Originally posted by stacwase

... When I got Max, I brought Jake to meet him and
they behaved 100% differently once they got home
than they did in the yard at the shelter.

If I said I'd foster,
I would kind of be obligated to take the dog
until I found a home for it, right?
The "behaved differently once they got home" is why you should
ask the shelter to allow you to "foster" the New Dog in your home.

Many shelters will make some sort of arrangement to allow that -
some give you a "30-day return & exchange" deal;
others might allow more of a "foster" deal -
you'll be giving the dog a "vacation" out of the shelter,
and the shelter will either adopt the dog to you OR get some
valuable feedback if it doesn't work out.

You'll need to have a long talk with the Shelter Manager -
not too many Managers will let a "stranger" walk off with one of
their dogs without doing some background checks!

Ideally - what you want is a dog that HAS Been "Fostered" -
so that you can learn from the "Foster Parent" just how that
dogs acts in a home / multi-dog environment.

Good Luck! /s/ Phre