There Aren't Enough Dogs to Go Around in America

Our local animal shelter has a very long waiting list for small dogs, and many people only have room for the little ones. They usually have only Pit bulls and Pit bull mixes with the occasional really old dog.

I got lucky long ago and found a wonderful Bearded Collie at the pound, but my Irish Setter was bought from a breeder. Now that we have only a smallish fenced in yard we've had two Dachshunds. No problem finding them, but they are a very common breed.
 

Lots of available rescues in our area. Our last three have been rescues. But, there are those who insist on having a papered pooch. Born and raised on a farm, I have difficulty understanding the "status" issue of a specific breed, etc. Our current rescue has allowed us in HER home for about 3 years, now. She is a mix between Jack Russell Terrorist and Criminally Conspiratorial Chihuahua. She's been about as close to a perfect dog as we could ever expect.
 
So happy to see so many advocating for adoption of non-pedigreed and mixed breed dogs via shelters, rescue outfits or private adoption from a friend or neighbor's unplanned litter. That's the route we've gone for decades. Like @squatting dog i wish it was cause they were doing something about puppy mills.

We have only had two purebred dogs (tho did not have 'papers' on them because who cares) in my adult life. One was an Irish Setter, Maggie, who was a senior when we got her and had been--for some inexplicable reason passed thru several owners despite being very well behaved and loving. She was so happy when she realized we were her forever home. She had a large yard, shade trees and 3 kids (not to mention cats and later a puppy we adopted) who loved her very much, making her last 2 years more pleasant she died peacefully of old age curled up under her favorite tree.

The other was Pekingese who was a gift to my daughter from her best friend's grandparents--they thought their female Peke too old to get pregnant---but she dropped a litter of 11. DD got pick of litter, tho actually Meja picked us. Having grown up with mostly hunting dogs i barely saw small dogs as 'real dogs'. Meja changed that, tho at times she behaved more like her cat siblings. She was fiercely protective of us especially after last divorce and both sons were grown and out of the house. Was born in S. Texas but loved the snow when we moved to Wyoming. She lived to be 12 or 13.
 
A shelter in my area was having an adoption event. They had plenty of animals from what I could see. I was only driving by.

I'd love it if people had to wait a bit to get a pet and there were no homeless cats and dogs.

I'm feeding 3 fixed and released at my work place and a new un-neutered male has shown up so I'm feeding him also.
 
Lee said:
Just a personal decision but I have always adopted mixed breeds from shelters rather than a designer pet.

Still plenty of those to go around.
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Last year, at least, there weren't. My son and daughter in law wound up paying $700 in fees and transport for a shelter dog from Tennessee. That was the only one they could find.
 
I'm not a dog person. But if I wanted to get a dog, I'd get a mutt. When I look at some of those pedigree breed dogs, they look like something that escaped from Frankenstein's laboratory. There's way too much human genetic intervention.
BTW. I checked and my local SPCA shelter had a bunch of dogs up for adoption. And SPCA has over 1,700 shelters with adoptable dogs. I question the "dog shortage".
 
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fuzzybuddy said:
I'm not a dog person. But if I wanted to get a dog, I'd get a mutt. When I look at some of those pedigree breed dogs, they look like something that escaped from Frankenstein's laboratory. There's way too much human genetic intervention.
BTW. I checked and my local SPCA shelter had a bunch of dogs up for adoption. And SPCA has over 1,700 shelters with adoptable dogs. I question the "dog shortage".
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I checked just now, my local shelter had about two dozen dogs up for adoption. Some of them very cute.
 
I'm all for getting dogs from the rescue places if you can, but in defense of the people who want purebreds -- I understand. The thing about a certain breed puppy vs a puppy from the pound is that you have some idea of what you'll have when it's grown and whether you can meet each others needs. For example, I grew up (age 3-18) with an Irish Setter and I just melt with nostalgia and love every time I see one, but they have big chests for running and need lots of room, so I couldn't have one now.

I always thought I was a big dog person and like Feywon, I used to ask my father, with his little ones, when he was going to get a "real" dog. Then I got my first mini-Dachshund and wouldn't be satisfied with any other breed. I like the way she comes up from under my covers and wakes me each morning, 2 minutes before the alarm goes off, and keeps me on schedule all day, with me every minute even when I'm vacuuming. Some people would hate that. They also couldn't stand the barking which is part of the breed.

So I guess I go along with the man who hosts the Westminster Dog Show every year. He always ends the show saying something like, "Get one of your favorite breed and then go to the shelter and get a mixed breed, too."
 

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