Sunday, August 9, 2009

Puppy for a day

We've been talking about getting a puppy recently and so yesterday we went to PetSmart to see the dogs up for adoption. We went to a few stores before I (Matt) fell in love with Bailey. The rescue shelter said she was a boxer/lab mix. We asked a bunch of questions: how big will she get? will she be good with kids? etc. The lady said she would only get to around 30-35 lbs and was great with kids. Shannon had a bad feeling, but of course I was already in love with her so Shannon reluctantly agreed.

When we were filling out the paperwork, I noticed that the info from Animal Control said she was a pit bull. I asked the lady and she said the dog was definitely a boxer. We got her food and bowls and a crate. She was smart and even went to the bathroom outside (except a few times).

I decided to do some research to figure out if this was really a boxer/lab mix. What I found was kind of disturbing. There were lots of pictures of pit bulls and boxers that looked like her. There were also a lot of people saying that rescue shelters will say it's a boxer just to get it adopted. I told Shannon and she definitely did not want a pit bull. Usually we like to research things and know exactly what we are getting before we make a purchase.

The more we thought about it, the more we felt it wasn't the right time - we weren't ready. So, today we took her back with teary eyes. Are we horrible people because we returned a puppy?!? We had to return all the other stuff so we don't start missing her. Next time, we'll make sure we are ready before I hold another puppy :) Looking back at it, I think we were just missing Jacob (he spent the night at Grandma's)

For those of you that are dog experts, judge for yourself whether she is a pit bull mix or boxer mix.

If you are interested in adopting her, click here.

5 comments:

QueenBee said...

She is cute but she does look like a pit. And if Animal Control is saying that she is I'd go with their opinion. Sorry guys =( But good luck and I'm sure you'll find a furry baby who fits right in and is the right breed for you!

Bud & Kim said...

Oh sad...but you have to make the best decision for your family. By the way Nikki Brewer in our ward has brand new puppies for sale and they are suppose to be good with kids and hypoallergenic (no allergy problems). Pictures are on facebook if you want to see.

Jen Western said...

Her coloring makes me think she is a pit, and she looks alot like our friends pit bull puppy. I think that is VERY smart to research a breed before choosing, each breed is very unique and has specific qualities and needs. My husband has a pit and we will need to find a new home for him when we have kids. He isn't confident in new situations, and is very protective of his domain. It's great to rescue, but this type of situation has turned me away from it. We just got a puppy and I liked that I could meet both the parents, and make sure they were good with strangers, and their family had kids so I got to see the parents of our puppy interact with kids as well. Training and socilization makes a big difference too. That's my opinion, sorry so long :)

Trisha said...

Matt.... you're hilarious. that's cute though. And adopting a puppy is definitely the way to govs. buying... they are so expensive! But so sad you had to take her back. Better luck next time!

Josh said...

There are boxers that have that orange and black coloring, I think they are called Cherokee boxers, but she really does look like a pit puppy and not a boxer puppy. You can never be sure when they are a mix at what kind of temperment they might have when they get older. It is better to be on the safe side than wait and see what might happen. If you want a puppy let us know. In the next year or so we might be looking for a girl Min. Schnauzer to breed with our dog and if you like Min Schnauzers you can come by and see if any of our would strike your fancy. That will give you some time too think and look into it as well. Great with kids, not tiny but not big dogs, look cool because of the beard and very smart.