The Euphemism Tango

We had a sad experience with this issue--a rescue dog from the local shelter. The shelter told us Lady had been given up because the owners didn't have time for her, and she was left alone too much. What they DIDN'T tell us was the results of that neglect, nor, as we later found out, she had previously been adopted and returned. This was about ten years ago, and, unfortunately, we did not have the knowledge nor the access to information such as this site supplies to help us when we discovered the dog had some major issues. Our lack of experience and knowledge of  how to help Lady meant that we finally had to have her euthanized because she became a risk to the safety of my (then) young children. If only I had known the truth before we chose her, and/or had the resources I have since found, like this site, she might still be with us. At the time, my number one priority had to be the well-being of my children.  Ten years later, I still feel guilty over my inability to deal with her and help her reach her potential. I AM grateful for a wonderful local CPDT trainer and sites like this that have helped tremendously in the lives of our present "family" members, Loompa and Huckleberry.

I am sad about notes2go. I don't have that same experience. When I was in college - I was an RA and my appt. house had many breakins - so I convinced the housing authority to let me get a dog to protect my appt. (all girls college environment).... they approved it and so my appt. and I went to the local shelter with all the letters in hand. We had vowed to rescue a dog and heard about Charlie who was going down that afternoon. Without seeing him - I said I would take him - the Shelter kept saying - he runs away from every home they place him in and they didn't recommend him.  I told them to give him to me and paid all the fees.... When we finally met Charlie - I actually wished  I hadn't been so forthright about taking him - he was the ugliest dog I had ever seen and he jumped on us and was totally unruly. I kept Charlie on leash and attached to my hand for weeks and then when I finally had to get back to class - he was on one of my roommates wrists or one of our boyfriends wrists. We taught him tricks and how to walk on leash.... He was a Great Dog. (he even looked better when his hair grew back - my vet at the time said it looked like he had been burned and the shelter had shaven him - thank god his fur grew back). He was 4 years old when I adopted him and he lived with me for another 15 - no problems - but then again - if there had been - I would have overcome them. 

Then 2 years ago I adopted another rescue dog - without seeing him. He is very fearful and I have had to find trainers and now Tufts to help me and him - BUT - guess what - he just passed his CGC. Even though he still gets afraid of lots of things - mostly very noisy things - I have learned to handle him and hopefully see a day where he will be off medication.  If I believe in Rescue and I have the resources to get the help my dogs might need - I don't want to pass the buck to someone - who may not be as good with them as I am. I guess I am an educator first and foremost and a true teacher never gives up - and never gives excuses - they teach and succeed with every student. 

Good Luck getting your new pet. I kind of think I may get a second dog now? 

Not only do I find those rescue groups do not disclose to potential adopters, but being a foster mom... I've learnt to choose the rescue group I work with wisely.  My turning point was being assured the foster I was picking up did not have separation anxiety and was comfy in a crate. I work with pretty much all of a dog's challenges but because I work away from home a few days a week, I do not have the environment for a dog with extreme separation anxiety.  I found out the hard way; seatbelts torn apart before I could pull over to the side of the road, that was not the case.

He had the most heartbreaking case of separation anxiety that I've ever worked with.  If they could have just disclosed this before I picked him up, I would have done things differently, first and foremost to ease the emotional stress for the dog.  We all have quirks, endearing qualities and challenges in life to embrace as best we can, that's part of the journey.

Being transparent enables people to prepare for the journey ahead and the dogs have a fighting chance to stay in the home where their new family is equipped to help them through their challenges. 

Now when I foster I make sure I get to email and speak to the potential family before they meet the dog. I let them know all of the dog's endearing qualities, and their challenges that we're working on together.  Talking to families is also a good way to find out more about their lifestyle.   If all goes well,we all go for a walk. A very long walk,  in an environment where the dog is comfortable but if he has issues, we work subthreshold,  so the family can see what their 24/7 is going to look like.   It has been a turning point for so many people who realize that they just can not provide the right environment for that dog to thrive.  

