Almost every kind! Dogs in shelters come in all shapes and sizes - and all ages.
Some people dump litters of puppies and they're found and brought to shelters.
Some people bring their puppies to the shelters themselves because they don't know what else to do with them.
Many are mixed breed dogs, but some are purebred, and may even come with registration papers.
Our shelter had one little guy who had been a winning show dog in his day, but had gotten too old to show, so had been relegated to a cage in the garage.
He was ecstatic to find a new home with someone who let him live in the house! And then there are the older dogs.
A LOT of the shelters dogs are teen-agers.
These are dogs who have gotten to be 4-8 months old without learning any manners.
People took them when they were cute fuzzy bundles of fun - and forgot that if you don't teach a dog to behave, he'll just do what comes naturally.
Sometimes "naturally" means jumping up on everyone, chewing up the furniture or your best shoes, growling if someone comes near the food dish, and using the living room carpet for a potty.
It's not the dog's fault, and with patience, love, and understanding, a new person can teach the adolescent dog all he or she needs to know about being a valuable family member.
Many of the dogs in this category are purebred.
They were purchased as puppies, often for hundreds of dollars, but their owners grew tired of them when they grew past the cute and cuddly stage.
Some of them have their registration papers.
One case I remember well was a couple who had bought a puppy to replace a well loved dog who had passed on.
The old dog was, well - old.
So he was calm and well behaved and suited their sedentary lifestyle well.
The new dog, while still the same small breed, was a ball of fire!That pup wanted to play, and run, and have constant attention.
This couple was exhausted with the new dog, so turned him in to a shelter to find a new home.
Lucky for the dog, in our area there are few small dogs offered for adoption, so he found a loving home within a week.
Most of the time the "adult but not old" dogs are in shelters because they got lost, or because people needed to move and didn't want to be bothered taking their dog along, or because their person passed away.
Most of them are well-behaved but they could be grieving.
Think how you'd feel if your family suddenly abandoned you and you couldn't figure out why.
Saddest of all are the old dogs.
These are dogs who are starting to have medical issues that might cost money.
Their people simply throw them away and go get a new dog.
I guess these are the same people who park Grandma in a nursing home and then never bother to go back.
Except these people don't even do that much.
Often these dogs are just shoved out of a car along a remote stretch of road and left to fend for themselves.
Old dogs are the hardest ones to place.
And it makes sense.
Some of them have only a year or two left to live, so taking them into your home and loving them, only to know they'll be leaving soon, is a very difficult thing to do.
Not everyone can stand that kind of heartache.
But for some, the satisfaction of making an old dog's last years pleasant is a reward in itself, and worth the pain of losing them.
Some people dump litters of puppies and they're found and brought to shelters.
Some people bring their puppies to the shelters themselves because they don't know what else to do with them.
Many are mixed breed dogs, but some are purebred, and may even come with registration papers.
Our shelter had one little guy who had been a winning show dog in his day, but had gotten too old to show, so had been relegated to a cage in the garage.
He was ecstatic to find a new home with someone who let him live in the house! And then there are the older dogs.
A LOT of the shelters dogs are teen-agers.
These are dogs who have gotten to be 4-8 months old without learning any manners.
People took them when they were cute fuzzy bundles of fun - and forgot that if you don't teach a dog to behave, he'll just do what comes naturally.
Sometimes "naturally" means jumping up on everyone, chewing up the furniture or your best shoes, growling if someone comes near the food dish, and using the living room carpet for a potty.
It's not the dog's fault, and with patience, love, and understanding, a new person can teach the adolescent dog all he or she needs to know about being a valuable family member.
Many of the dogs in this category are purebred.
They were purchased as puppies, often for hundreds of dollars, but their owners grew tired of them when they grew past the cute and cuddly stage.
Some of them have their registration papers.
One case I remember well was a couple who had bought a puppy to replace a well loved dog who had passed on.
The old dog was, well - old.
So he was calm and well behaved and suited their sedentary lifestyle well.
The new dog, while still the same small breed, was a ball of fire!That pup wanted to play, and run, and have constant attention.
This couple was exhausted with the new dog, so turned him in to a shelter to find a new home.
Lucky for the dog, in our area there are few small dogs offered for adoption, so he found a loving home within a week.
Most of the time the "adult but not old" dogs are in shelters because they got lost, or because people needed to move and didn't want to be bothered taking their dog along, or because their person passed away.
Most of them are well-behaved but they could be grieving.
Think how you'd feel if your family suddenly abandoned you and you couldn't figure out why.
Saddest of all are the old dogs.
These are dogs who are starting to have medical issues that might cost money.
Their people simply throw them away and go get a new dog.
I guess these are the same people who park Grandma in a nursing home and then never bother to go back.
Except these people don't even do that much.
Often these dogs are just shoved out of a car along a remote stretch of road and left to fend for themselves.
Old dogs are the hardest ones to place.
And it makes sense.
Some of them have only a year or two left to live, so taking them into your home and loving them, only to know they'll be leaving soon, is a very difficult thing to do.
Not everyone can stand that kind of heartache.
But for some, the satisfaction of making an old dog's last years pleasant is a reward in itself, and worth the pain of losing them.
Source...