Annoying... GRRR.

themissizz

"If thinking this is sad makes me a judgmental biotch, then so be it" Oh, and in this case, it does. As I said before, I don't think you have the right to judge someone when you haven't lived the situation. Especially as harshly as you are.

kwynn

I see both sides of the issue, honestly. My parents had to rehome a dog when they had three kids under three. I don't blame them and it was very hard for them, but the dog wasn't well-trained, which they fully admit is their fault. But they decided that their human kids came first.Stace, where did you get your dog from? I only ask because the shelter where my parents got their last dog from did do behavior testing on her. For example, we knew that she was affectionate and very mild-tempered, but also that she doesn't get along with other dogs. They did some sort of testing on her, which was greatly appreciated and made her a great match for my parents. I wish more shelters would do testing and the like on the dogs to help make it a better fit for the family.Daveys, I totally agree with you that kids and pets must be watched at all times. I shudder when I see photos of little babies and dogs laying together. I was bitten in the face really badly by a childhood dog when I was 9. It was totally unprovoked and the dog had never shown aggression before in the year that we had it. This bite made me afraid of dogs. To this day, I love dogs, but I'm scared of them and will always remember that they are animals first and foremost, not fur-covered people.

themissizz

As stated before, my dog came from a pound.  Pounds do not do temperment testing.  They basically hold dogs until shelters take them.  If a shelter doesn't take the dog, they euthanize it.  Most shelters do extensive temperment testing.

kwynn

I didn't know there was a difference between pounds and shelters. I'm sorry, I thought they were synonymous/interchangeable. My parents got their dog from a shelter then, that much I know. I learned something new today regarding this issue.

AMK2009

Actually, the difference between a pound and a shelter is all in the name.  Not all pounds euthanize, and not all shelters are no kill.  In fact, there's very few no-kill shelters because of the high number of homeless animals shelter.  Both of my dogs are from places called "shelters".  Both were animial control, one had a very high kill rate, if they weren't rescued or adopted within a week, they were euthanized.  The other dog was from a no kill shelter where she was transferred from another very high kill shelter.Some shelters do temperment testing, some do not.  The shelter I volunteer at only does it on dogs that are iffy.