Pit bull rescue group or shelter?

[Wanderer]

I know that either way a dog is going to be rescued, but does anyone have any thoughts on which would be a better idea for me? It is very important that we be able to meet our potential new dog before any decisions are made. I know that rescues do temperment testing and are very involved with the breed, but alot of times you don't meet the dog until the end of the application process (is this the norm?).

I think that I'm going to persue both options. What should I look for when I meet a shelter dog? How can I determine if he/she is DA or crate trained or has serious hidden issues? How do I find a good rescue program?

I really do not want to adopt a dog and not have it work out...

[Maryellen]

i would go to a rescue, that has the dog in a foster home. this way you know the temperment of the dog.. http://www.outofthepits.org has alot of great dogs in foster homes, check out their adoption page for all their cuties, and you would have to bring your dog to meet the prospective dog you like.. while shelters are good, they dont know the true temperment of the dog, and when they come out of the shelters into a home you have a 50% chance it wont work, and a 50% chance it will. with a foster home the chances of it working are much better

[JCleve86]

I'd agree with ME...unless you feel really comfortable with the breed as far as evaluating goes (and what will work for you on a case by case basis), I'd say go with rescue. With a shelter, they in most cases, if they do accept this breed, have to accept ALL dogs of the breed, including the unsound ones. Most responsible shelters will put down unsound dogs, but I can't say it's rare that they keep moderately unsound dogs up for adoption either because they want to try and spare them or because they don't know any better.

With a RESPONSIBLE rescue, you will have a good picture of the temperament of the dog (a lot of times dogs act differently in shetlers than in a home environment), how he is with other dogs, cats, kids, birds, and caterpillers. You are less likely to come across a dog with a health problem unless they tell you up front about it, and less likely to end up with a sick dog (a lot of times shelter dogs come down with kennel cough shortly after leaving the shelter). Plus, you'll know that in most cases, they specifically picked that particular dog out of best case ten dogs, most of the time way more, available for them to choose from...it's much less of a "crapshoot" so to speak.

Honestly, I'm not a huge fan of shelters adopting pit bulls out directly...it takes a lot of work and effort and time to do it appropriately and truth be told, most shelters just don't have those resources available. I'd always say with this breed, go to a rescue.

To find a good rescue program, start at pbrc.net or petfinder.com (here you'll have to search for "pit bull terriers" and then go from there). Inquire on the ones that look good to you and just see which rescue seems to best fit your requirements, and go from there.

[anissa]

We got Charlie from a Shelter, but that was before I even knew about rescues and how they work. Now.. being alittle more educated, I'd also highly suggest adopting from a rescue. We got REALLY lucky with Charlie, he was housebroken, not at all DA and has a wonderful temperment. The chances of finding another dog as well behaved as he is from a shelter, are extremely slim. I think it depends on the rescue, but I do believe that if things dont work out with your new dog, for any reason, will accept the dog back, whereas shelters absolutely will not. Like everyone else mentioned, you also get more information on the dog from a rescue, whereas a shelter rarely even knows if their dogs are housebroken or not.

I'll admit, that before finding 'Domino' (Jada) we were checking out both shelters and rescues as well, but only because we had a specific sex/temperment etc we were looking for, because we already have a dog. There werent many females in our local area, but the one shelter that did have one.. wouldnt allow us to bring our current dog with us. If you have a pet already.. you DEFINATELY want to have them meet before the adoption, which most rescues encourage and/or require.

Its seems that you've already got yourself a small list of things you'de like in a new dog.. and you'll have much better luck finding what you're looking for by seeking out rescue dogs.

[Sue]

There are quite a few shelters in CT that are experienced with the breed AND have a clue. Hartford, New Haven, East Haven, Woodbridge, Wallingford, East Hartford, West Hartford, Middletown (Hartford and New Haven are high kill, not sure about the others, a few are kill shelters, but for space) have lots of pittie experience. Bridgeport, Meriden, Waterbury - hell on earth, to adopt a dog there is truly saving the dogs. They are high kill, don't give a crap about the dogs, conditions are less than ideal, ACOs that don't give a crap - as long as you have the $50 the dog is yours. The majority of pits in CT ARE in shelters.

Animals for Life in Middlebury has quite a few and DAWS in Danbury has 2 as well, Blaze (an owner sureender that's been there 2 or 3 years) and Lily a mix who came from New Haven, been there a year. PAWS in Norwalk is great, Marinepits here has adopted from them. There are some rescues in CT that are not all they are cracked up to be, I'd be more than happy to help if you have any questions about a particular rescue/shelter.

[Marinepits]

Bridgeport, Meriden, Waterbury - hell on earth, to adopt a dog there is truly saving the dogs. They are high kill, don't give a crap about the dogs, conditions are less than ideal, ACOs that don't give a crap - as long as you have the $50 the dog is yours. The majority of pits in CT ARE in shelters.

I completely agree.

Personal experience: I have adopted dogs from PAWS in Norwalk, CT; DAWS in Danbury, CT; and Adopt-a-Dog in Greenwich, CT/Armonk, NY. All are great and knowledgeable about bully breeds, especially PAWS.

PAWS: http://www.pawsct.org/

DAWS: http://www.daws.org/

Adopt-a-Dog: http://www.adoptadog.org/index.php