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Perfect Match
Posted on February 12, 2010
We have kind of been fostering with the goal to eventually adopt another dog. And I know we are, by far, not the only fosters who do that. And it really is a great way to get to know your dog before you decide to make him a permanent part of your family. With Maize for example, she is the third dog we picked as a foster. We all picked them by the same criteria (as we would pick one to adopt), and all of them were sweet and lovable, but only Maize has been the one that totally fits our family.
But of course not everyone can take such extensive measures to find the perfect dog for their family. That’s why every county or at least every state should have “Mutt Match”! Run by dog trainers Liz Maslow and Meg Boscov, the Philadelphia based organization helps families find the right dog for them.
Liz Maslow explains a little bit about what they do: “Since Mutt Match is such a novel idea, it is a work in progress. What we do is first, we meet with the family in their home (home visit), discuss what their wants and needs are in a dog. We ask lots of questions about their lifestyle and together we talk about what type of dog would do well in their family. We write up a bio about the family, describing their ideal dog and send it to the rescues we are affiliated with, currently we have over 15 rescues and shelters we work with. Our hope (and it seems to be working) is that the bio gets sent to the fosters and if a dog seems like a match we get an email or phone call. We find that the foster family really knows the dog and speaking with them helps us determine if the dog and family will be happy together.
Next, we schedule a time to visit the dog to do a behavioral assessment and if all goes well, we have the family meet the dog. We require the entire family, including any other dogs, meet the prospective adoptee, before a decision is made. When the family decides to adopt it is done through the rescue (they sign their adoption contract and pay their adoption fee). After the dog is happily in his or her new home Meg or I will visit and spend about an hour with the family discussing the adjustments for a new dog, housebreaking, crate training and basic good manners. We are available for phone consults for the lifetime of the dog and offer a discount on training.
We have written several articles to help make the process as easy as possible for the new dog owners, which we give to our families on our first visit. Mutt Match is a non-profit organization, funded by donations. Our goal is to make smart placements, help people who may be afraid to rescue a dog feel more comfortable doing so and try to keep dogs in their new homes. So many adopted dogs are returned due to “wrong dog in the wrong home”, by matching a family and dog we are hopefully keeping dogs in their homes.”
They totally make me want to go out to get some more training and start the same kind of organization! But since not all shelters have trainers available, please make sure you make your decision about a new family member carefully. I love the idea of adopting a foster dog, because the foster family can tell you so much more than the shelter staff ever could from seeing a dog in a kennel most of the day. Make sure you trust the advice of foster parents and rescue workers, even when they tell you this might not be the right dog for you.
Liz Maslow gave me a few tips on how to choose the right dog: “When looking to add a dog to the family, the first step is considering what type of dog will fit in most comfortably. For example, if you would like a couch potato of a dog, a greyhound or a basset would be a better fit than say a border collie. There are many dog breed books on the market that can help narrow down the look and characteristics you may want in a dog.
Most of the dogs you will find from a rescue or a shelter will be mixed breeds, consider all the breeds in a particular dog and think about the specific characteristics of those breeds. The dog could have any and all of those traits. When walking through a shelter, remember first impressions are important! The dog that is actively seeking out your attention is a social dog. We like to look for dogs that seem unfazed by the crazy surroundings. They are happy to see you, with a wagging body in addition to a wagging tail. Their body is loose and wiggly, they could look as though they are smiling.
If you see a dog like this kneel down and make friends press your hand up to the cage. The dog should either lick at your fingers or press his body to the other side of the fencing so that you can touch him. This tells you that he likes to be touched, another hint that it is a social dog. If you feel comfortable, ask to see the dog in a private room to get to know him better. Once in the room the dog should pay more attention to you than his surroundings. He should calm to your touch, not get more excited. You should not notice any fearful behavior or shyness towards anyone in your family.
Try to engage the dog in play, ask yourself, is it too rough (jumping, biting at, pulling on clothes)? Is the dog exerting force (some dogs like to show you how strong they are)? If he is jumping up at you is it in play or is it a power play? Now stop playing, the dog should settle in a couple of minutes. Take the dog for a short walk outside. Dogs in rescue usually do not know how to walk politely on leash; they may pull, but the dog should not drag you and should pay attention to you. You want the dog to notice that you are at the other end of the leash. If you stop walking, the dog should also. Some shelters, but not all, do behavioral evaluations. Ask to see the evaluation on a particular dog. Pay particular attention to the body handling and the food aggression sections of the evaluation.”
Thanks to Liz and Meg for starting such a great organization! Keep it up and I hope that many more of these are going to follow all around the country.
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