He was cute as a puppy but got ugly or too big when he grew up. (This was a purebred too!)

Do your research before you buy a dog! It's that simple. You wouldn't buy a car without doing research. And a dog will be your companion for up to 15 years.

Some questions to research

1. How big can this particular breed get?

2. How much exercise do they need?

3. How trainable are they?

Many other questions should be asked before you take an animal to be part of your family. Ask, ask ask!

More reasons...
He eats too much - He slobbers - He sheds
He chews - He barks

Here again are all the reasons to research the breed you plan to buy or adopt.

All dogs have issues and there is no real "Lassie" (the perfect dog). Dogs need to be trained just like kids need to be taught. This is something you should consider before adoption. Do you have the time to deal with this or are you willing to deal with it until an issue is curbed?

Yet more reasons...
We're having a baby - We're moving - We don't stay home enough

These are some of the most used reason for surrendering a dog. One should ask themselves when adopting not just how the dog fits in now but also in the future.

A survey of 1,350 shelters nationwide reported the following statistics:
64% of animals that entered the shelter were euthanized. Of that:
     56% of dogs/71% of cats had no ID
     15% of dogs/2% of cats had been reunited with their families
     25% of dogs/24% of cats were adopted from a shelter
 

30% are purebreds

Population Facts:
There are 7 dogs to every person born everyday and only 1 in 5 will stay with it's original owner throughout it's life.

In 6 years on unspayed dog and her offspring can produce 67,000 dogs!

Lack of research by owners led to these statistics:
     54% of dogs surrendered are 6 months to 3 years old
     15% of dogs are less than 6 months old
     41% of dogs surrendered were set free from another owner.

To Spay or Not To Spay? That is the question

Literally millions of dogs are killed in shelters each year or are suffering as homeless, staving strays all across the country. The problem is no less in Hawaii. The saddest part is that a lot of this needless suffering and death could be avoided by a low cost surgical procedure that would also produce healthier and happier dogs. I'm talking about spaying or neutering your dog.

Spay/Neuter surgery is a veterinary surgical procedure that usually requires minimal hospitalization for your dog. In addition to reducing the rampant overpopulation of dogs, there are numerous other health benefits associated with the surgery. For example: Neutering your male dog before he reaches six months old PREVENTS testicular cancer and prostate disease. Spaying your female dog before her first heat helps prevent pyometra (abscessed, pus-filled infected uterus) and breast cancer, which can be fatal about 50% of the time

Misconceptions about Spay/Neuter
Surgery

1. Spay/Neuter surgery will change my dog's personality.
   This is partly true but any changes are positive ones. For instance: neutered males are generally less aggressive and tend not to roam as much as their intact counterparts. Your neutered male dog will, in all likelihood, focus more of his attention on you and less on the "need to breed".
    

2. Dogs will become fat and lazy after spay/neuter surgery.
   Wrong! Wrong! Wrong!
   Dogs get fat and lazy for the same reasons people do: Lack of exercise and too much food. In reality, spaying or neutering your dog will add two to three years to their life!
    

3. Spay/Neuter surgery is not natural. Dogs should be allowed to procreate just as humans are.
   In a perfectly natural world this would be true. Unfortunately we don't live in a perfectly natural world. What's natural about humans mass breeding dogs for profit? A visit to a puppy mill will conquer any notions we have about natural reproduction. Female dogs sometimes spend years in small cages being artificially inseminated over and over again. Relegated to being used as puppy making machines, some of these poor dogs are tossed aside when they outlive their usefulness to the breeders. In some cases, rather than retiring to the good life after years of breeding, they are sold to experimental laboratories.

We are dog lovers just like you. We are NOT opposed to responsible breeding. In fact, we recognize the essential need of responsible breeding in order to produce healthy, happy dogs. Most of us think of our dogs as our "children" and we want to assure that our "grandchildren" don't wind up dying homeless and suffering on the streets, or being put to sleep at a shelter with no loved ones around.

Please consider spay/neuter surgery for your dog. Call us if you need more information or assistance. The City & County of Honolulu offers low cost Spay/Neuter certificates which are valid at most veterinarian clinics on Oahu. These certificates are available at any Satellite City Hall. At Hawaii Dog Foundation our slogan is "No More Homeless Dogs in Hawaii" and spay/neuter surgery is the BEST way to get there.

9. Intact Underwear
With a "chewy" puppy, you can count on at least 10 mismatched pairs of socks and a variety of unmentionables rendered to the "rag bag" before he cuts every tooth. Also, you can expect holes in your carpet (along with the urine stains), pages missing from books, stuffing exposed from couches, and at least one dead remote control. No matter how well you watch them, it will happen - this is a puppy's job! An older dog can usually have the run of the house without destroying it.

