These are links to the relevant pages:

• Barking
• Chewing
• To Crate or Not to Crate?
• Separation Anxiety
• House Training
• Freedom
• Life in a shelter
• Biting
• Leash Aggression

• Choosing a shelter dog, how can I tell what they will be like when I get them home?

A Due to the stress in the environment you will probably not, for most of the dogs, see their true personality for at least three weeks after you bring them home, sometimes longer.
Some dogs who are very shy in the shelter will become happy and outgoing in a family home. Other dogs who are scared and reactive, biting almost anyone who comes near them can settle happily once they feel secure at home.

A dog can feel completely overwhelmed, passive and closed down in a noisy shelter. It is almost impossible for an average family to evaluate a dog’s suitability and personality in a shelter.

This is where a wonderful foster family is such an asset to a rescue organization. They can tell you what the dog is like living in a home.

Augee is a wonderful German Shepherd mix abandoned by her family at the age of 12.

She was pulled from the shelter in the nick of time and flown in a private plane to her foster family. She has epilepsy controlled by daily meds.