Adopting Dogs & Teemo's Story

 

 I thought it was about time I wrote a little about how Teemo & I came to be together and adopting a pup. Teemo is from a humane society located a north of where Jason and I lived in Cincinnati at the time. I found him on Petfinder while looking for possible foster dogs! Here are some tips on finding the perfect dog based off of how we came about getting Teemo.

  

one. Adopt!
Seriously, please, I beg you, adopt. You can even find pure bred rescues to adopt from. You can get a puppy. But there are tons of dogs out there who are in need of a home. Many mutts actually have better health and amazing personalities. Plus, you get to save something in need. It's an awesome feeling, let me tell you. I use Petfinder.com to find my pets - even my guinea pigs! Many rescues let you foster the dog for a few weeks to try the pet out in your home. You can even search by breed - Teemo struck me as the cutest, biggest ear corgi mix I had ever seen.

teemo only loves and tolerates me so much. that's normal.

two. Meet & Greet
Many shelters and rescues allow you to meet the dog in a closed room or take it out for a walk. When we were looking at Teemo, I took him for a short walk, then we went in a closed room with some toys, treats, and just us so we could get to know him a bit.

three. Don't judge on size alone.
Small dogs can be the craziest, most aggressive, and annoying things. Pit bulls can be the laziest sweet things ever. Dogs personalities are all over the place, so judge on personality, not on size. When I first saw Teemo, he was a 21 pound little mutt and I just laughed, because while he was cute, I didn't think a 20 pound dog would ever be able to hold his own against my 50+ pound rough and tumble basset mix. I was totally and utterly wrong. I underestimated the power of agility and speed versus weight and strength.

four. Be prepared.
Be sure to have a crate, collar, lead, food bowls, and other things before you adopt. Because we were fostering, we already had this ready to go when we got Teemo. Also. Dogs are expensive. Seriously. You never know what is going to happen. Teemo has been relatively great in terms of expenses, requiring nothing out of the ordinary. Except that one time he got really sick and we took him to the emergency vet and he was having seizures. There was that. Like I said, be prepared. For anything.

five. Know what a 'normal' dog is
Normal dogs bark. And accidentally pee on your carpet. And don't sit and roll over on command. That requires training. And some dogs are stubborn. There is an awesome article on it here. Teemo was actually being adopted when we first called about him, and I called back, and he had been adopted! The next day I saw him still up on Petfinder, and I had my husband call and ask on the chance they had been wrong and told me the wrong dog had been adopted. He had indeed been adopted - but on the drive home, the woman saw his super 'vicious' bark and returned him because she thought he was vicious. By the way, it should be noted, that not a single one of Teemo's barks is anything but laughable. He most makes a sound that sounds like 'bof' or a baroo.