Do you think that your prospective shelter dog is bound to come with lots of "baggage" or that she has ended up there because she is "not right". Let's look at a couple of scenarios:

Princess is an 18 month old terrier mix. She ended up in a shelter because her owner had changed jobs and was unable to spend as much time at home with her. Because she was lonely, Princess chewed - a lot! Her owner could not afford to work less hours or pay a dog walker to come visit through the day. Nor could she afford to keep replacing her furniture, and Princess just would not settle in a crate for 9 hours straight (neither was it fair to expect her to).

So, reluctantly, Princess's owner signed her over to a shelter. Because of the way shelters evaluate both dog and prospective owner, Princess was soon matched with Steve, Lucy and their two boys. They had assessed how much time the family would be leaving their dog home alone, how much exercise they could give and whether their home was suited to a dog. The shelter staff also ensured the family were prepared for the amount of exercise and stimulation the terrier side of Princess would need so that she did not chew or dig too much. Princess is now in a forever home, and even though she had to part with one of her human companions, she has not known a moment of cruelty. Even her being handed over to the shelter was through an act of love.

On now to puppy number 99654, who was bought at the local pet superstore three months ago and is now named Tex. He is a Sheltie sourced from a multi breed puppy mill. This is his life before finding his family:

His mother shares the whelping shed with 75 other dogs. She rarely sees the light of day, except when she is taken on the short walk to be mated each time she comes into season, then it is back to the small box where she will deliver her "commodity". It is unlikely that she will ever be checked out by a vet, unless there is a risk of aborting the pregnancy, when the loss of income from an aborted litter outweighs the cost of treatment. Her living space is rarely cleaned, and her puppies are born into darkness and filth. Puppy 99654 was born along with five littermates. His mom was given just enough food to keep her milk supplies going. She tried to keep him clean, but it was difficult with the feces and urine of herself and six puppies to contend with.

At six weeks, the litter were taken away to be "prepared for sale". This basically means they were given a good cleaning to get the filth from their coats and a chance for the ammonia smell to air off them. They were then shipped off to the pet store, where they are likely to have received their first veterinary check before being declared fit for sale. Because all puppies look the same, it did not matter to the store staff that puppy 99654 was separated from the rest of his litter and put in a display kennel with unfamiliar dogs.

Within just a few days of being put on display, along came the Barnes family. They are a good loving family, but were not asked to supply any information about how well prepared or suitable they were to take home a puppy. Their check cleared, so that was good enough. Tex was going to his new home.

I would like to say that Tex has a happy ending ahead of him like Princess. Unfortunately, somewhere along the line, he has developed severe distemper, and because he was taken away from his mother sooner than he should, his immune system is unlikely to be strong enough to get through it. If he makes it through, he is still likely to have a shortened life expectancy and the chance of complications such as seizures and the shakes for the rest of his life.

After reading the two "life stories" - which dog do you think has the most baggage?

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