Many prospective pet owners are not able to devote time and energy to training a young puppy and decide to adopt an older dog . There are several ways to obtain older dogs and the most usual is to visit your local animal wlefare shelter. Older dogs are also frequently advertised in the newspaper and most pure breed clubs have rescue schemes

One of the advantages of buying an older dog rather than a puppy is that there is no guess work as to how large or hairy the dog may grow as this can often be unpredictable in crossbred puppies of doubtful parentage

Buying a dog from a pound often saves the dog's life as many of the dogs in shelters have a limited time span to be adopted.

A misconception about dogs in pounds is that they have previuosly been abused, and while this may be true of some, many are there because their previous owners did not train them and found them unmanageable.

Many of the dogs in shelters are there because they were never taught right from wrong behaviour and when they grew up and the behaviour, which may have been acceptable in a young puppy, became annoying the dogs were dumped, handed over to a shelter or advertised for resale.

Dogs with severe anti social problems, such as aggression to humans or dogs, are unlikely to be put up for adoption by the animal shelters. Most of the dogs will require education to eliminate bad habits which the dog has been allowed to develop. Since it is easier to educate a puppy than it is to retrain an older dog to alter ingrained bad habits, the choice of an older dog may not always be the best option

It is unfair to the dog to adopt one which you have doubts will fit in with your household as eventually you also may surrender the dog to a shelter or rehouse the dog. The shelter staff will readily help you with information on the dogs in their care and will assist with your choice. Do not choose a very active dog if you are limited in the time you may spend excercising or if the dog will be alone most of the day. A dog with a moderate activity level is also a better choice for homes with young children.

Many older dogs are surrendered to shelters through a change in their owners lifestyle and these dogs may be well trained and socialised and require very little except TLC to become a much loved member of your household.

Dogs which have had many changes of homes or are untrained may not be confident and it will take some time to develop the trust between dog and owner which is one of the joys of dog ownership.

Author: Petcare Information & Advisory Service Australia Pty Ltd