Boy oh boy, when I see those gorgeous eyes looking up at me, I want it! Here we go again, decisions to be made. I just recieved an email in a round-a-bout-way about this 2 yr old female (and heaven knows we need females!) not doing well in a shelter way, WAY up north. She does not have her tail docked, and her fur looks longer, like lab. Is she purebred GSP? Hmmm. See WGSPR rescues purebred german shorthaired pointers from Wisconsin's shelters. We do not take mixes. It's about what people want folks! So, what to do about little missy? Indeed what to do. A shelter will only hold a dog for "so long" and after that time, they very well may euthanize the dog. Mainly it will be about lack of space, if the dog has passed temperament testing. Our state has a 7-day stray hold period. If the dog is owner surrender, there is no hold period. The shelter immediately takes ownership of the dog, and it can be rehomed, or disposed of immediately. Most shelters in our state are pretty lax about that hold period, IF they have space and IF the dog has no temperament issues, and IF the dog is adoptable. Others don't deal with the public and only deal with breed rescue. Our state is pretty forgiving for animals needing new homes. But it comes back to rescue. Rescue never has enough space for all the dogs needing to be rehomed. And once again, adoptability factors come into play. This particular dog has a few good things going for her. #1 she is female, #2 she is YOUNG female, #3 ok with kids, #4 ok with other dogs. Unfortunately our adopters come to us for purebred shorthairs. We can pretty much tell by looking at them if they come from good breeding, or if perhaps they are mix breed, or maybe not the best breeding. Does it matter? It does to us. Because our wanna be adopters come to us for purebred dog. Some will be very picky, about for instance that long tail this female carries. OK, I think that's pretty riduculous...but they don't! Some adopters have a color code in their head, what the dog can or cannot look like. Some have a size factor, they want smaller dog, therefore they think females will be smaller. Not always. Some think they are calmer and sweeter, cuz they are female. HELLO? Now you are jumping off the deep end. Most females I have handled or owned are bitches...hence the proper name for a female. So when we get pictures and sad sap stories about dogs needing our help, we have to look at the BIG PICTURE. Because after all, our first priority are to purebred GSPs in WI shelters, but we also are responsible to our potential adopters and their needs and wants. It's a business this dog rescue stuff. So ya know what? If I can find a foster home for this girl, tail and all, crummy breeding or not, I will! Because, she has alot of things going for her in the adoptability categories, and I think it will work out to everyone's advantage to give her a chance. There is no black and white in rescue. I wish there were, but doesn't work that way. We have to weigh everything out and go from there. I think Dusty's gonna get lucky. And she deserves that.
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