your family. Your old dog had to be shown that too at one point, you just don’t remember because it was probably many years ago.

Take it from me, you gotta let that sh** go. You are setting yourself and your new dog up for failure.

 “My last Labrador retriever never chewed this bad.”

“My last pit bull I adopted from the shelter was friendly and never bit anybody.”

“I grew up with German Shepherds so I am familiar with the breed.”

……I could go on and on.

I know it’s hard. And I’m really sorry you lost your last best buddy who was an angel on four legs. I’ve been there. When I was in the Army, I got the privilege to be paired with a wonderful young male German Shepherd named Samu. We trained rigorously for nine months to prepare for a short notice deployment overseas. I had limited time to form a bond and relationship with him that would keep both of us safe during explosives detection missions. We passed all of our certifications with flying colors, then a week later, he was dead. He was suffering from a rare and aggressive form of cancer.

Toys were never allowed in MWD kennels, but we gave Samu a comfy bed and his favorite ball to keep him comfortable after his cancer diagnosis.

This event changed the trajectory of my career, and probably my whole life. Needless to say, I was heartbroken. But the Army’s mission continued and I had to pick myself up and start fresh with a new dog.

You are also starting fresh. Look at how your life is different now than when you last acquired a new dog. Maybe your mom took care of your childhood dog and you just got to live in the same house with it. Maybe you are 60 and the last time you looked after a puppy was when your kids were little and you had a lot more energy. Right now, I am a busy mom working full time with a young child who requires a ton of my time and energy. For my situation, getting a young, high-energy puppy would be pretty irresponsible of me because I wouldn’t have enough hours in the day to train it. For the record, as soon as my kid gets too old and cool for me, I will fill that emotional void with a male German Shepherd as long as I’m not considered a senior citizen yet.

Make sure your new dog passes the Tupperware sniff test. Aren’t dogs supposed to be the ones doing the sniffing? Let me explain!!

Remember those killer survival instincts I mentioned earlier? Yeah, you need to use those. Whether you are acquiring a dog from a breeder, shelter, or maybe participating in a private rehoming adoption, take a moment to gather all of the information.

Let’s talk about breeders. Say you’ve identified your need for a purebred dog, find a breeder and decide it’s go time. I would thoroughly recommend you vet your breeders. Anyone breeding animals for profit should be fully transparent about their operation, the health of their dogs, and the cost. If you are able to meet with the breeder in person before the adoption, this is ideal. Ask questions like how often mama has had litters, what age are puppies weaned, and what health certifications are included at adoption.

Answers to these questions will all be indicators of how responsible that breeder is. If your breeder can’t answer these questions, or their dogs appear to be unhealthy in any way, this breeder does not pass the Tupperware sniff test. I have worked with a lot of dog breeders. I only work with ones that keep a clean environment for their dogs. That pretty much tells me everything I need to know.

Also, if you are picking up a dog from a breeder, and they try to get you to take two puppies, run the other way. They have excess inventory and are trying to offload it to you (which is an irresponsible breeding practice itself). I have seen many families make the impulsive decision on a two-for-one special and really struggle because they were only prepared to take on one animal. Your limited time and money to adopt a dog will double if you take two.

Listen to us talk about this on the Local Legends podcast!

If at all possible, I like to observe the puppies interacting with each other. There’s usually a shy one, a wild one, a chill one, etc. Puppies’ behaviors, health, and tendencies will all have the same range of variation as groups of human siblings.

Now let’s talk about shelter and/or private rehoming adoptions. There is a very good chance you will be entering these adoption situations with a handicap because the history of the dog might be unknown. Do not be intimidated by this! You can still find your perfect angel!

I need you to brace yourself for what I’m about to tell you. It’s a very, very unpopular thing to do.

When I first meet a dog, I completely ignore it. I do not talk to it, touch it, or make eye contact. The first several minutes of the first interaction with the dog will tell you everything you need to know. The dog might be doing several things:

–   Desperately trying to make friends with you

–   Hiding in the corner from fear

–   Anxious behaviors like panting, pacing, or shaking

–   Bringing you a toy

Depending on the scenario and the purpose of my interaction, I might ignore a dog for 10 seconds or 10 minutes. I am ignoring the dog but still closely observing their behavior. These first few minutes of the interaction is the dog telling you its history without words.

Medical history will be another likely unknown factor in this scenario. You will have to rely on your impressions and the behavior of the animal to also gather medical data. If you are working with a shelter, there is usually a minimum of vaccine records, weight, and documentation of altering. If it’s possible, I advise our clients to get their prospective new dog checked out by a veterinarian they trust before signing the adoption papers on the dotted line. You might get a heads up on any medical problems that could be costly or time consuming later down the line.

Wanna take the dog for a test drive? Fostering is a great way to dip your toes in before jumping off the deep end. Most rescue organizations have great fostering programs that streamline this process and educate pet parents.

Let’s go find your dog!

Well, there you have it folks. Those are all my secrets. If you’ve read this far you can ascertain that avoiding impulsive decisions regarding dog adoptions is a must as well as listening to your instincts telling you if this is the right dog for you. If you are an adult person reading this, then you already know impulsive decisions rarely turn out well. Please learn from my mistakes and don’t buy the pumpkin gnocchi! It will break your heart!

Maybe you found yourself in a bit of a situation with a dog and wondering if you can take it on. We are happy to help! Maybe you are at the very beginning stages of your dog search and need some input from us on where to start looking. We do that too!

Did you already get a dog and are realizing you might be in over your head? Drop us a line.