8. A Good Night's Sleep
Forget the alarm clocks and hot water bottles, a puppy can be very demanding at 2am and 4am and 6am. He misses his littermates, and that stuffed animal will not make a puppy pile with him. If you have children, you've been there and done that. How about a little peace and quiet? How about an older rescue lab?

7. Finish the Newspaper
With a puppy running amok in your house, do you think you will be able to relax when you get home from work? Do you think your kids will really feed him, clean up the messes, take him for a walk in the pouring rain every hour to get him housetrained? With an adult dog, it will only be the kids running amok, because your dog will be sitting calmly next to you, while your workday stress flows away and your blood pressure lowers as you pet him.

4. Unscarred Children (and Adults)
When the puppy isn't teething on your possessions, he will be teething on your children and yourself. Our rescue routinely gets called from panicked parents who are sure their lab is biting the children. Since biting implies hostile intent and would be a consideration whether we accept their give-up, we ask questions and usually find out the dog is being nippy. Parents are often too emotional to see the difference; but a growing puppy is going to put everything from food to clothes to hands in their mouths, and as they get older and bigger it definitely hurts (and will get worse, if they aren't being corrected properly.) Most older labs have "been there, done that, moved on."

3. Matchmaker Make Me a Match
Puppy love is often no more than an attachment to a look or a color. It is not much of a basis on which to make a decision that will hopefully last 15+ years. While that puppy may have been the cutest of the litter; he may grow up to be super-active (when what you wanted was a couch buddy); she may be a couch princess (when what you wanted was a tireless hiking companion); he may want to spend every waking moment in the water (while you're a landlubber); or she may want to be an only child (while you are intending to have kids or more animals). Pet mismatches are one of the top reasons rescues get give-up phone calls. Good rescues do extensive evaluating of both their dogs and their applicants to be sure that both dog and family will be happy with each other until death due them part.

1. Bond -- Rescue Dog Bond
Dogs who have been uprooted from their happy homes or have not had the best start in life are more likely to bond very completely and deeply with their new people. Those who have lost their families through death, divorce or lifestyle change go through a terrible mourning process. But, once attached to a new loving family, they seem to want to please as much as possible to make sure they are never homeless again. Those dogs that are just learning about the good life and good people seem to bond even deeper. They know what life on the streets, life on the end of a chain, or worse is all about, and they revel and blossom in a nurturing, loving environment. Most rescues make exceptionally affectionate and attentive pets and extremely loyal companions.

Choosing a rescue dog over a purchased pup will not solve the pet overpopulation problem (only responsible pet owners and breeders can do that), but it does give many of them a chance they otherwise would not have. But, beyond doing a "good deed", adopting a rescue dog can be the best decision and addition to the family you ever made.

Used with permission.
Please visit LRR Inc at http://www.lrr.org

Types of Aggression
There are several types of aggression: defensive or induced by fear, pain, or punishment; dominant; possessive; territorial; intra-sexual (male-to-male or female-to-female); predatory; or parental. A dog may exhibit more than one type of aggression.

Dominant-aggressive dogs are characterized as confident, macho, and "on the muscle". They stand tall, up on their toes, with their ears up and forward. They carry their tails high and wag it slowly and stiffly from side to side. They often have their hackles up, stare menacingly, and emit a low growl with lips and teeth exposed. They will place a paw on  shoulder of another dog, mount peoples legs, and push children aside when going through a door. Dominant-aggressive dogs are demanding of attention. They demand to go outside, demand excessive affection, are possessive of their sleeping areas, and stop eating when approached. Many of these dogs will not obey commands, especially submissive commands (such as "down" or "stay"). Males will lift their legs on everything, even in the house, even if their bladder is empty. Most dominant-aggressive dogs are purebred males.

Copyright© 2004 Canis Major Publications.
All rights reserved. Used by permission.
Author: Gary L. Clemons, DVM

Where To Seek Help
A dog that bites because it is frightened requires a different treatment program than a dog who bites because it is dominant or territorial. For this reason it is important for the dog owner to receive a correct diagnosis of the problem and expert advice to treat it. The dog will need training, veterinary attention and its behavior modified. A veterinarian can initiate a treatment program and conduct a physical examination to rule out sickness or injury as a cause of the biting.

Training
A professional dog trainer will be able to assist with some biting dogs. Obedience training may not stop the dog's aggression, but it will give the owner more control over the dog. However, a dog that bites cannot be treated effectively unless its owner is prepared to put in the time, effort and expense to do whatever is necessary to correct the problem.

Sterilization
This method alone does not stop a male or female dog from biting people, but may be used in conjunction with other forms of treatment.