I try to stay on top of what is happening in animal welfare; I read articles, watch webinars and follow a million organizations on social media. The other day, I came across a quote from Janis Bradley, the director of Science and Behavior at National Canine Research Council. She said, “Shelter dogs. There is no such thing. They’re just dogs between homes living in shelters.”
I sat and stared at this quote for a while. Sometimes you run across something that is so obvious in its simplicity that you are dumbstruck by it. Of course, I know that shelters are simply a waystation for the pets that come to us as they go from a home to a home, but I have spent so many years listening to people discuss “shelter dogs” as if they are some sort of discrete and separate category of dog that it has sunk into my subconscious.
We talk a lot here at Midcoast Humane about how all dogs are individuals, and we do not judge them on the basis of appearance or presumed breed. We make matches based on the dog and adopter in front of us, but that the categorization, the prejudice, has started before we even get to that point is clear in the designation of “shelter dog.”
So, let’s examine some of the dogs in our shelter right now. Franklin, a 60-pound spaniel, came to us as a stray at the end of the day via the Brunswick Animal Control officer. He was found running loose on Route 1. I was present when the officer brought him in and my heart immediately squished for him. He seemed sad and confused and when I squatted down to say hi to him, he immediately moved into my hand and my legs, shaking and accepting any port in a storm. He had a coat so recently groomed we could still see the marks from the shave guard. He was so clean and obviously cared for, we were surprised that he did not have a collar, tags or a microchip but fully expected to have a voicemail waiting for us in the morning from a frantic owner. There was not.
He spent the next day in our foster care staff’s office. His demeanor was so sweet and calm that he made a great officemate, and he was perfectly housetrained. On the third day, we connected with Franklin’s person. He had been taking care of Franklin for his elderly mom who had undergone foot surgery and could no longer do so herself. Franklin had a hard time with the unneutered male dog in the home, sometimes jumping the fence to escape, though it is possible the kids in the home left the gate open the day he was picked up by the ACO. His caregiver opted to leave Franklin with us to find him a new home he could be happier in.
Trixie is a gentle giant, weighing in at 85 pounds of love. She was adopted out as a puppy but was returned to us when her family was no longer permitted to keep her where they live. They were given a 45-day notice to rehome her. They tried all extended family and friends but were unable to find anyone able to take a dog her size. The profile they gave us says that she’s crate-trained, good with even the very small children she lived with, loves being in the car and is a “large, loving lap dog.” I could keep going, but these two dogs are all we have column space for. One day, Trixie and Franklin were dogs living with our neighbors; the next, they became “shelter dogs.”
Nothing made them different than the dog they were before except that they and their families needed our help. There is a stigma to being a “shelter dog” for many people. I have had people tell me “they’re in the shelter for a reason,” meaning there is a reason related to the dog, not the family she lived with, and that “you don’t know what you’re going to get” with a shelter dog, with the implication being that you do know with a dog from a breeder instead of a shelter. Franklin originally came from a Brittany spaniel breeder. He is with us because he didn’t fit in with the unaltered dog in his new home. I find that understandable; not all dogs do well with all other dogs. He’ll be a great fit for someone who has a mellow dog or no other dog, which is a pretty easy home to find. Trixie is here through no fault of her own or her family’s; sometimes circumstances are not fixable, and her family’s housing situation is not something she could have changed.
Sometimes, we do get dogs for reasons related to the dogs themselves. My wall-eating dog Daphne definitely could have ended up brought to a shelter for her behavior had she landed with another family less inclined to deal with repairing the walls regularly. But she doesn’t eat the corners of my walls when she’s feeling queasy because she’s a “shelter dog.” If you want to get down to brass tacks, she’s a purebred, intentionally bred redbone coonhound. The fact that she ended up with a rescue in Georgia to be transported to Maine instead of being sold at the swap meet a Georgia shelter volunteer found her at is down to the kind heart of that volunteer. She could only pay for one puppy and picked Daphne because she was in the saddest shape. I am grateful every day that she picked Daphne, even the days I have to go and mud my walls again.
My point is that Ms. Bradley is correct. Franklin and Trixie are just dogs living in the shelter in between homes, just like all the other dogs here and in every shelter. Not every dog is the right match for every home, and that’s OK. Many people wouldn’t want to live with Daphne, but in our home, she fits perfectly. I’ll swap her wall eating for her gentleness with my cats any day. The trick is to have an open mind when you visit a shelter. Ask the staff the dog’s background, how they’ve interacted with the staff and volunteers, what their good traits are and what their challenges may be and be very honest about what you’re hoping for in a dog and how you live. They are all just dogs between homes.
Jess Townsend is director of Midcoast Humane.
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