adopt a GSD from shelter or rescue?

[MeeSh119]

I'm planning on adopting a new dog sometime soon, but I can't decide if I want to adopt from an animal shelter or from a rescue. What are the pros and cons of both? I don't really care too much whether or not if the dogs purebred, but what I do like about the rescues is that they usually have a more extensive knowledge of the dog's temperment (from my experience anyway). I really want an active dog that I could take to dog parks, but that could be lazy on Sunday nights . My main concern is the intelligence of a dog and the potty training (that's why I'm opting for a dog rather than a puppy). What do you guys think? The dogs at the humane society over here have a really broad analysis and they don't have any details about them, but whenever I look online at the rescues, the details are pinpointed... What do you guys think?

THanks for the help!!

 

[PixieSticksandTricks]

I adopted Pixie my Saint Bernard/Lab mix from our local Shelter. I actually found her at www.petfinder.com if you havent been there it is an awsome site.

We have had her for 5 months now and she has been an awsome addition to the family. In my opinion it doesent really matter if it comes from a rescue or shelter temperment wise it all depends on the dog. Some shelters and some rescues both can come off bad and some come off great information wise on each dog.

Some shelters will adopt out puppies that are already housetrained... Atleast around here they do. We went for an adult dog because we live in a bad neighborhood and a big adult dog barking at a knock on the door is more intimidating then a puppy barking at the door. Thats the only reason we did'nt go with a puppy instead but I do love my Pixie Stick!

The shelter we got her from had alot of info on her I know her full life story for the most part.

i don't know if I helped at all but thats just my personal experience with Shelters and Rescues. I think their pretty equal.

 

[casablanca1]

I prefer shelters. Unless they know you, rescue people tend to be a bit snotty. So do shelter people, but rescue people strike me as being obsessively cliquey. At least a shelter will let you meet the dogs before grilling you, and their attitude is more realistically geared toward finding a decent home for a dog, instead of rescue's obsession with finding the perfect home for their dog. That, plus the fact that rescue quality varies widely, makes me always opt for a good local shelter over a rescue.

 

[Fran27]

I'm not fond of shelters personally. The ones I have seen get dogs that have to pee in their box, so much for housetraining, plus they don't know anything about the dog's history and their personality tests take maybe 10 minutes... nowhere enough to have an idea of what the dog's personality is. Plus half the dog I saw ended up having some kind of health issues (infections etc). But it's cheap, and you can spend a while with the dog easily before you take it home, so you can get an idea of what their personality is.

Rescues on the other hand have a better idea of the personality of the dog, plus the dog won't have any health problem when you get it, but it's more expensive, and they sometimes have totally crazy requirements compared to shelters.

I think I would still look at shelters first, and if you don't find the right dog I would look up rescues.

 

[Zoom]

I have a dog from one of each. My Aussie came from a rescue, and they were incredibly helpful with all the initial stuff. They started him on housebreaking and crate training and leash manners, got him all his shots, neutered and groomed for me before I picked him up and things like that. My Rottie mix was from the shelter, no one knew anything about her other than she had been adopted from that same shelter 5 months prior and then one day she was back. They think she just ran away and someone found her and brought her back. She had a rash on her belly but was current on most of her shots.

I think it's pretty much a toss up: good shelters are great...but rescues do know more about their particular breed, so they're more careful about personality screenings and can help you with any future problems. Plus, a lot of dogs that end up in shelters are there because they either ran away, or the people just didn't care enough to take two seconds to contact a rescue.