Is there a good way to “shop around” animal shelters for pet adoption?
When I was looking for both of our two adopted dogs, we would visit public shelters regularly. Shelter staff are normally more than happy to let you visit with the dogs if you explain that you want to see what dogs are available. Take a whole load of Pupperoni and small Maxbones and every dog’s your friend. You soon get a feel for the sort of dog that you want to adopt (and also understand that most dogs don’t look their best in a shelter environment). They are often scared among so many other dogs; otherwise cheerful and friendly dogs will cower in their cages. Not many shelters bathe or even brush the dogs, so they can look a lot worse than your friends’ dogs. Most public shelters will allow you to take the dog out in their yard and spend some time with it before deciding – you can go back again (but check how much time the dog has left – many public shelters have to euthanize their dogs after a few weeks if not adopted, as they have so many more arriving). You do need to steel yours
My experience (different country, but seems mostly the same) with a rescue organization was that it was the sort that didn’t have a central location. I fell in love with our dog’s photos online, and the write-up of her personality from the foster mom seemed perfect for us. We did the application and had the home visit with another volunteer who lives fairly close to us (very pleasant, not intrusive at all), all before even seeing the dog in person because the foster family lives over an hour away, and they didn’t seem much interested in us going there (which would have been a bit of a problem anyway, since we don’t have a car). But I was just very, very set on this dog, and we did a lot of back and forth phoning and emailing, passed our “exams” and eventually the foster mom brought her to us… So we ended up with what I like to call our “internet-dating dog” or “mail order bride.” But, of course, at the point she brought the dog, we could have changed our minds. She spent about 45 min