Best of all there is no emotional toll on the dog as they just think we're out and about meeting a friend for a walk.  When it doesn't work out, we just go on our merry way.  We would have spent the afternoon socializing and working on any social issues at the same time so it's never a waste of time.  Bonus is you never know, maybe those people know someone who may be suitable.  

Best of luck on the search for your future furry companion.

happy-houndz.blogspot.com cheers, kate

Nicole,

I am so glad someone had the guts to say this out loud and in public! I work with a few rescue groups in my area and I am regularly called by new adopters who have discovered, after the short adjustment period, that the dog they adopted has some serious issues that were glossed over by the adoption or rescue group. Here's a favorite  euphemism of mine: "A real Daddy's girl!" Translation: Fears women. 

These dogs are bounced around from home to home and some of them end up being euthanized because the new owners weren't properly prepared to deal with some dangerous situations. The average dog owner has a minimum amount of dog behavior background. They are tortured by the decision to have to give the dog back. Few of them can actually spare the resources for long behavior modification plans. I for one am tired of hearing new owners say, "the rescue group said he was found as a stray" or "her owners wanted her to have a bigger yard". 

There are people out there that will take on a dog with issues. The first line of defense for these kind individuals is to tell them the truth so they can set the dog up to succeed.

Thank you for bringing this out into the open. Now if we could just get the evening news to broadcast it nationally!

Laura Brody, CPDT

With SO many animals needing new homes the internet sites promoting adoption have become a new art where mystery and sob-story meld. I'm seeing more "deadline" (aka euthanasia) dog profiles to crank up the responses.

To manage the intake of new and strange foster dogs, we used a Foster Dog Profile form that was the complete history of everything we knew about the dog. Some dogs entered rescue without any info so this form included places to note names, dates, vaccinations, etc. AS WELL as "tick" boxes for general assessment observation.

There was a large box that asked "Does this dog have a history of aggression?"

This Profile form accompanied the dog from intake, to foster home(s), to adoptee as a way of having written information. We noted ALL behaviours/issues/medical concerns on this form in details so that the "advertising" had no place. We revealed all to potential adoptors and they were encouraged to read the profile. If they adopted, they went home with the original form.

When we took in 67 dogs from a seizure, these forms were an integral part of rehoming. I would recommend any rescue group or volunteer to create such a profile so everything known is revealed.

My best

Donna Toews, CPDT-KA

http://reflectionpetservices.wordpress.com/

Being honest about a dog's behavior is probably both the most important and the most difficult lesson that trainers have to teach people in shelters and rescues.  Animal welfare people have the best intentions when they try to place an individual dog, but they don't realize how they hurt the larger cause when they fail to prepare adopters for what they're getting into.  I recently completed a pet selection for a client who had only ever had rescue dogs.  Their previous dog had been a rescued stray with terrible fear and shyness issues that they had worked through brilliantly.  They were extremely dedicated owners committed to helping homeless pets.  They were even open to adopting dogs with behavior issues, but aggression was where they drew the line. 

A shelter placed a dog with them who had already been returned for guarding behavior, but the shelter didn't disclose that fact.  The dog bit the owner within the first week.  They returned him to the shelter and hired me to choose their next dog.  They were only interested in talking to breeders in order to get a puppy.  These were owners who would most likely would have adopted several shelter or rescue dogs over their lifetimes.  Even more than that, they were a great advertisement for adopting dogs with issues; evangelists for rescue dogs.  Now, I think it's safe to assume that not only will they avoid shelter and rescue dogs in the future, but so too will probably some of their friends and family, not to mention people they may have met and convinced to go the rescue route.  How many adoptions won't happen because this shelter decided to give this one dog a chance that was unlikely to ever work out in the first place?

