Whether you are adopting a cat, bird, dog or other small animal the first two things you should do is to research the pets needs & think can/should I do this now? Do I have the time to care for the pet, train the pet, can I afford the pet (Vet bills, food, treats, carrier, crate, toys bedding etc…).
If the answer is ‘yes, I have what it takes for the care of a pet’. Now you need to decide what pet is best for your home, family and lifestyle.
If you have decided what type of pet is best for you, now you need to decide from where you will adopt. There are a variety of places to seek a pet from: Shelters, Pet Rescues, friends, family, online sites like Facebook or similar types of places.
Do you want a young pet or a pet that is an adult? Do you want a pet that has had some training? Is a history of the pet important to you. Do you want to just rescue a pet that really needs a home & love. Shelters & Rescues are usually full of pets in need of homes. I was in pet rescue for 20+ years, fostering in my home a variety of pets.
Rescues can be found on sites such as petfinder.com or adoptapet.com or Rescueme. Many rescues have an application (my belief is all should, so they can check the application out to be sure of a good match). I know it might take a bit for them to reply, be patient, they are usually all volunteer based and the foster parents work outside the home or have families. If it is the right pet for your family it will be worth the wait. There are rescues for almost every pet you can think of whether a bird, ferret, rabbit, guinea pig, cat or dog etc. There are rescues for most breeds of dogs, purebred rescues & mix breeds. Many purebred rescues get pregnant moms or moms who just gave birth, but don’t always post puppies on their sites. If you are looking for a certain breed & want a puppy, find a rescue for that breed and apply. State on your application that you’re interested in a puppy (mention age). Give them a week or two to reply on the status of your application, if no reply you can contact them to follow-up. I have seen some sites that will tell you it’s an average ____ amt of time before application is accepted & reviewed, check out their site for the details with any rescue you are applying with. I recommend you keep looking while you wait to hear back, you may may end up meeting just the right pet , but it wasn’t the one you originally thought. Most rescues foster pets in homes of volunteers, this gives them incite that a shelter may not be able to give you.If your home has children 12 & under I recommend rescues over shelters, because of the day to day living in a home and seeing interaction with people. I used to introduce my fosters to neighbors kids or my nieces & nephews (pet savvy kids) after they settled into my home. I would have a chance to observe behavior and give potential adopters information about their personalities & habits. Not all animals like everyone, some don’t like kids, men, tall or short, thin or heavy due to a past experience they may have had or no experience and these types of people make them nervous.
Shelters can be a good place to get a pet, as a lot of these pets are grateful to get a home & leave the shelter. Most rescues pull from high kill shelters, & get them into a home to observe them. Some will be strays, some owners surrender or could have been removed from an unsafe environment. If you’re considering adopting from a shelter I suggest if possible to visit a couple times. If its a distance, then go early, meet the pet you like, spend a little time with the pet, if they have an outdoor area or separate room inside where you can take the pet & interact. Go to lunch or leave for an hour & talk & come back & meet the pet again. See how the pet responds to you the second time, interact & if a local shelter I suggest you go home & sleep on it & come back the next day if still want to adopt that pet. Many shelters will let you put a 24 hour hold, I am a bigger fans of those who require it. I don’t think adopting a pet should be a spontaneous thing. Some shelter & rescues also have foster to adopt programs, this gives you & the pet a chance to get into a home & see if a good fit. Sadly not all pets are good fits in every home. Some need a quieter home & some need a very active home to use up their energy. Sadly some pets have been surrendered that are aggressive or have major issues and should not have been adopted out, but the shelter can’t always tell in a kennel/shelter situation. They usually don’t get much one on one interaction at a shelter & maybe outside a few times a day for a few minute. This is not the fault of the shelter, a lot of animals to care for not enough workers or volunteers there.
Many pets do not show their total true personality till they have been in a home for a few weeks. I think of it like dating, you learn more about the other person the more time you spend together, true colors come out over time (good & bad). Be patient with your new family member of a different species than you. I recommend the first 1-2 weeks you stick to a very basic routine, don’t expect too much from your new pet. If a dog, take outside every few hours at least to potty (being nervous they often have to go more often). Allow it to get to know your home slowly, give it an area that is theirs, not the whole house from the start, don’t want to overwhelm your new pet. Most people don’t know pet body language, so they don’t realize the pet is overwhelmed (I’ll blog more about body language in a future blog post). The first week or two don’t have company over to meet the pet, don’t let people or other dogs greet your dog on a walk, say “he’s knew to our family, you can meet him soon.” Everything is new & the animal needs to know it can trust you to protect it. If you move too fast with things, you could overwhelm the pet & that can break trust & hurt the bond your trying to establish or cause it to act out in fear & maybe even snap or bite someone. If you have a shy pet (dog or cat) that isn’t wanting to come to you attach a leash & let it drag it around their area. You can simply pick up the leash when you need to get the pet & not try & catch it, potentially scaring the pet. Animals don’t understand our human language, they rely more on body language, & tones, so don’t hover over an animal, don’t reach over its head to pet, reach under the chin or sides of face if standing in front of an animal. Looking straight at an animal in the eyes can be confrontational & scary, most animals only stare straight at something they plan to attack or fight, so don’t hold your eyes straight staring into an animals eyes, blink several times or look away then back. Standing slightly sideways can also help when meeting a new animal.
Before you bring home your pet you should be sure & have the basic needs for the pet, another reason spontaneous adoptions are not recommended. Having everything ready at home will help the transition go smoother. Depending on the type of pet you need you will determine the basic needs for them: Food, a bed (crate or cage), treats, a collar, an ID tag (recommend just your #, no need for a pets name), toys, a leash, an exercise pen is a great way to section off an area in your home or yard when outside. As a foster mom I would give or email a list of things to have before bringing a pet home. I will put these lists in future blog posts.
A pet personalized collar link https://amzn.to/4b9uMQb . A link for a leash for a small to medium size dog https://amzn.to/4hG9092 A link for a Midwest brand exercise pen (my favorite brand of pens) https://amzn.to/3QkU1Fv
Give your new dog time to get to know the routine, the house rules and sign up for classes with a trainer who uses positive reinforcement training. This will help you & your new dog to bond while you are teaching him or her some basic commands. I believe even if your dog knows the basics a class called “A Sound Beginning” is a great class for newly adopted dogs. One of my favorite online dog trainers is Stephanie at https://happyhoundsdogtraining.ca/
If you have questions I will be blogging & expanding more about this topic in future blogs. If you have a question now, I can be emailed at echoinggreatpetcare@gmail.com or comments on this blog are welcome. Thanks for reading
Echoing Great Pet Care 