Annette
31-07-09, 23:40
My husband and I have a nearly seven year old daughter who is very good with animals and recently expressed a desire to get a puppy or dog. Seeing as the shelters around our area are so full from recent abandonment (a lot of people have lost their homes) we asked our little girl if she'd like to get a special kind of dog (a shelter dog) (she understood as much as a seven year old can, and said it'd be fine to get a dog instead of a puppy)
Anyway, we went to a few different shelters and got some initial reactions from the dogs when we came across a 5 year old Dalmation named Cole, he was great, we took him into a separate room to see how he'd react alone with us and he warmed up very quickly to my daughter and I but seemed stand-offish around my husband. He would sniff his hand very briefly but his fail went between his legs when my husband approached, like he was apprehensive.
I asked about his history and she said he was something called an owner turn in but she explained that she didn't know much about him other than the basics. (No history of reported abuse of neglect) and she said the behavior was fairly normal but my husband and I aren't so sure.
So:
is that behavior normal? if not what does it suggest to you?
Should this stop us from giving him a home? (I don't want it to be a traumatic environment for him)
All help appreciated!
Anyway, we went to a few different shelters and got some initial reactions from the dogs when we came across a 5 year old Dalmation named Cole, he was great, we took him into a separate room to see how he'd react alone with us and he warmed up very quickly to my daughter and I but seemed stand-offish around my husband. He would sniff his hand very briefly but his fail went between his legs when my husband approached, like he was apprehensive.
I asked about his history and she said he was something called an owner turn in but she explained that she didn't know much about him other than the basics. (No history of reported abuse of neglect) and she said the behavior was fairly normal but my husband and I aren't so sure.
So:
is that behavior normal? if not what does it suggest to you?
Should this stop us from giving him a home? (I don't want it to be a traumatic environment for him)
All help appreciated!