How did the pandemic affect pets, particularly dogs? We know that dog adoptions increased immensely during the initial quarantines—these were dogs rehomed through shelters and rescues and puppies purchased from breeders. We read that dogs in those new homes may now be exhibiting many symptoms of the lack of socialization and training that the pandemic shut down.
Are many of the “spur of the moment” decisions to add a dog or puppy to a household being regretted as families go back to more normal lifestyles? Dogs that were never alone for most of their first year in a new home, for example, may suffer from separation anxiety that becomes a critical problem for their new families. Will those dogs be given up now to shelters or rescues?
Last year, I was in touch with several families who hoped to buy a puppy from a breeder of purebreds. They found few possibilities within a driving distance allowing for in-person visits to see the litter. There was a serious shortage of purebred puppies. A golden retriever rescue, run by members of a local breed club, stopped taking applications for adoptions because there were simply no goldens available needing homes.
Local shelters emptied briefly, but not for long. Instead, they were filled again with dogs “imported” from other states, even from other countries, trucked or flown here by humane societies or shelters in areas where adoptions were down or almost non-existent. Our local shelters re-filled with dogs that went from a transport vehicle directly onto the adoption floor, with no history, no vetting, and no time for decompression. The result was that many doggy “profiles” online ended up, if the information given was honest and accurate, like this one I read recently:
Species
Dog
Breed
Terrier/Mix
Age
10 months
Gender
Male
Size
Medium
Color
Brown/Black
Housetrained
Unknown
“I recently came from a shelter in TX. Unfortunately, my history is a mystery and it is unknown if I have ever lived with other dogs, cats, small animals, or children. I am a very sweet and happy boy! I enjoy playing with my friends and going on long walks/runs. I will need an owner who matches my activity level. A fully fenced yard so I can play and run in is a plus. Before considering adding me to your life, please make sure you have the appropriate amount of time, space, and resources available to care for me for my lifetime. I am very excited about finding my new forever family!”
Prospective adopters know nothing about the animals. They’ll be taking a “total stranger” into their home, with no idea what to expect, and little support for their efforts. Some of these dogs brought with them infectious health issues that local veterinarians might not check for since they were not fully informed of the dog’s provenance. Even when the dog had been turned in by a former owner to a local shelter, important information was not passed onto prospective adopters accurately. Perhaps staff were overwhelmed to the point that getting dogs out of the shelter’s kennels was the only achievable goal. Finding the “right fit” in a home for the dog might have seemed even less possible. Offering support and education to struggling new owners could simply not be prioritized. To adopters, the message may have been unspoken, but it was surely clear: “It’s your dog now—it’s your problem.”
Photo by Clair Eccles
Is now a good time to add a dog to your household? That’s up to you, but I will state one caution: BUYER BEWARE. Do your due-diligence. Dogs, like any commodity, have been affected by the pandemic—not necessarily their health (we’ll know more about that as time passes) but certainly their availability and their cost. In addition, although rescues and shelters may currently house as many dogs as they usually did in pre-pandemic years, the sources of those dogs and the reasons those dogs are there may differ radically from the sources and reasons most common in the past.
In online listings of dogs adoptable in a neighboring state, I see photos and descriptions that indicate a preponderance of hound types, in place of the retriever types I would have seen several years ago. To me, it’s a cultural difference. Where I live, people are used to seeing retriever types but we are not used to seeing hounds. We are, as a populace, I think, more “used to” retrievers. We know what they’re like as a general group, but we know much less about hounds.
If you’re looking for a dog to adopt from a shelter or humane society that has recently refilled its kennels with adoptable dogs “imported” from one of the southern states, for example, you might end up taking home a hound, although it’s a breed you know nothing about.
Do your research before you adopt the dog! Does breed matter? Everything matters!
If you live in an area where “imported” hound types take up the majority of kennels at your local humane societies and animal shelters, you may wait a long time to find the retriever type you want.
But while you wait, how about fostering a dog who’s waiting too?
As always, foster-to-adopt may be a wise option if you qualify. You’ll get to know a dog “up close and personal” and if you “foster fail” (decide to adopt a foster dog), all the better for you and for the dog!
Fostering families may be excellent contacts in the search for your new dog, too—they want the best for the dog they foster. It’s in their interest and the dog’s when they’re honest with you. They’ll know the dog well enough to help you to decide how he or she would work out in your home and family.
On social media, I saw a post from someone I know who’s fostering a 10-year-old dog whose original owner had died. In the few sentences the foster wrote to tell me about the dog, it was obvious that although age would not be an issue, the dog’s evident discomfort on stairs disqualified her for my friends who were looking. Their home is multi-level with endless stairs, inside and out. It would be impossible for an older dog with existing mobility issues to live there comfortably.
I don’t know if statistics indicate more dogs (during the pandemic as opposed to in years before) being turned in at shelters because of their owner’s death, but I wouldn’t be surprised. I see so many listings for grieving dogs! I suppose it’s easy to “judge” humans who’ve died without making arrangements for their pets’ futures, but in a time when so many humans have died “unexpectedly,” what should we “expect” of those humans we don’t know? If “grief” is a dog’s most obvious issue, but the dog is ultimately close to your perfect pet, is there a way you can help? And maybe end up with a match?
Veterinarians offer another opportunity for finding an adoptable dog who could fit your family. When rehoming the dog becomes unavoidable, the vet may be the original family’s first call. Tell your vet or an appropriate staffer what you hope for in a dog; put it in writing, simply, with your contact information, just in case. If you’ve been a client at that clinic, they’ll know your current and former pets and how you cared for them.
Groomers, too, can be another source of info on dogs available for adoption. If that groomer has regularly groomed that dog, you could get some great insights into the dog’s general behavior.
Friends and family can be enlisted to spread the word that you are looking for a dog to adopt, but if they’re enthusiastic, be prepared for random communications from friends-of-friends who “know of a dog” . . . and consider not making your search for a dog to adopt a public topic on social media.
So, is now a good time to adopt a dog?
It’s not a “normal” time, that’s for sure. Will you be patient enough? Will you use well the time it may take to find your new family member in our (post?) pandemic world? Will the wait be worth it?
Let us know how your search goes!