I had a similar experience recently when I fostered a dog for a local shelter.  They gave me a card describing his behavior that didn't even have any euphemisms about his aggressive behavior.  When I picked him up, I discovered that he had been previously adopted and returned for twice biting a visiting grandmother within the first several weeks after adoption.  I explained to the shelter worker handing him off to me that these things don't just happen in isolation.  She was adamant that it only happened with the one woman and was just a fluke; nothing to worry about.  I told her that I was pretty certain that any future adopter who didn't kow how to deal with such issues would have similar problems.  She dismissed me out of hand. 

When I got home, the dog lunged and snarled at my wife as soon as he saw her.  On walks, he snarled at two other women I stopped to talk to.  His aggression was mild, and we quickly had him greeting people politely and doing well.  A dedicated adopter committed to working with this dog could probably have a wonderful pet, but he will unfortunately probably be placed with another unsuspecting adopter who will wind up returning him to the shelter and then going elsewhere for a pet.

It's a cold calculus that compels to realize that there are limits to what we can do for a particular dog, but when we overreach to place one dog, we harm homeless dogs everywhere.  Full disclosure is the bare minimum standard for responsible preparation of adopters to take in a homeless pet, but too many well meaning rescuers fail to meet that standard.  Their hearts are in the right place, but they're choosing to win battles that cost them the war.     

All the dogs I have lived with over the last 50 years have been rescues, but the experiences I had with my last two dogs have left me wondering what the rescue groups motives are. I was told that my Catahoula had "a little separation anxiety."  She ate through a door the first time I left her alone.  I was told that my Aussie was "a sweet puppy."  The first time I tried to feed him he bit me so badly I required stitches.  When I tried to return him I was told my the owner of the rescue group that she had told her son to go live with his father if he didn't like getting bit by dogs, attacked my character for not wanting to keep the dog, and then refused to take him back because he was aggressive!

Many of the rescue groups in this area are charging $350 for a dog, which is what I paid for these dogs.  I wish they would take the profits they are making and invest in training for the dogs.  The small investment it would take would give these dogs a chance at a permanent home.  Deceptive advertising only hurts the dogs.

After reading all the comments we are missing a very real point.  Most of the shelters employ minimum wage staff that really struggle to just get by.  They do not have the luxury of behavior training or even the funds to buy behavior books.  I think they do the best job they can with what theyhave.  Most shelters in this country are severly underfunded relying mostly on volunteers and fund raising.  The shelter where both my wife and I volunteer at is one of those shelters.  We do have a great shelter manager that really has the best interest of the dogs at heart.  We have become pretty much a low to no kill shelter prefering to educate and train the dogs rather then just simply makiing money off of them.  My wfie and have taken over for the very abusinve trainer that did have there after the manager finally realized that he methods were getting dogs killed rather then helping to adopt them.  This is all about education with us as professionals have a duty to educate and demonstrate how positive training can effect not only the dogs but all across the board including the volunteers, the staff, the potential adopters and the community as a whole.  Educating the staf has been my real goal not by giving classes or saying hey that's not right.  What i find very good is that everytime they have a dog that seems aggressive or fearful and they feel they do not have the experience to move the dog from kennel to kennel they call me to assist.  they see how with just a little bit of very positive time with the dog can make a huge difference in that dogs life.  I was asked to work with a very fearful femal stray that the staff was afraid to move.  The dog had been in the kennel for two days and her cage needed to be cleaned.  Evertime thestaff approached her she snapped and growled.  I spent about an hour and a half and byt he time i was done the dog was lickiing the face of the person who was afraid if her the most.  I'm not posting this to revel in my training skills but to praise the staff for calliing someone with more experience with fearful and aggressive dogs.  They did not have to use a catch pole that would have made the situation worse for the dog and the staff.  What is really great is that the staff is still talking about how this dog was one day growling and snapping and the next is a social butterfly.  They realize that force was not used on this dog and the results were great.  They see how positive training over abusive and inexperience can and does make a differnce.  I'm proud of our shelter and our volunteeers and staff for staying the course and trying new things which for some is pretty hard.

Dennis Fehling