If you’re considering adding a dog to your home, there are many reasons to do so. Dogs are great companions, they’ll help you stay more active, and they’re an endless source of amusement. However, before you begin the process of selecting the furry friend that’s right for you and your family, it’s also important to understand why you should adopt dogs from a shelter. Adopting dogs instead of buying dogs helps limit shelter overpopulation, is far less expensive, and provides an animal in need with a home. In addition, you also receive all the benefits of owning a dog.
Let’s look at some reasons why you should adopt dogs from a shelter and add a new friend to your household.
Dogs From Shelters Need Homes
There are many reasons why you should adopt dogs from a shelter instead of opting to buy a dog from a breeder or pet store. However, the one that tends to come to mind first for most people is the simplest – dogs from shelters need homes. Often, dogs end up in shelters because their family needs to move, adopts another pet, or adds a child to the family. Sometimes, dogs wind up in shelters because they need more affection and interaction than the human who originally purchased them was able to provide. Whatever the reason, if a dog has wound up in a shelter, it’s because they’re in need of a home. If you’re considering adding a dog to your household, it makes logical sense, and often financial sense as well, to consider adopting a dog from a shelter.
Adoption From a Shelter Is Relatively Inexpensive
Another reason why you should adopt dogs from a shelter is that doing so is relatively inexpensive. Adopting a dog from a shelter typically involves paying an adoption fee, which often includes a fee for spaying or neutering the animal, and any deposit that you’ll need to pay your rental property management firm if you rent your home. These fees are all you’ll pay upfront for adopting the animal. You’ll, of course, need to budget for vet bills, animal supplies, a license with your municipality, and so on, but you’d have these fees whether you adopt or buy. Often, it’s far less expensive to adopt a puppy or adult dog from a shelter than it is to purchase a dog, and you’ll also have the peace of mind of knowing you helped rescue an animal in need.
Dogs Make Great Companions
Once you’ve brought your shelter dog home, you may find that he or she never wants to leave your side. This is especially common in shelter dogs, as they’re so happy to be adopted and love to share affection with their family members. Your dog will enjoy cuddling with you on the couch while you watch television, sleeping with you at night, and even trying to take care of you after basic medical procedures, such as a wisdom teeth extraction.
Dogs often seem to be able to sense when their human is uncomfortable or in pain, and will do their best to try to make you feel better. If you’ve been wondering why you should adopt dogs from a shelter, this alone is a great reason. Shelter dogs are amazing companions and share your daily activities with you. It doesn’t matter if you’re taking a ride in the car or a walk around the block, your shelter dog will be happy to come along.
Dogs Never Let You Feel Alone
Your shelter dog will never let you feel alone. If you’ve been wondering why you should adopt dogs from a shelter, this is one easy reason. Shelter dogs help keep you from feeling lonely. It’s common to feel isolated, especially if you live alone. However, a dog can help lift these negative feelings. They’re always happy to see you when you come home, and they’re always ready to play, go for a walk, or have an adventure. If you have trouble finding someone to enjoy activities with, you’ll be pleased to know that your shelter dog will be ready to do almost everything with you. The only adventure dogs aren’t really fond of is trips to the animal hospital, which is quite understandable.
Your Dog Will Boost Your Mood (And You’ll Boost Theirs!)
Dogs are great at knowing what kind of mood you’re in and doing their best to improve it. If you’ve spent the day in line at the DMV, meeting with a divorce lawyer, or stuck in traffic, it’s as if your dog can sense it when you come home. They’ll greet you with their favorite toy and devote extra time to getting your attention because, if you’re paying attention to them, you can’t be in a bad mood.
This type of companionship is one of the best reasons for adopting a shelter dog – they’ll help boost your mood, and you’ll help boost theirs. This positive feedback loop is a great for individuals with mental health disorders and can help you feel like you’ve got something to look forward to at the end of the day. In fact, behaviors like this are one of the reasons that dogs make great emotional support animals. They’re empathic and can pick up on your emotions and then do their best to improve your mood.
Dogs Allow for More Socialization
Dogs also allow for more socialization. If you’re wondering why you should adopt dogs from a shelter, another reason is that they’ll help you work to be more social. Whether you’re walking around the block and they want to peek into your neighborhood pizza restaurant to learn about what smells so nice, or you’re hanging out at the park, and they’re trying to make friends with every dog in the neighborhood, your dog will certainly encourage more social behavior.
