I’m looking for a house dog, but many of your dogs seem so big.

 

Don’t you have any dogs that will be good for living in town as inside dogs?

Absolutely! Many large breed dogs make wonderful house dogs. In fact, we prefer to place the dogs as indoor companions. Dogs are pack animals, which means that they need regular companionship and should not live a solitary outside existence. Experience has shown that dogs kept inside are more accessible to their human family and receive more attention and socialization in most cases. In fact, behavior problems like boredom barking, can often be resolved by simply spending more time with the dog!

Don’t overlook a dog because of its size. While it is true that a large dog can not always do well in a small apartment or mobile home and those bigger pooches need longer walks than a smaller dog to get adequate exercise, many of these dogs are couch potatoes! In fact, in some cases a larger dog is actually less active than a smaller one might be.

When you look at the dogs, keep in mind that it is not fair to bring a 100 lb dog into a one-room apartment without a yard or multiple daily walks, but that same dog might do quite well in a small house with a fenced yard and one walk each morning, especially if there is not a lot of activity in your home. Plus, if the dog is a little older, it may be ready for a more sedate lifestyle and be happy to just curl up at your feet for the evening once the initial “Welcome Home” is over!
If your living situation or physical abilities do make it important to keep looking for a smaller-sized dog, check in with us frequently, because we often get calls on small dogs, but they tend to get placed quickly and sometimes don’t even have to come in to the shelter before finding a new home.