Here are a few reasons why you should consider adopting an older dog:

• You get to see the finished package, warts and all. When you take home a puppy, it is easy to go for the cutest, or the most bubbly. What you will not be able to predict is how that pup will turn out as an adult. By adopting an older dog, what you see is what you will get. He will have been assessed by a behaviorist and you will know how he is likely to react to children, other pets, strangers etc..

• House training can be easier. Aside from any issues related to your dog adjusting to his new home, when you pick a dog to adopt, you can choose one who is proven to be already house trained, or is consistently clean in the kennels. This can be a big plus for some families.

• You can choose a dog based on your lifestyle. This means that there is more chance of you keeping your dog for life than suddenly finding you are not compatible with each other.

• One other "benefit" that can be a deciding factor for some is that the initial "cost" of adopting a dog (ie, the adoption fee paid to the shelter) is the same regardless of breed. Providing you are compatible with the dog, you can adopt a prestigious breed or a mongrel for the same contribution.

• Most important is what you can't see: These are dogs that are, above all, willing to please. They want to be loved, and they want to love in return. And they will.
  
  Author Peter Mayle said it best: "A found dog never takes anyone or anything for granted. Somewhere in the deep recesses of the orphan psyche, never entirely forgotten even after years of good living and kindly, obedient owners, memories of hard times linger. And this ... tends to give lost and found dogs a special appreciation of what the world can offer."
  
  A dog in a shelter needs you ... and not too long after taking it home, you'll realize that you needed this dog for all the joy it brings you.