What You Should Know Before Adopting a Shelter Dog

Are you thinking about adopting a shelter dog? Congratulations — you are a life saver! Just be sure to read the following tips so you’re well prepared for your new family member.

Choosing the Right Pet for Your Lifestyle

Like people, pets have different temperaments and activity levels. If you’re basically a couch potato, a working dog like a border collie would not be the right pet for you. Although you may fall in love with a dog you see on the shelter’s website, consider your lifestyle before making a commitment.

This is the most important thing you should consider when adopting a shelter animal, according to Madeline Bernstein, president of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Los Angeles (spcaLA), an independent animal organization.

“The best type of pet for you and your family—age, breed appearance, species, activity level—is dependent on you,” she told me. “Shelter pets, like people, have different needs and personalities. Do you have kids? Are you active? Do you want to spend a lot of time training? Ask yourself these questions and discuss as a family. Most importantly, come to the shelter with an open mind. Personality and compatibility are really the important things to factor into a decision.”

Finding a Perfect Match at the Shelter

Adopting a dog from a shelter has some benefits over adopting one from a rescue. For example, there are many more dogs to choose from and lower adoption fees.

“In our community, there are too many wonderful, sweet and healthy pets and too few owners,” Bernstein said. “By choosing to adopt, you are helping to end the pet overpopulation crisis. Any adoption is a win, but when you adopt from a shelter, that kennel space is opened for the next needy pet.”

  • Be sure to bring a photo ID. If you’re a renter, it’s a good idea to bring a copy of your rental agreement or a letter from your landlord indicating that dogs are allowed in your home.

  • If possible, you should bring all family members, including your other pets if the shelter allows it, to see how the dog reacts to them and vice versa.

  • Unless you’ve already selected a dog from the shelter’s website, let the shelter staff know what kind of dog and personality you’re looking for, and if you’d prefer a certain breed.

  • Shelters are very stressful environments for animals, so don’t dismiss a dog just because she seems scared and unfriendly in her kennel.

  • Many animal shelters have “meet-and-greet” areas where potential adopters can interact with dogs. Just remember that because of their circumstances, many shelter animals may be skittish and apprehensive at first.

  • Don’t be disappointed if you can’t immediately take your new family member home with you. Many shelters require pets to be microchipped and spayed or neutered before being released to their forever homes.

This video, which is played in the lobbies of Salt Lake County animal shelters, has additional helpful tips about finding the right shelter dog for you.

Preparing Your Children for a Dog

If your children, especially little ones, have never been around a dog before, you can prevent injuries by teaching them how to respectfully treat your potential new family member.

  • Tell your children not to yell at or run toward the dog, which will frighten him. Explain that pets are not toys and must not be treated roughly.

  • Decide who will be responsible for various tasks like walking and feeding your new dog— but don’t give your child too much responsibility right away. The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) recommends that until you know what tasks your children can handle on their own, always supervise them when they are caring for your dog.

Additional helpful tips can be found on the AVMA website.

Preparing Other Pets for Your New Dog

Some shelters have play areas where you can bring your dog to meet the pet you want to adopt so you can see if they get along. If this isn’t available, be prepared to gradually introduce your pet to your new family member. And be sure to give your existing pet just as much, if not more, attention as you do to the newcomer.

It’s important to introduce your new dog on neutral turf – never inside your house. With both dogs leashed, take them for a relaxed walk, side by side and a safe distance apart. Let them meet and sniff each other. If they’re getting along, take them to an enclosed area and remove their leashes. The Best Friends Animal Society has detailed instructions for introducing dogs successfully.

Preparing Your House for Your New Pet

Before going to the shelter to adopt a dog, make sure your house is prepared.

  • Buy pet supplies including food, bowls, toys, bedding, and a collar and leash.

  • Many adult shelter animals have already been housetrained, but be prepared with potty-training pads just in case.

  • Put anything you don’t want your dog to chew or eat out of their reach.

  • Inspect your house from a dog’s-eye view. Hide or tape down any hazards such as electrical and mini-blind cords.

  • Put childproof latches on low cupboard doors. Install baby gates or keep the doors closed to block areas that are off-limits to your new dog.

  • Make sure all trash cans have secure lids or can’t be accessed by your dog.

Check out more pet-proofing tips from the American Humane Association.

Additional Resources

For more information about adopting shelter dogs, visit these websites.

Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons

This story was originally published on Care2.com.

These 5 Hero Seeing-Eye Dogs Saved Their Human Companions’ Lives

September is National Guide Dog Month, a time to celebrate and raise awareness of the work of seeing-eye dogs and other service dogs.

