Dear Miss Behavin’:
I’m looking to adopt a new dog, but I have a specific breed in mind. Every time I visit my local shelter I get discouraged when I don’t find what I’m looking for. How can I find my dream dog without going through a breeder?
The best advice I can give you is to have patience. Many purebred dogs do enter shelters; however, they often are adopted quickly. That means many folks don’t realize they were there in the first place. So if you’re searching for a certain breed, you will need to return to your local shelters often to see what is available. Typically there are new dogs up for adoption every day (call 650-340-7022 ext. 823 for our most current list, updated every morning before we open).
There also might be groups in your area that specialize in re-homing a certain breed. If you go this route, you might have the added benefit of knowing the dog’s history. For example, the group might have information on whether a dog has lived with children or cats (shelters might have this information too, depending on the circumstances).
Even if you are set on a certain breed, I do recommend doing a little soul-searching and ask yourself why you have that preference. Did you own the breed growing up? Do you like a “characteristic” of a working breed, such as herding or retrieving? Do you love the physical appearance of a breed? Once you nail down what drew you to the idea in the first place, you might be able to think outside the box.
Mixed breed dogs can have the same behavioral (retrieving, herding, swimming, etc.) or physical attributes (flatter faces, curly hair, short legs, etc.) as purebred dogs, but as an added bonus they will have more genetic variation. Purebred dogs have much smaller gene pools, which can lead to serious medical problems.
So I suggest identifying what drew you to your breed of choice in the first place, and then broadening your search to include mixed breed dogs that fit those characteristics. And don’t forget to consider the most important trait of any dog: their personality.