Used tissues sounds harmless, though?
Used tissue often clogs pipes in your house. It works that way on bodies too.
I knew a human who ate little bits of paper all the time. It finally clogged up something and it had to be removed, the hard way.
Pretty much. All that was necessary to get our latest dog was fill out some forms and pay a fee. AFAIK, they conducted no checks on me (city dog shelter).
Yes I agree with you. We expected we’d need to constantly “train”, so chose only 4 commands to teach. Complex stuff like you see in dog shows would take constant retraining I suspect. But our 4 behaviors (stop/get-down, come, heel, and stay) are likely to be used almost every day. It’s our hope that normal life will help with a lot of the reinforcement.
Yikes!
I don’t mean you’re a dodgy dog parent, but this seems rather cavalier. Michael Vick could waltz in and leave with a dog?
But I guess it depends on the supply and demand.
When you say “city dog shelter” do you mean run by the municipality or just that it is in an urban area?
The shelter I volunteered at it wasn’t automatic you’d get a dog.
Of course it’s not like there is Social Service for pets, like for adopting a child.
The interview is probably the most important thing.
Shelters and rescues are wary of reasons certain people want certain dogs.
Not much else they can do.
They’re in the business of finding homes for pets, after-all.
We’ve adopted 2 dogs - the rest have been FOAF.
One adoption was through a local… not exactly sure if it was a shelter or a rescue organization. Called themselves Labrador Rescue, but it was basically a shelter with pets on site. That one was pretty much show up, fill out the paperwork, choose a dog.
The other was through Great Pyrenees Rescue. Had to fill out a 9-page application, then have someone come to the house to interview us. “The food on top of the refrigerator won’t be safe from them.” “Oh, you have ball fields behind your house. There will be a lot of barking. Are you prepared?” I was surprised that they ABSOLUTELY WOULD NOT adopt out a puppy to a family with young children. After all that, we had to drive to a place to meet with the available dogs. We had to bring our (at that time) current dog, too, to make sure all was good. They put us in a big dog run and let the first one in. He was OK. Then they let the second one in. He bounded around, played a little bit, then laid down behind my wife. My daughter toddled over and tripped over his back end. He took his head (without getting up) and nudged her back to her feet. “That’s it. We’ll take him!”
We are currently dealing with a puppy. Got her from a FOAF. 8 months, 50 lbs. Absolutely love her attitude, and, yes, we are going through training. And, yes, we know it will be a long affair. I don’t want “police dog”, but it would be cool for her to walk with me off leash through the ball fields.
Compared to many other things this dog tries to stuff down his gullet, yes. I can live with the occasional used tissue.
Much better than the holiday ornament hook of a few days ago and the room freshener stick of this morning! How dare I go to the loo and leave him unattended for 2 minutes?
Skip to the loo? ٩(◕‿◕)۶
LOL, I’d never go any other way. 
The cat rescue I’ve gone to for my last few adoptions requires potential adopters to fill out a questionnaire on line, including references, other pets, whether you’ve ever given away a pet, that adoptees be kept indoors, and so on. When I arrived for my in-person interview I brought along photos of cats I’d had and an explanations for the rehoming of an unsuccessful adoption (he’d turned aggressive to my remaining older cat after two other males died and he became top cat). The conversation was more than superficial.
When they decided I was okay, I had to drive a couple dozen miles to the home of the person fostering the pair I wanted to adopt to meet them and be sure I wanted the late teens brother and sister with medical issues. Loved them, adopted them, had less than two years till illness claimed them, and I kept the former foster mom and the adoption coordinator appraised of their health via email while I had them.
Oddly enough, further adoptions from that rescue have been much less involved: “Welcome back! Here’s what we have.”
I’ve never adopted a dog, but from what I know of shelters in the area, there’d be a similar level of investigation for a dog.
I don’t have the patience, time, or motivation to own a dog, but at least I know it. I like dogs and enjoy interacting with and making friends with friends’ dogs. After playing with them and petting them, however, I can go home alone. LOL
Would be nice if others were as clear about that.
The Lil’wrekker decided she wanted a French bulldog. She’s always been around my dogs but is definitely not the doggy type.
I convinced her the truth of this.
She also met an adult frenchy and decided it was not for her.
I kinda wished she had gotten one. They so cute 
.
I would have taken it into my pack.
Alas, far too many people are drawn by the good things about dogs, how adorable puppies are, and don’t know how much work and responsibility they require.
I wouldn’t call that “odd”. They’ve vetted you once; you continue to interact; you’re a known entity. Even if you’re not dealing with the same people, I’m sure they’ve got a file on you. “Jane says they’re OK; they’re good to go!”
Yup, that last comment was tongue in cheek. They particularly like how I’ll take not only bonded pairs, not only old ones, also ones with medical or other problems.
My latest adoption was a senior by their reckoning though only ten years old, was a stray picked up by animal control, then turned over to Merrimack River Feline Rescue Society, and somewhere along that process he stopped eating. Wouldn’t eat when I brought him home, either, so I had to syringe-feed him over the weekend till I could get him to my vet on Monday. Blood work was okay, I assume they gave him an appetite stimulant shot, and that was the end of his refusal to eat.
Just be aware that if your doxie is a chowhound as a puppy, he’s likely to remain so throughout his life. I have long bitter experience. 
Yeah, we got our Luc and Shanni from a dachshund specific rescue. The process was rigorous. When we decided we wanted another dog after they were gone, we picked Max from their website and asked about applying. They told us since we were return adopters no sweat! We just had to make an appt to meet him, and if we all were ok with each other, we could take him home. Pretty nice.
So I am woefully learning.
Ollie is my comeuppance for my darling departed Lewis, who was the sweetest and most obedient dachshund ever. If I needed to be away for a few hours, I could leave him snoozing on the sofa and he would never budge. The rule was no jumping on or off furniture, and he took it seriously. I could set a plate of food down next to him and he wouldn’t touch it unless something was offered. He learned all his commands as easily as breathing, just had to be shown once or twice what I wanted and he took it onboard.
I’ve employed the same training regimen with Ollie that I did with Lewis, but the outcomes are vastly different. A big part of the problem is that I’m not used to having to watch a dog this closely. I’m trying to stop short of putting a muzzle on him even while in the house, but doing so might save his life.
Today in addition to the room freshener stick, I’ve caught him with a bread twist tie and a mouthful of dryer lint.
He’s gotten so accustomed to me sticking my fingers down his throat to retrieve whatever he’s chewing on that he just rolls over and lets me do it. Dude, it’s not a game!
I live in hope that the behavior will moderate as he gets older, but I accept it may not. His life span may be sadly abbreviated because I simply can’t watch him every moment. It scares me and breaks my heart.
I thought I was ok at training dogs. It would seem not.
I whole-heartedly wish you good luck. Maybe my pessimistic prophecy won’t come true. One can live in hope.
I do appreciate it. Thank you.
I hold out hope Ollie is just a late bloomer.
He still very young.
In the meantime keep that floor picked up and relax.
No two dogs are alike.