|
the SHORT ANSWER:
BECAUSE WE DON'T WANT THE DOG BACK IN THE SYSTEM.
The LONGER ANSWER is a little more complicated.
You would NOT believe the idiots we deal with -- the folks who want a "cute puppy" but then get upset because "it barks." The ones who don't understand that having a dog is just as much of a responsibility as a child in that you can't leave them unsupervised for days at a time. The ones who think their animals should "understand English." The ones who can't afford to pay the adoption fee, which means they can't afford basic veterinary care, but will assure you "they will love it so much!" (until they get bored, and want you to take it back).
We fostered approximately 88 puppies over a four year period; I am a Puppy Queen! My husband and I specialize(d) in orphaned, abandoned, abused and neglected puppies, with a special emphasis on bottle feeders. (My proudest accomplishment were the eight German Shepherd mix puppies that we got at three days old, all of whom made it! They were the "Prayer Puppies" because it was extremely unlikely that they were all going to make it -- and they did! They were: Adam, Caleb, Gideon, Hannah, Leah, Rachel and Ester.)
As foster parents who spent a great deal of time raising and rehabilitating puppies who were "damaged" in some way, we were regularly "cruel" and rejected people as potential owners despite their assurances they knew what they were doing when we made a judgment call that they didn't. Of course our puppies were cute, but if we "picked wrong" then they were back in the system, taking resources away from other dogs who needed a "second chance" -- and that didn't include the trauma of bonding with a new family for the dog!
One of my favorite reject stories was the MORAN who informed me that a) I didn't need to meet his wife, because her opinion didn't matter anyway; b) he wasn't going to housebreak the dog until spring (this was December, and the puppy was a Lab mix) because he was going to teach it to go in the basement; and c) what was my problem with this being a Christmas present for his toddler?
:banghead:
The only reason he got through the initial screening was because we had a new volunteer on the phone who hadn't made the important transition that we WEREN'T IN IT FOR THE CONVENIENCE OF THE PEOPLE, but for the DOGS.
Yes, we've had people get through our rigorous screening process before -- my favorite story is the man who convinced me his wife was BEGGING for a dog, and that this was a present she'd been PLEADING FOR. I fell for it, partly because he brought his kids, and partly because he obviously knew his way around dogs. He had a large property, fenced in, and his kids were well mannered as he made it a point to educate them in front of me on how to handle the puppies we were fostering. Anyway, you can imagine my shock when I heard from his wife about a month and a half later, because a) she was terrified of dogs, b) her husband had suddenly been pulled out of town for extended periods leaving her alone with this "scary puppy", and c) she was concerned that the four month old labrador mix puppy was "vicious" because it kept "attacking" her children, and then it would "crouch down and make scary noises." The story had a happy ending as she brought the puppy over, and we had an emergency "education session" on dog body language, and her responsibilities as the "boss dog of the house." (The "vicious puppy" demonstrated its scary behavior for me, too: with butt up in the air, tail wagging, it would "crouch" with tongue hanging out and then play "pounce" with the children!)
One local rescue group made it a policy never to adopt to a family with children under age five because three dogs in a row were "let out the front door" by three different families with small children, with the dogs "escaping" and then getting run over/killed. We soon made it a policy not to adopt to families without fenced in yards because we live in Michigan, and while "standing outside in the rain/snow/sleet" while a puppy takes its time to find just the right place to do its business at six in the morning may not sound like that big of a deal, in reality, most people (especially those who have to choose between supervising small children and puppies) really don't want to do it. Later we added the "must own your own home" rule when we had two families who were "renting" try to return their (poorly trained dogs) because "their living situations had changed and they couldn't have pets at the new place."
Most people are decent, and I would say the majority have good intentions, but very few have realistic expectations of just how much effort is involved in raising a well mannered pet. Let me assure you the amount of work involved with a new family member is going to make an hour of paperwork look like NOTHING. You are talking a ten to fifteen year commitment when you adopt, with a minimum of about $500+ in annual expenses associated with your pet (if you only do the minimum shots and buy cheap food). Also plan on about two hours a day of "new responsibilities" when it comes to feeding, defecating, exercising, grooming, training, and socializing once everyone "adjusts", unless you have a puppy, in which case you are looking at 24x7 work for months -- new puppies CANNOT be left unsupervised, anymore than you would leave a toddler unsupervised (which is why I am strong advocate of "crate training!").
I have beaten my adoptive families over the head with this simple truth: "A well mannered dog is a joy, while a poorly mannered dog is a nightmare. Whichever one you get is A REFLECTION ON YOU, not the dog!"
To be blunt, "LOVE" is not enough. You are getting your first taste of what having a new dog in your life is going to be all about -- PUTTING THE DOG'S NEEDS FIRST.
If you can't cut it through the interview process, displaying patience, understanding, compassion and wisdom about the stakes involved not just for you and your potential new pet, but also for the volunteers who have been doing whatever it takes to help get your new family member into an "adoption ready place," its really better for everyone if you get "screened out" now. Most groups would rather wait another week or two for the right fit, versus having to undo more (usually unintentionally inflicted) damage on a good animal.
Good luck.
|