why do I keep trolling Petfinder?

[Hutchebs]

My husband says I need to STOP looking on Petfinder.com. I don't know why I keep doing this to myself. I started reading " you had me at woof" on Thursday night and FLEW through it. LOVED it! Which of course got me browsing on Petfinder again... pug, female, young- the usual.... now I have a little one in my heart that I wish someone would scoop up today to get her out of my brain.

In May of 2011 I had my dog, Lily my lovely yellow lab.. and my Gordie who I beeeeggged for and who loooves my husband. He tolerates me. He does not love me like he loves his Daddy. Kind of ticks me off. If he weren't so darn adorable it would tick me off more :) My Lily was taken from me in a matter of weeks with an aggressive horrible case of canine lymphoma. From diagnosis to losing her a week and a half. I think I am still in shock. Still crying, still broken inside...

So- I even though I know it is a bad idea to try and fill that void in my heart with a new dog that isn't Lily I can't stay off Petfinder. I have filled out the MidMichigan Pug Rescue form like 4 times and then backed out.

Question after reading " you had me at woof".... do some rescue groups really "embellish" the descriptions? For those that have read the book.. example" Dahlia"... though I learned the lesson regarding not judging by the cover...just wondering....

PS: if someone already is in process of adopting Gabrielle I would be really happy.. :) That face snuggling her dolly makes me melt! :)

[Cheryl7777]

I did that too after I lost Abby. We wanted another Pug right away because we had Gus and he was so lonesome without his sister. We rescued Benny shortly after Abby died and still I was constantly on Pet Finder. I ended up spotting a little black female at a dog pound in another town. My daughter made the 2 to 3 hour drive and snatched her out of that place. So now we have 3 Pugs and 4 cats. So I know that is our absolute limit and yet I still look on Pet Finder myself. I don't know why we do it, but at least you are not alone.

[AbbyGus]

And mom..that friend of Luke's (my sister) who is doing rescue here in town now needs homes for two 1.5 year old brothers. They are littermates and must stay together..one black and one fawn. Don't worry, I only told her I could help with transport if she can't find a good home locally. I'm sure either Nebraska or Colorado rescue would take them. So I'm almost as bad.

Emily, no dog will ever replace Lily and you know that. I can tell you though that Benny came into our lives at just the right time and not just for Gus' sake. I will always miss Abby but I sure do love my little Ben. Gracie is beginning to fit right in too.

[6 Beautiful Pugs]

If you are not sure if you are ready to adopt yet, you can ALWAYS foster for a while and see how it goes. You may discover you love being a foster and making them ready to move on to their forever homes. All rescues always need more good fosters.

Take care,
Lisa

[*Leenie*]

Dont feel bad. I troll craigslist pets every single day.

[Wonka & Nilla]

You already know that no dog can fill Lily's role, but a new dog may help bring new joy and laughter into your heart and home and could help to heal a little of that hole that Lily left. If there is one special little girl who is "jumping out at you" then maybe it's because you need her as much as she needs you.
In the meantime, I like Lisa's suggestion.... maybe you could try fostering or volunteer in some other way until you know you're ready for a new dog.

Question after reading " you had me at woof".... do some rescue groups really "embellish" the descriptions?

While I've never worked for a rescue group and don't know first-hand, I can tell you that our Miss Nilla's petfinder description was rather misleading. We laugh about it now, but it felt like "bait and switch" in those early months, after adoption, when we were dealing with all of her fear and aggression issues. I don't think the (all-breed) rescue intended to be so misleading, I think they just didn't really understand small dogs and didn't take the time to properly evaluate her before writing the description. Nilla was just as cute in person as her picture, but the description was pure fantasy.

From a "business" standpoint, it really doesn't make any sense for a rescue to "embellish" or lie about the dog, because they are likely to end up with the wrong adopters and then the dog may come right back to them and they have to start over finding it a new home. That's just bad "business" - better to tell the truth from the beginning.

[6 Beautiful Pugs]

Yeah, I don't think many reputable rescues will purposely embellish descriptions. However, dogs can behave differently in different homes. There is also the "honeymoon period" when most dogs are on good behavior, until they settle in and become comfortable, when problems like aggression, barking, dominance, etc. will begin to show up. When the description is written, it is usually written when a foster first receives the dog, during the honeymoon phase. Young, attractive, healthy dogs are usually adopted before the honeymoon phase is even finished.

Also housebreaking is another thing that can be better at one house over another. A foster may have a dog door or an open door and the dog may go out just fine, but if the adoptive home does not, he may not know to hold it, or ask to go out. marking in a multi-dog household can be an issue too. If the dog came from a home where he was the only dog, he may have never marked, but thrust into a new home with several other dogs he may begin to mark like mad.

Just like you would not behave the same way in different settings and environments, neither will most dogs.

So in short, no, they don't intend to embellish, but you can only take a description as a very general estimate.

Take care,
Lisa

[Wonka & Nilla]

When the description is written, it is usually written when a foster first receives the dog, during the honeymoon phase.

Yes, and with Miss Nilla, she was also recovering from surgery while at the foster home. I don't think they had any idea what she was really like because she wasn't there long enough to be fully healed and feeling like her normal self. Nilla had been shuffled around to four different homes within that one year and when she came to live with us, she did have a short honeymoon phase, but when it was over, her true personality came out full force and we were in for a bumpy ride. Lots of time, training, bumps and bruises later and she's made tremendous progress in coping with people and other dogs, but she is still a feisty girl with a big personality.

[6 Beautiful Pugs]

Another issue that comes up from time to time is medical issues.

Two different vets can have wildly differing opinions of a dog. They can recommend totally different courses of treatment, give differing prognosis, even different diagnosis. The testing a rescue can afford may not be the ideal amount, for example few rescues can afford MRI's, exploratory surgery or surgical biopsies, so sometimes things can be misdiagnosed, or missed all together.

One vet may feel another vet handled everything wrong....or wasted your money doing unnecessary tests, etc. but it comes down to veterinary medicine, like human medicine, is a subjective thing and you may run into discrepancies and differences of opinion between vets. It always pays to ask for the medical record of the dog you are adopting and discuss with the rescue vet any concerns you may have. From there you may seek the second opinion of another vet, or further tests, etc. but the adoptive owner and the rescue need to be clear about who is responsible for existing conditions that were missed or misdiagnosed when a dog was adopted.

For example: It can be very easy for a vet to misdiagnose PDE as epilepsy or vestibular disease, especially if they can't run expensive tests like an MRI or spinal tap.

Take care,
Lisa

[Libby2]

For whatever it's worth, I don't think it's a "bad" thing to troll on PetFinder. I think it shows you have some heart and compassion. You know what's out there and who needs homes, and you just never know who you might bump into that you can share that information with. I have a friend who is looking at rescues every day. At the present time, she can't take any in, but what she does is copies a lot of their stories onto her facebook status.

When our beloved cat died (our first baby before the real ones showed up), I was devastated. What I did, was run right out and get re-bound kitty. Big mistake. I was not ready to accept this new cat's personality, habits nor demeanor....I thought I was, but I wasn't. I really let him down - it was a horrible thing to do - but my heart didn't feel the same way. But in time, we learned to love him for who he was.

Obviously, you are smart enough to know you can't replace Lily. It's been since this past May you said? When you're ready, it will be when your heart is wide open to get whatever you get and love him for it.