The Problem with Perfect Dogs: They're all taken.

Although Bindi’s previous life is mostly unknown, I do know this: I know, without a doubt, that she was unsocialized, untrained and unfairly stripped of her potential to be adopted.  When a person goes to the shelter looking for a dog, they are looking for an easy dog, an obedient dog – basically put, an adoptable dog.  Bindi was not this. She was not even close.  Yes, she could pass a temperament test by not eating the fake hand put in her food and not biting the face off the pretend child that is in the same room, but as far as home life goes, Bindi would have been deemed as unadoptable.  She would have been returned to the shelter time and time again. Failed, time and time again.  Not only had this poor dog been abandoned and then forced to live in a shelter with concrete walls, but now she’s expected to be perfect the second she walks in to a home, expected to magically know and abide by all of the rules and expectations. 

When a person rescues a dog, they have to realize that their background is not all sunshine and flowers.  There is going to be a learning curve for the dog, for you and for your relationship together.  There’s a communication level that is going to take a few days, weeks, months to get right.  Unfortunately, today’s world wants immediate gratification and waiting is unacceptable.  So, that leaves sweet Bindi.  Due to the humans that raised her, or the lack thereof, it now gives her a slim to none chance of being successful in a home life.  Thankfully, there are foster programs full of people that understand that a dog needs some time to unwind, gauge the people around them, and learn to trust and respect the boundaries and limitations placed before them.

  

One big happy, family. None of this would have
happened in the first month of foster care.

Bindi was definitely way too curious and focused about cats when she came to me.This picture was taken 7 weeks after I started fostering her.
Although Bindi used to give my cat reason to distrust her, my kitty
no longer has any fear of her and frequently rubs up on her and doesn't move away when Bindi comes near her. 

Bindi is very, very trainable and can understand what you
want her to do quickly.  She's waiting for the 'ok' to begin
eating dinner here.

Bindi is one of the lucky ones.  She would have never, ever made it out of the shelter alive and lived to see old age.  Because, you see, Bindi couldn’t do anything in an acceptable fashion.  She had no control over her body, her mind, or her energy level.  This created chaos for every single moment of the day. That’s a stressful way to live, no matter how happy she looked on the outside.  She was sleep deprived because for weeks she was unable to actually relax enough to sleep. She was so over excited and stimulated that she would scratch me daily from not being able to control herself.  It took two weeks for her to be able to walk through the house in a somewhat normal fashion (and I say ‘normal’ very, very loosely).  It took over a month for us to go outside and even attempt to take a walk. But regardless, the amount of work I put into Bindi doesn’t bother me. What bothers me is that I had to fix someone else’s doing.  I had to undo two years of unacceptable behavior that she has learned because somebody refused to give her the time of day. Or night. Or ever. 
Bindi can now walk on a leash, knows an insane amount of commands, listens like a dream, gets along with my kitties, knows our routine, does awesome in a car and as I type this, is snoring on my lap, which she will do ALL DAY LONG if given the opportunity.  All of the previous things took 2 months of hard work to get to.  I hope people realize that at the shelter, there is no “house trained, crate trained, mellow, great with dogs, cats, kids, cars, doesn’t shed, etc, etc, etc” because if there was, that dog wouldn’t be there. They’d be at home with the owner that taught them all of those things and put the time and effort in to make sure their dog was a wonderful, confident part of the family.  The dogs in the shelter are broken, defeated and most times, on their last strand of hope.  So if you choose to go to the shelter, which I hope you all do, please don’t turn away from the dog that’s jumping up and down incessantly or barking or spinning in circles.  In each of those cages is a dog that has the potential to be anything you want them to be, they just need to be given the chance to succeed.

Rescues in every state for every breed have many, many dogs available for adoption and a countless number of dogs needing a foster home.  If you have space in your heart and home for a dog, please consider fostering or adopting one of the dogs on their waiting list. If you can’t adopt or foster for whatever reason, please volunteer, advocate and educate. 

For a list of rescues or adoptable dogs in your area, visit PetFinder.com.