[FlyingNimbus]

Hey guys. I have had this serious question/thought come to me constantly....

While I like the idea of buying a purebred dog, and having a dog that has their papers and all in order, comes from a genetically "clean" line(i.e. comes from parents with no genetic issues), and the fact that breeder usually means transparency...

I also like and was thinking of the idea of adopting. To give another chance to another animal in need is very good.... But I must confess a few things...

The drawback which makes me hesitate about adopting is that all of the dogs backgrounds are pretty obscure, even if they were just surrendered and people told them where they got them-- that doesn't really mean that the dog will not have "mental" issues...

By mental issues, I know that you can train a dog to do things you're okay with them doing, or at least train them to -not- do things you're -not- okay with them doing... But would an adoptable dog be less trainable? That's kind of what got to me. I mean as a puppy their minds are kind of like jello-- they're not set yet and they're easily moldable with some effort... but an older pup whose already got a bad behavior will probably present a bigger problem in training?

Not sure.


I say this, because when I was younger- a lot younger (early highschool days) we had this dog for 2 months that we had adopted... He was this wire haired fox terrier, and I admit I didn't do much research on the breed... but we went on petfinder and found a dog that was "cute" because I at the time was being subjected to someone elses' demands on a dog.

At the time I just wanted a dog-- any dog... however one of my parents just wanted a cute dog but she was so specific....

So we went through lots of dogs and saw that this one had on it's page labeled as already potty trained, well-behaved, etc.... but when we got home that wasn't the case....

The dog would howl and bark every night for no apparent reason... He would chew on the sofa legs(the legs still have marks on there from him), he would urinate everywhere-- and when he urinated he lifted his legs so doing that inside... well you know... (this is the "why" to one of the main reasons I never want a male dog anymore)


He actually wasn't trained at all. He was supposed to know "sit, stop, stay, come" and other basic things which he never knew.

We would walk him 2-3 times a day and each time for at least 2-3 hours as he never even tired... He was already 2 years old and he was really crazy, he was neutered and -still- humped things. A pillow fell to the floor and he kept humping that.


He got aggressive with his toys or anything he claimed to be his...

We tried everything from the information provided to us, and the information found in books. Nothing seemed to work with him...


He was always hyper, and by hyper I mean like jack russel "doped up" if you know what I mean....

Anytime we went outside to walk it he would bark at every dog non-stop even after they left....



We went on to adopt him because my friend at the time had one of her own and her own dog was "balanced".... it was active but it wasn't like a kid on a never ending sugar rush...


Needless to say, we ended up giving up after 2 months and a half because it was just too much for us to handle at the time.... Nothing we did ever worked, no amount of training, nothing... I honestly felt inadequate so I thought I'd take it back to see if someone would have better luck.

Funny thing is because when we brought it back they mentioned he was brought back a few times... which they failed to mentioned first time around... they also failed to mention there was a fee for bringing it back... So a 350 + fee for adopting + 350 fee for dropping it off....

We sort of felt seriously duped.... I know I am among animal lovers but I wasn't prepared for something like that at the time. We wanted something mid energy that we could have fun but when it's time to go to sleep it wouldnt keep us up all night...

After that we never adopted again, and my mothers dog was bought for her from some breeder(probably a byb) and her dog had her "annoying" period but it never even got to 1/10th of how it was with him.....


The thing is... I kind of want to adopt.. but I am also afraid of being lied to again-- because clearly that dog was never trained, never calm and was not kid friendly....

I clearly gave up too early; but I was hoping that if I adopt it's either a puppy with an "untouched" mind if that makes sense or if someone screwed up teaching it, it wont be something that I can't change...

I am afraid of being told one thing, but then when I get it -- it's completely different than what we were told.. I mean I get it, they wanted to find the dog a good home.. but lying about it when people have clearly different dispositions, and different needs than others won't help anyone...

There are people who like active crazy dogs, but there are people who like calm and moderate dogs... I fall into the latter.

I first thought out this breed because I distinctly recall my aunt had this yorkie and since the yorkie was a puppy it was always calm, playful, and moderate. It wasn't bouncing off the walls when it was an adult...




Can people shed some light on this matter?


P.s. I am fully aware that a puppy can turn out either way-- but my point of it was that if it's from a breeder and the parents have a specific disposition, and you take the time to train them-- they wont be like that. I feel that once a dog learns a bad habit it's hard to break off.




Incidentally, I am rather curious-- why was the dog barking all night long? We left it alone at night in the living room, crated, with blankets, and covered the cage for the most part(it was cold) turned off the lights...

We also tried sleeping with it in my room, we tried letting it sleep freely without a crate in the kitchen, we tried that in my room.


It ripped up stuff in my room, and it just kept pawing in the crate.... We always made sure it did number 1 and 2 right before we settled it for bed.





The other thing is, how can you be sure that say if it says is a yorkie- it actually is a yorkie and not a mutt? Or if they say its healthy, but then its actually not?


When I was young we just rescued dogs off the streets and rehomed them- we never actually went to a shelter to adopt except that one time. It's why I am cautious...