Originally posted by ParNone
I guess I didn't word that right, because I didn't mean to say every dog from a shelter is a nitemare. It has more to do with my insecurity. I look at you and lizbud and think you guys are great trainers and know any dog y'all had would be great. Then I look at the people with dog issues and I keep thinking there for the grace of a good choice would be me. So I know if I stick with a certain breed and go to a reputable breeder they're going to help me pick the right dog. I dunno the shelter is an unknown for me and is scary for me. It's a mental thing of not wanting to make mistake.
My mom is like that. Which is probably why as long as I'm still living with them, we won't adopt from a shelter.
A few years ago, we adopted a 10 month old Australian Shepherd mix we named Bandit at a local adoption fair. I've posted a few pictures of him on here before. He had the sweetest personality, but I'm sorry to say, was untrainable. I know most of you will say 'No dog is untrainable' but trust me, he was. We worked with him for MONTHS on basic obedience and none of it sank in. My parents just got fed up one day when he tore a wire out of the wall, and attacked Molly for no apparent reason. If we had known he was aggressive towards other dogs (AND food aggressive) we wouldn't have gotten him....plain and simple.
I was very sad to see him go. I cried on the way over to the shelter, when we dropped him off, and back. I still have his collar and name tag. Don't get me wrong, I loved him with all my heart, but sometimes those things can turn into a big hassle when you've been trying for so long and see no improvement...

The way I see it with breeders is, most of them help you pick the right dog; and you can train it, and socialize it from Day 1 while he/she is still young.

Please don't make it out that I hate shelter dogs...because that's entirely not true. I know that and can see that from most of the people on this board.