Starting the Search for a Dog

I am getting ready to start my search for a dog to adopt and train as my service dog.  I am so excited about this!

I am going to be doing six weeks of intensive physical therapy for my back problems, starting some time pretty soon.  I don’t want to actually adopt a dog until I’m done with the physical therapy because it’s going to take a lot of my time and I don’t want to have to leave a new dog home alone that much.  I think I’ll be doing the physical therapy three times a week, and the hospital near my home does not have therapists that are adequately trained (says my back specialist and I believe him since when I did physical therapy there a couple years ago, it did not help at all), so I will have to drive about an hour to go to therapy.  I’ll drive an hour there, be there for about an hour, then drive an hour home.

I will be tired when I get home and I may also be having some pain that might make it difficult to walk my dog then.  And I just don’t want to leave a new dog home alone that often.  So I don’t want to get the dog until I’m done with physical therapy.

But it may take more than six weeks to find the right dog, anyway.  My hope is to find a dog with a rescue organization.  I really like the idea of getting a rescue dog instead of buying a dog from a breeder, and to be honest, the cost of buying a dog from a breeder would be too much for me anyway.  I understand that getting a dog from a breeder, one that specifically breeds dogs to be service dogs, increases the likelihood of a dog actually working out.  Not all dogs have what it takes to be service dogs. 

Also, when you get a dog from a shelter or rescue, you usually don’t know all the background information on the dog.  You don’t know what the dog’s been through.  Dogs that have been abused or traumatized may have emotional or behavioral problems that interfere with their ability to be good service dogs, and being in a shelter is probably traumatic for any dog.

Still, I like the idea of getting a rescue dog.  I like the idea of finding a really good dog that needs a good home and, maybe it sounds kind of cheesy, but I’ll save the dog and the dog will save me.

I want to get a dog from a rescue organization rather than a shelter for a few reasons.  A dog from a rescue organization will be living with a foster family prior to adoption.  That will be much less stressful for the dog than living in a shelter, so I expect fewer emotional and behavioral problems. 

Also, the foster family will know the dog well.  They will know things like whether the dog likes kids and cats, whether it’s hyper or mellow, whether it is easily startled by loud noises, how it responds to strangers at the dog, etc.  Staff at an animal shelter, on the other hand, are not likely to know those things.  Even if they’ve paid close attention to how the dog behaves in the shelter, that’s not a good indication of how a dog will behave in a home setting.

Also, I’m assuming the foster families of rescue dogs are people that really love dogs.  They will be taking great care of the dog.  Hopefully they will take the time to teach it good manners, maybe some basic obedience, things like that.  And hopefully the dog will be in good health and the foster family will take care to make sure it’s healthy.

Finally, I’d much rather support an organization that rescues dogs than a shelter than euthanizes dogs if they run out of room.

Finding the right dog with a rescue organization might take a while, though.  I’ll write more later about what exactly I’ll be looking for.