Seeing-eye dogs may have existed as far back as the first century A.D., according to the Guide Dogs for the Blind Federation. A mural depicting a dog leading a man was discovered in the ruins of the ancient Roman town of Heculaneum, which was destroyed by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 A.D.

Twenty centuries later, Guiding Eyes for the Blind estimates that there are currently about 10,000 guide dogs working in the United States.

In honor of National Guide Dog Month, here are five seeing-eye dogs that went above and beyond the line of duty by heroically saving the lives of their blind human companions.

Salty and Roselle

When the North Tower of the World Trade Center was struck by the hijacked American Airlines Flight 11 on 9/11, two seeing-eye dogs led their blind owners safely out of the building.

Michael Hingson was working on the 78th floor when the plane struck 14 stories above him. Although his 3-year-old seeing-eye dog, Roselle, was terrified of loud noises, the yellow Lab immediately sprang into action, leading Hingson to the stairwell and down 78 flights of stairs.

“Roselle wasn’t giving me any indication she was nervous,” Hingson told KSBY the week before the 20th anniversary of 9/11. “We key off each other, we feed off each other, and the very fact she wasn’t nervous at all told me that we had time to try and evacuate in an orderly way.”

A book Hingson wrote about the experience, “Thunder Dog: The True Story of a Blind Man, His Guide Dog, and the Triumph of Trust” [*affiliate link], was a bestseller. Roselle, who retired in 2007, died in 2011 of immune-mediated thrombocytopenia, a disease Hingson believes was triggered by the chemicals, debris and smoke she inhaled on 9/11.

Omar Rivera was also working in the North Tower when the plane struck. His seeing-eye dog, Salty, began running back and forth in the hallway outside Rivera’s cubicle on the 71st floor.

“I think he was trying to search out what was going on — and then he just came back to me and sat down next to me, very anxious,” Rivera told TODAY.com in 2015. “The thing I remember most about him that day was the way he tried to communicate with me to tell me, ‘This is urgent. We need to act on this immediately.’”

As they slowly descended the increasingly crowded stairwell, Rivera let go of Salty’s harness so the dog could escape, but the yellow Lab refused to leave his side. After an hour and 15 minutes, they finally made it to the ground floor. They were only a few blocks away when the tower collapsed.

Salty retired in 2007. He “played obsessively with tennis balls and exuded relentless joy” until he died at the age of 13 the following year, TODAY.com reports.

Yolanda

Maria Colon, who is blind, awoke to the smell of smoke in her Philadelphia house in August 2015.

“I said, ‘Oh my God… I can’t breathe,’” she told NBC 10.

She shouted, “Danger!” to her seeing-eye dog, Yolanda.

The golden retriever called 911.

“I hear the phone — tke, tke, tke. And she’s growling. And I said, ‘Oh my lord, she called the police,’” Colon said.

This was actually the second time Yolanda used the specially equipped phone to summon emergency services. She did the same thing last year when Colon fell and lost consciousness.

Firefighters quickly arrived and put out the blaze. Both Colon and Yolanda were treated for smoke inhalation.

“I’m her Mommy, and she loves me too much,” Colon told NBC 10.

Figo

As Audrey Stone crossed a Brewster, N.Y., street with her seeing-eye dog, Figo, on a morning in June 2015, the driver of a mini-bus didn’t see them.

But Figo sure saw the mini-bus. He leaped in front of Stone, taking the brunt of the hit.

“The dog did something really heroic,” John Del Gardo, Brewster’s police chief, told ABC News. “He sort of lunged at the bus. It injured his leg and paw, and the woman received multiple injuries. When EMS came, he didn’t want to leave her side.”

Both Stone and Figo were hospitalized for their injuries, but are expected to fully recover. A generous, anonymous benefactor covered the cost of Figo’s veterinary care.

Figo “deserves the purple heart,” Stone told the Journal News.

Orlando

Cecil Williams, who is blind, was walking too close to the edge of a Harlem subway platform in December 2013.

Witnesses told CBS New York that Williams’ seeing-eye dog, a 10-year-old black Lab named Orlando, kept barking and trying to lead him farther away.

Williams, however, ended up falling onto the subway tracks. Orlando jumped down and sat beside him, licking his face.

When a train approached, witnesses screamed for it to stop, but it was too late. Several cars ran over Williams and Orlando. Amazingly, both of them survived.

Since Orlando was about to retire, Williams was afraid he’d have to give up his hero for a new seeing-eye dog, because he couldn’t afford to care for two dogs. But thanks to donations, Orlando was able to live out his retirement with the man whose life he helped save.

