Border Collie Pup

[JohnK]

So you're saying there a two populations of people- those who re-home dogs and those who buy new ones. Lets suppose you're right. If i persuade 10 people today to move from the second population to the first that's 10 dogs lives saved. If i persuade 10 people to do the reverse, that's 10 financial transactions which have a net effect of encouraging the beneficient of those transactions to manufacture more product, and 10 failures to get people to save a dog's life. That's how it is being part of the problem.

Of course previous experience affects a dog's behaviour, just not in the way people usually think. And i did point out that my example was simplified as a demonstration, for the purposes of explaining how a dog's brain works. I have got 11 years of postgraduate training on the subject- i can elaborate if you like. The example i gave is not 'therapy'- it's part of a daily interaction with all dogs, all the time, that results in particular behaviours recurring or not recurring. This is true of any dog, wherever it comes from. And i repeat, just because a dog is rehomed does not mean it will have any problematic behavioural issues at all. If buying a puppy from a reputable breeder guarantees no behavioural problems for life, tell me why its the most commonly cited reason to request euthanasia in pedigree dogs?

You ask why should someone go to the trouble of reshaping the behaviour of a dog who does happen to have some problems? Because they care. Because its rewarding. Because its the right thing to do. Because it gives meaning and purpose to your life. Because nobody else will. Because the dog is not a commodity for our selfish convenience. Because they can. Because it demonstrates to others that its possible and they might try it. That's off the top of my head, i may think of more reasons later..

I don`t want to join the debate but i feel that I should say I am 100% behind Longdogs in her sentiments.



The Collie in my Avatar was a rescue dog and in fact was just hours away from Euthanasia when we called the rescue home looking for a collie that needed rehoming, to cut a long story short we were introduced to a trembling Psychotic animal that had obviously had a pretty shabby start to life, anyway despite all the warnings we were given as regard`s to how difficult she could be, we made a donation and took her home yes she was hard work having never been socialised with people, other animals etc and she just appeared to be afraid of everything especially wide open spaces, she couldn`t handle stiles, Gates , afraid of Rivers and open water etc etc, But now several years down the line we have a Beautiful confident (almost ) collie that is a joy to be with and we often remark that it is good that our dog now realises that not everthing is out to get her.

So for me at least until the dog homes are empty, then there is really is no need to buy or breed puppys, much better to make a donation to a home and give a living creature a fair chance at life rather than turning your back and condeming often a very good animal to an early death.

Buying a Puppy gives you no more Gaurantees than re-homing an animal, at the end of the day it is all up to the handler/trainers ability to teach the dog to intergrate into what for it is an unatural enviroment, that given a chance I suspect it would choose not to be a part of.