Neurobiology 101
New member
Many of us are into promoting adoption over buying new puppies, so I thought it would be nice ask others to share their stories about amazing dogs adopted from shelters. Why do it? Well, it's yet another story we can use to encourage others to adopt/rescue a dog instead of buying.
Here is mine:
About 20 years ago, my uncle adopted a red coat 3-4 year old German Shepherd mix from a pound in L.A for $25. Soon after, he got into a dog sport called Schutzhund, which was created to evaluate dogs' suitability to become military, police, and personal protection dogs. Schutzhund (SchH for short) involves 3 parts: tracking, obedience, and protection work. Top notch SchH competition dogs are bred from other famous competitors and start training at 8 weeks to build their drive, biting ability, discipline, self-control, and ultimately their ability to fight humans.
My uncle trained with a local group in L.A. before moving to Kentucky, where he started training with another SchH group, and his little red German Shepherd Dog began to excel. A few months later, he and two group members began to compete their dogs in Schutzhund trials - all the way up to Schutzhund III trials in Germany. All three of their dogs earned SchH III titles in different areas.
His little red color shelter German Shepherd mix dog placed #1 in protection ability in EVERY trial all the way through being SchH III titled in Germany. While a title alone might sound impressive, I should also point out that only 1 in 1,000 dogs that enter SchH trials earn this title =] And keep in mind that the vast majority are bred from other titled dogs and were professionally trained from 8 weeks of age.
Not bad at all for a little $25 red color German Shepherd mix rescued from a shelter =) To earn a SchH III title, a dog must have both excellent genes and training, but somehow this little mutt stumbled his way into having both.
So what are your amazing shelter dog stories? You don't have to have the next Lassie, but surely you know of an excellent Frisbee, agility, or speedball dog that was saved from a shelter. And don't forget to check back for more stories to share with others who need reasons to adopt rather than buy their next dog!
Here is mine:
About 20 years ago, my uncle adopted a red coat 3-4 year old German Shepherd mix from a pound in L.A for $25. Soon after, he got into a dog sport called Schutzhund, which was created to evaluate dogs' suitability to become military, police, and personal protection dogs. Schutzhund (SchH for short) involves 3 parts: tracking, obedience, and protection work. Top notch SchH competition dogs are bred from other famous competitors and start training at 8 weeks to build their drive, biting ability, discipline, self-control, and ultimately their ability to fight humans.
My uncle trained with a local group in L.A. before moving to Kentucky, where he started training with another SchH group, and his little red German Shepherd Dog began to excel. A few months later, he and two group members began to compete their dogs in Schutzhund trials - all the way up to Schutzhund III trials in Germany. All three of their dogs earned SchH III titles in different areas.
His little red color shelter German Shepherd mix dog placed #1 in protection ability in EVERY trial all the way through being SchH III titled in Germany. While a title alone might sound impressive, I should also point out that only 1 in 1,000 dogs that enter SchH trials earn this title =] And keep in mind that the vast majority are bred from other titled dogs and were professionally trained from 8 weeks of age.
Not bad at all for a little $25 red color German Shepherd mix rescued from a shelter =) To earn a SchH III title, a dog must have both excellent genes and training, but somehow this little mutt stumbled his way into having both.
So what are your amazing shelter dog stories? You don't have to have the next Lassie, but surely you know of an excellent Frisbee, agility, or speedball dog that was saved from a shelter. And don't forget to check back for more stories to share with others who need reasons to adopt rather than buy their next dog!