Animal Shelters - Prepare Yourself For Heartbreak

If you are thinking about taking a trip to the animal shelter, brace yourself for some of the most heartbreaking sights you may see. You will most likely encounter a dog with an injured face, dogs that look sick and weak, or one with a limb missing or wrapped in bloody gauze.

As you pass by their individual crates, you will notice that a lot of them will be crying and howling. Some will be quiet and oblivious, while others will be barking nonstop. All of them, however, are desperate for love and attention.

There are many reasons why dogs end up in a shelter. Sometimes it is because the elderly owner had to move to a nursing home and has nobody else to take their dog, or the owner dies and the rest of his family aren't able to keep it. Another case is when the owner has to go on military duty or make a sudden move to a place that does not accept pets.

Another very common reason for dogs ending up in a shelter is because they have a behavioral problem and the owner does not know how to fix it. These two reasons, in my opinion, do not make sense and do not validate the owner's love for their dogs.

Most shelter dogs are not aggressive and do not suffer from any behavioral problems. However, they may look a bit disoriented because they are experiencing shelter shock, which is a type of stress that comes from being left isolated and out of control.

The first thing that may come to your mind is to save as many of these dogs as you can. Although this is a great idea, it is not realistic nor practical to do. The best thing you can do is to adopt only as many dogs as you can handle. You may also encourage people you know who are looking for pets to go to the shelter and rescue a dog instead of going to a breeder. 

By doing these two things, you will not only give these dogs a second chance at life, but you are also preventing them from facing an untimely and unnecessary death. I personally have come away from a Dog Shelter with tears streaming down my face but reassured that there are people who work so hard to restore the injured and abused dogs to health and to try to home them.  It's one of the reasons so many of the sites I work on are devoted to giving people information to help them look after their dogs and other pets.  You can see my latest site at Essential Dog Training where hopefully you will gain some useful tips.