You may want to plan outings to keep up with their need for socialization, like taking them to your local nature center, planning for weekend walks in the park, or allowing extra time when you walk around the neighborhood in the evening. Before you know it, you’ll find that you’re being a bit more social too, as your new dog encourages you to meet new people and try out new things.
You’ll Get Outside and Exercise More With Your Pup By Your Side
Another reason why you should adopt dogs from a shelter is that a canine companion will help you get outside and exercise more. From the moment you wake up in the morning, your dog will be ready to go for a walk. They know that when you grab your keys, sunglasses, and reach for the knob on the patio door, it means it’s time to go outside, and they are not about to let you forget it. This means that you’ll likely get out a lot more than you’re used to, and you’ll find yourself quickly getting in far more exercise than you’d expected. Dogs love to walk and run and will make sure that you don’t skimp on the activity. If you do, you’ll soon be dealing with a bored pet, and there’s not much worse than that.
Bored dogs tend to behave badly, so if you’ve noticed that your new pet is chewing on things they shouldn’t, clawing at the door, or whining frequently to get your attention, it’s likely that he needs more exercise than he’s getting. Try bumping up the number of walks throughout the day and see if these negative behaviors decrease, or add in one or two indoor play sessions. Dogs need loads of exercise to be happy and healthy, so it’s important to spend the necessary time bonding with your new pet in order to prevent this type of negative behavior from becoming a habit.
You’ll Be Giving a Dog a Wonderful and Loving Home
Another reason why you should adopt dogs from a shelter is that you’ll be providing a dog with a great home. Dogs who live out their lives in shelters don’t have the best living situations. The shelter owners do their best, but overcrowding is often an issue. It can be difficult to give each animal the individual attention that they need. Once you’ve adopted your dog, one important thing to take care of is to have them microchipped and register them for pet tracking services.
Microchipping services are often offered by the shelter when you adopt. If not, you can ask your vet to perform the service. A small RFID chip is injected subcutaneously so that, if your dog gets lost or runs away, a shelter can scan the chip and find out where she belongs. Your name, address, phone number, and any other identifying information are put into a data system so that you and your pet can be reunited as easily as possible. These pet tracking services help keep animals from staying lost and help ensure that they can find their way home when necessary.
Prepping Your Home for Your New Dog
There are numerous things that you’ll need to take care of before your home is fully ready to bring home a new dog. If you adopt a dog from a shelter and bring it home, without fully preparing your home, you may find that you and the dog both experience difficulties. Consider things like installing laminate flooring in the area where you’ll be potty training a puppy so that you don’t have to worry about your carpeting consistently. Often you can purchase wholesale laminate flooring quite inexpensively, and it may be well worth it to not have to stress about ruined carpets.
You’ll also want to make sure that your yard is either fenced in or that everyone in the home understands that the new dog must be walked on a leash. Otherwise, you run the risk of the dog running away, digging holes, or getting injured. If you live in an area where insects are an issue, it may be wise to consult with a bee removal service and have them examine your yard as well to make sure that you don’t have any nests that you aren’t aware of. The last thing you need is your new pup finding a nest with their nose and a sudden emergency vet bill that you weren’t expecting making an appearance.
Items to Purchase Before Bringing Your Dog Home
There are quite a few items that you’ll want to make sure you have on hand before you bring your dog home. Otherwise, you’ll have to coordinate trips to the pet store with your new pet, which can be difficult. Spend some time before bringing your new dog home from the shelter to make sure that you have a leash, collar, food, a food bowl, a water bowl, pet waste bags, a few toys, and a dog bed or blanket for your dog to sleep on. If you’ll need to keep a younger dog contained during the night or while you work during the day, you may also need to purchase a crate that’s appropriately sized. Your local pet store should be able to help you pick out a variety of basic supplies so that you’ll have everything you need on hand when you bring your new pet home.
Changing a dog’s food can be hard on their stomach, so be sure to ask the shelter what food they’ve been feeding your new pet. Then you can mix the old food with the food that you’ve chosen, half-and-half, and switch them to their new food gradually. Or, if you’re happy with the food that the shelter is using, you can simply purchase more of the same brand.
Wondering why you should adopt dogs from a shelter? It’s simple: he’ll be your new best friend. Bringing your new dog home from the shelter doesn’t have to be overwhelming. You’ve made the right choice, and you’re sure to enjoy many fun days with your new friend. Just relax and spend some time getting to know each other with the help of these tips and guidelines.