What Dog Breeds Will You Find at Your Local Humane Society Shelter?

Finding the dog you want at the Humane Society may take patience, especially if you want a smaller breed, or if you want a breed that's fairly rare. Here in Portland Oregon and in many other large cities around the country the Humane Society always has Labrador retrievers, pit bulls, chow chows, Rottweilers, Australian shepherds, Border collies, and various mixes of these breeds. You sometimes find a golden retriever, and very occasionally an expensive purebred, such as an English bulldog or West Highland terrier.

During a recent trip to the local animal shelter I saw a Boston terrier mix that looked just like Henry J, the mutt I grew up with -- I would have taken him home, but someone beat me to him.

Labs and Lab crosses are one of the most common dogs in America, and it stands to reason that the shelters will have lots of black dogs. There are also a number of the guard dog breeds in every big city animal shelter. The pit bulls, chow chows, Rottweilers, Shar Pei and Akitas appear to be over-bred in cities by the sort of owner who doesn't pay much attention to the steady stream of advertising asking people to spay and neuter their pets. A dog raised by a drug dealer is not necessarily a bad dog, but extra care should always be taken to assess the temperament of a guard dog before taking him home, just in case his previous owner imprinted the pup with undesirable or unsafe behaviors.

Shelter personnel are well aware of the prejudices against pit bulls, so they may "inadvertently" label a pit bull cross as a "Dalmatian cross" or "boxer cross." If you really don't want a pit bull, assume that any dog at the shelter that looks vaguely like a pit bull is a pit bull. Remember, though, that thousands of people own loving, loyal pit bulls, and wouldn't dream of having any other breed - they aren't all as bad as the ones that get written up in the papers. One great thing about getting a used dog, especially after he's gone through puberty, is that a temperament test will show you if he has fighting genes or other unwanted inbred behaviors. Most Humane Society shelters do the temperament testing when the dogs are first surrendered, so you'll know (as much as possible) what you're getting into before you adopt your dog.

Australian shepherds and Border collies have become popular in the last 20 years, and have been over-bred because of it. These traditional farm dogs can make wonderful pets (they happen to be my favorite), but they often end up in city shelters because city people don't have the kinds of jobs these animals are bred for. The smarter the dog, the more inventive he'll be when he gets bored.

I would never adopt a young Border collie because previous experience has shown me that my lifestyle is simply not interesting enough for them, and they don't want to live with me. Think of a Border collie as Lassie on methamphetamines. Then you'll see why so many of these intelligent, active dogs end up in city animal shelters.

Aussies are a little less active, and they can make wonderful one-man or --woman dogs if you have the time to train them. Unfortunately the beautiful blue-merle genes are sometimes associated with genetic blindness, and some Aussies can be overly protective of your kids, or insist on herding them into a corner of your yard.

The Australian shepherd/Border collie cross is the preferred dog for Frisbee competition, so remember -- some Frisbee champs can leap as high as 10 feet off the ground and land with the Frisbee in their mouths. Now go back outside and look at the height of your fence. Is this really the dog you want? If so, you can almost always find one in the city shelters, and if your big-city shelter doesn't have one, take a trip to a rural town, where you'll be sure to find one.

Unfortunately, it's very difficult to find a small dog to adopt in big-city shelters. Perhaps people know how easy it is to find a home for a small dog by putting an ad in the paper - or they realize they can charge hundreds of dollars for a small dog, even if it's a mutt. One way to find a small breed is to travel to the rural part of your state, and check their local animal shelter. Or go online to Petfinder.com and search for the specific breed you want.

The length of time an animal spends at the local animal shelter can affect its behavior, especially if the shelter is understaffed or untrained in maintaining the dogs' connection to people. The close proximity to other animals can raise the adrenaline level of any dog, and the excess stress can, over time, result in a depressed dog, or a dog that loses some of its training. If the dog has been in the kennel too long this temporary depression can change their behavior enough to make it difficult for them to express their personality, and you could discover after a few days in your safe, loving home that you've adopted a very different dog than the one you brought home.

When you visit the shelter ask how the volunteers maintain human contact, or simply watch them as they interact with the dogs. Some shelters don't have enough money to maintain large kennels or outside exercise runs, but don't assume that the animals are being mistreated due to the lack of money. It's the quality of the people, not the housing, that matters.

If you go to the pound with an open heart, and keep your needs and the generalized breed characteristics in mind, you may come home with a dog who will love you for years.