“The spirit of giving, of Christmas, and all of that — it exists here,” a tearful Williams told CBS News.

Photo: Hurricane Omega

Thank You, Overland Park! City Council Unanimously Ends Pit Bull Ban

Hooray! Yet another city has ended its unfair Pit Bull ban.

The City Council of Overland Park, Kansas, voted unanimously Monday night to stop punishing certain dogs based solely on their looks or the breed(s) they happen to be. Overland Park was the last city in the Kansas City metro area to continue practicing breed-specific legislation (BSL), which are unfair laws, including breed bans, that single out certain dogs.

The city council voted to remove any language that specifies Staffordshire Bull Terriers, American Staffordshire Terriers and American Pit Bull Terriers from its dangerous animal ordinance, as in the following example (yay!):

 

 

BSL has proven to be ineffective in accomplishing what it’s intended to do — increasing public safety — wherever it’s been enacted. It’s also very expensive to enforce. It’s also opposed by nearly every major animal welfare organization, including the ASPCA, AVMA, HSUS, etc.

Those are some very good reasons why there’s been a growing trend to end BSL around the country.

Prairie Village, another city in the Kansas City metro area, lifted its Pit Bull ban in February 2020.

In November 2020, Denver, which had one of the most notorious Pit Bull bans in the world, ended its 31-year ban, thanks to voters. Two months later, the city council of Aurora, the third-largest city in Colorado, decided to end its 15-year Pit Bull ban as well. And soon after that, Commerce City, Colo., also ended its Pit Bull ban.

Thank you, Overland Park City Council, for having the good wisdom to judge the deed, not the breed.

Photo: Those were my first two Pitties, Sophie and Larry, enjoying a mind meld back in the late 1990s.

Dogs, Not Swabs, Test Miami Airport Employees for COVID

Last January, the Miami Heat became the first NBA team to use trained COVID-sniffing dogs to check for the virus before fans entered the AmericanAirlines Arena.

Eight months later, Miami is once again making history. This time around, the Miami International Airport (MIA) has put a team of these specially trained dogs to work, sniffing out COVID-19 in airport employees.

“We’re blessed in Miami-Dade County to have the first COVID-sniffing dogs, and it’s the first airport anywhere utilizing this type of technology in our four-legged friends,” Miami-Dade Commission Chair Jose ‘Pepe’ Diaz said at a news conference, CBS News Miami reports. “So, to us, it’s very important for us to grow the number of dogs that are doing this.”

Doing the sniffing during this pilot program are a Belgian Malinois named Cobra (that’s her in the photo above) and a Dutch Shepherd named One Betta. Both dogs are 7 years old and were trained at the Global Forensic and Justice Center (GFJC) at Florida International University (FIU). The pilot program is a joint effort between MIA and GFJC.

Here’s how it works: At the employee security checkpoint, employees remove their masks so Cobra and One Betta can sniff the face coverings. COVID causes the production of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that people excrete through their breath and sweat. It takes about two to three months to train dogs to detect the scent of these VOCs.

If Cobra or One Betta indicate that an MIA employee has the scent, the employee will be asked to get a rapid COVID test, while the dog will be rewarded with playtime with a Kong toy.

Being sniffed by a dog has to be much more comfortable than having a swab shoved up your nostril, right? (That alternative is still available to any MIA employees who somehow prefer it.)

It may be just as effective, too: A July 2020 study found that trained dogs could sniff out COVID-19 in human saliva and respiratory secretions with 94% accuracy. One Betta and Cobra are even better than this. Dr. Kenneth G. Furton, FIU provost and professor of chemistry and biochemistry, told the Washington Post the dogs have amazing accuracy percentage rates of 98.1 and 99.4, respectively.

One Betta and Cobra have already successfully detected two COVID cases. One MIA employee tested positive after taking the rapid COVID test and the other employee was recovering from COVID.

Although these two dogs are both purebreds, Furton said any breed or mix can be trained to detect COVID. The two other dogs in the pilot program are mixed-breed “pound puppies,” he told the Washington Post.

If all goes well with the MIA pilot program, it will likely expand to include travelers as well as employees. And if that goes well, until COVID is finally eradicated, hopefully COVID-sniffing dogs will become a familiar sight in every major airport.

Photo: Miami International Airport

Guide Dog Terrified by Thunder Led Blind Man to Safety on 9/11

A 3-year-old guide dog named Roselle was terrified by thunder.

