We've been talking about adding a second dog, and I'm attracted to the 'people-oriented' personality of pitbulls. Plus, there are a lot of them in the shelters and rescues in our area and I'd rather adopt a 'teenage' or adult dog than buy a puppy. We don't think our lab would adapt well to the go-go-go of a puppy, so we are trying to be patient and wait for the right dog to come along.
There is currently a 1/5-2yo (estimated age there) pit/am. staff that has been at our local shelter for quite a long time. She was surrendered when her family moved, and we went to meet her yesterday. Out of the 5 dogs we met, hers went the best by far. She was very laid back (the shelter worker also describes her as being very mellow), the least reactive to the kids and the grumbles from our set-in-his-ways lab. She basically looked at them, and then found something else to do. She was friendly, had a gentle mouth for taking treats, etc.
If a dog has been in a shelter for 6+ months, do you think you would be seeing their actual personality since they would likely have acclimated to living there?
After reading about the 2-week shut-down process I have some questions before we consider bringing her into our home, especially since this shelter does NOT have a trial-period for adoptions. How do you work a 2-week shut down with an adult dog that may not be crate trained? I am completely befuddled by this, and in all my searching I can't find an answer. We could make a 'dog-proof' area in our basement to keep a dog in, but I feel like it would be really mean to get a new dog, and then lock it in the basement.
I've got more questions, but I think I would get more thorough answers once I can post in the correct sub-forums.