“When we moved to New Jersey, she was our early warning system for storms,” her dog dad, Michael Hingson, told the Los Angeles Daily News in 2015. “She would get afraid and just start shaking.”

The Labrador Retriever always accompanied Hingson, who is blind, to his computer sales job in the North Tower of the World Trade Center. She was by his side when a hijacked plane struck the tower 20 years ago today.

“We heard a muffled explosion — the building sort of shuddered,” Hingson said during an appearance on FOX Business’s “Cavuto Coast to Coast” this week. “No one had any idea what was going on, because the airplane hit 18 floors above us on the other side of the building. But clearly, we needed to evacuate.”

Although the attack was far more frightening than the loudest thunderstorm, Roselle immediately went to work, helping guide Hingson down 78 flights of stairs.

“Roselle wasn’t giving me any indication she was nervous,” Hingson told KSBY this week. “We key off each other, we feed off each other, and the very fact she wasn’t nervous at all told me that we had time to try and evacuate in an orderly way.”

“I was the pilot and she was the navigator,” Hingson told the Daily News. After all, “When Roselle was working, she’d plow through a thunderstorm without a second thought,” he said.

David Frank was with Hingson at the time of the attack. He joined Hingson and Roselle for the 45-minute descent down the stairwell.

“She had difficult moments, but she never left his side,” Frank told the Daily News. “She was getting cotton-mouth — frothing white foam — and she managed to get some water that had puddled along the way.”

Frank said he will never forget Roselle’s determined expression — or all the doomed hero firefighters who passed them climbing up the stairs.

Hingson and Roselle inspired other survivors as they made their treacherous way down the stairwell. They told him, “We saw you going down the stairs and talking to Roselle, and clearly you guys didn’t have any problem with what was going on, so we followed you down the stairs,” Hingson told KSBY.

After Hingson and Roselle finally made it outside and were running away from the tower, the South Tower collapsed.

Hingson described it as like a freight train and a waterfall. “You could hear metal flattening like a freight train, glass tinkling and breaking, and this white noise of a waterfall pancaking straight down,” he told KSBY. “With every breath I took, I could feel dirt and junk and debris going down my throat and into my lungs and settling.”

He still managed to yell commands to Roselle, who continued to help him navigate through the horrorscape.

Hingson later wrote a best-selling book about the experience, appropriately titled, “Thunder Dog: The True Story of a Blind Man, His Guide Dog, and the Triumph of Trust.” [*affiliate link]

‘We were a perfect match’

Roselle had been raised and trained by Guide Dogs for the Blind in San Rafael, Calif. Hingson was introduced to her in 1999.

“It was obvious from the very beginning that we were a perfect match,” he wrote in his blog. “Roselle was my fifth guide dog. I could tell that she would be an excellent guide from our very first walk together. What took me a few days to discover was that Roselle was also quite a character; I constantly referred to her as a pixie.”

Roselle liked to steal Hingson’s socks and then hide them somewhere, “only to bring them out later just to taunt me,” he wrote. “Her tail wagged through the whole experience. In fact, her tail hardly stop wagging during the almost 12 years I knew her.”

For 10 years after 9/11, Roselle stayed by Hingson’s side. In 2004 the hero dog was diagnosed with immune-mediated thrombocytopenia, a disease that causes a dog’s immune system to attack and destroy blood platelets. Hingson told the Daily News he believes the chemicals, debris and smoke of Sept. 11 probably triggered the disease.

Three years later, Roselle retired. In June 2011, her condition worsened, and Hingson had to make the difficult decision to end her suffering.

“I remember I told her we loved her and she was a great dog. One in a million,” he told the Daily News. He said that after 9/11, it was the most difficult day in his life.

Hingson, who regularly made speaking engagements in the years after 9/11, is not as busy these days, but he hopes that will change. He and his wife now live in Victorville, Calif., with his current guide dogs, Fantasia and Africa. He keeps Roselle’s ashes in an engraved box.

His dream is to get a construction loan to build a handicapped-accessible house with a big yard for Fantasia and Africa, and a final resting place for Roselle.

“She worked through the most trying time in our nation’s history, and she was right there, unflinching, for all of it,” Hingson wrote on his blog. “Her spirit never diminished and, in fact, grew stronger through the years after 9/11, which helps me be a better person today.”

In memory of the hero dog, Hingson has created Roselle’s Dream Foundation. The purpose of the nonprofit is to “assist blind persons to live the life they want and to dream as big as they can” by educating people about blindness and helping blind children and adults obtain technologies to help them learn and work.

You can make a donation in Roselle’s memory on the Roselle’s Dream Foundation website.

Photos via Facebook

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