Questions to Ask When Adopting a Dog

It’s important to stay informed about the rescue or shelter’s adoption policies as you look into giving a dog a home. In addition, you’ll want to be asking plenty of questions about each adoptable pup to get a good idea of their personality and needs.

Our article helps you prepare for adopting a dog by providing you with essential questions to ask when adopting your furry friend.

Why Do I Need to Ask Questions When Adopting a Dog?

For many individuals, adopting a dog seems like a fairly straightforward process – you head to a shelter, find a dog that you connect with, and fill out all the adoption paperwork. Then, you bring the dog home and settle into your new chapter.

However, adopting a dog is a little more complex than that. It’s essential to find out specific pieces of information about the dog you are interested in so you can be sure they are a good fit for you, your family, and your lifestyle.

By ensuring that a dog is the right fit for you before you bring them home, you reduce the chances of needing to return your dog to the shelter due to incompatibility. This reduces stress for both you and the dog and helps to ensure that adoptions are long-lasting, happy, and healthy partnerships.

Essential Questions to Ask When Adopting a Dog

The following questions are all important to keep in mind and ask a shelter or rescue organization before finalizing your decision to adopt your dog.

Make sure that you gather all the information about your potential new dog before bringing them home. This will ensure the dog will be happy living alongside you, and that you will be able to properly care for them.

Where Did This Dog Come From?

The history of your potential new dog is important to take note of. It can give you an idea of the challenges that you might have adding the dog into your family, or the training and skills they might already possess.

Dogs that come from abusive situations or were picked up as strays might need a more structured home with an owner who has plenty of time to train the dog or tailor their lifestyle accordingly. Other dogs might be owner surrenders due to unfortunate life circumstances, meaning they are more well-trained, but they might have complex issues with anxiety or abandonment.

Understanding how your potential new dog ended up in the shelter or rescue organization when possible is a vital part of understanding their history. With this knowledge, you can give them the best life possible upon adoption.

Has This Dog Had Multiple Homes?

Sometimes, dogs have a history of being rehomed multiple times. There are many different reasons for this, including behavioral issues that owners aren’t sure how to deal with or dogs that have specific health issues or exercise needs that a certain family can’t effectively meet.

It’s important to note that dogs who have had multiple homes are more likely to need an owner with patience who can offer them a forever home. In addition, the dog will need plenty of time to adjust to their surroundings.

How Healthy Is This Dog?

The basic health items that you should be asking about include whether or not their vaccinations are up to date, if they have had any major surgeries, or if they are on medication.

You will need to know what health problems they might be predisposed to, or which issues they may be diagnosed with. Taking note of these items helps you to understand what the cost of care will be for your dog in both the short and long term. It’s important to be sure you can provide for your dog so that they receive health care as needed.

By figuring out how healthy your potential dog is, you can also figure out which activities they can participate in exercise-wise or with other dogs. In addition, you can purchase health items ahead of time, such as steps for an older dog with joint pain.

What Breed Is This Dog?

Shelters and rescue organizations typically end up with an assortment of dogs with all breeds or a mix of breeds. While there are rescues and other organizations that are dedicated to rehoming purebred dogs, most shelters or rescues will have mixed breeds up for adoption.

It’s important to ask about known breeds that might be in your dog’s genetic makeup. This will help you understand what their personality might be like and what their needs will be over time.

Energy level, exercise needs, and the expected size are all important factors that are tied to breed and essential to ask about so you can determine if a dog is a right fit for your home.

What Is This Dog’s Personality?

Every dog is unique. Even though many mixed breeds or purebred dogs might have certain expected characteristics, your potential new dog likely has a fun personality the shelter or rescue staff can tell you about.

Figure out the dog’s likes and dislikes, any fun traits, or other essential factors about their temperament with this question. Keep in mind that some dogs might not show their true personality when kept in a kennel or shelter environment. Sometimes, it takes a foster home or plenty of time relaxing in their forever home for a dog’s full personality to be on display.

Is This Dog Bathroom Trained?

Making sure a dog is potty trained is essential to some owners, and not as important to others. You should make an effort to find out if you will need to bathroom train your dog and what you might expect when moving them home.

It’s normal for a dog to have accidents a few times as they settle into a new home, and a dedicated bathroom training approach can help ensure the accidents don’t continue.

Will This Dog Get Along With Children or Strangers?

When dogs are properly socialized from a younger age, they are typically more comfortable around children who might be loud or strangers and other individuals they don’t recognize. However, many shelter or rescue dogs miss this important step and may have issues such as anxiety.

Some breeds are also more prone to being mistrustful of strangers or showing aggressive behaviors. Evaluating a dog’s social level is essential, especially if you have children at home and you need a dog that will be calm and relaxed around them.

Will This Dog Get Along With Other Dogs or Pets?

Another important result of socialization is a dog’s ability to get along with other dogs or with other pets that might be in your home.

Typically dogs that are reactive or have behavioral issues will need to be placed into homes with them as they only pet. This is to prevent fights, bites, or attacks, and to reduce the overall stress of every animal in your home. You may also need to work with a dog that doesn’t get along with other dogs to help them become more comfortable around them.

Is This Dog Trained With the Basics?

Basic dog training such as being able to walk on a leash, sitting and staying, and other simple obedience tasks is very helpful for any dog. Dogs that are found in rescues and shelters usually have a range of skill levels depending on their backgrounds.

Understanding what your dog knows and learning how to use the verbal cues or hand signals they recognize will help a dog that is already somewhat trained. Additionally, knowing how well-trained and comfortable with a leash your dog is will help you determine how much training you might need to complete.

Does This Dog Have Any Behavioral Problems?

Behavioral issues range from problems like jumping due to excitement or more serious behaviors such as aggression, separation anxiety, and reactiveness. You will need to ask if the dog has a bite history, or if they have a history of behavioral incidents.

Dogs with serious behavioral issues may need more consistent training, something that can take a lot of effort on behalf of the owner. It’s important to know about behavioral problems ahead of time so you can be sure you will properly care for and train the dog once they are in your home.

Will the Shelter or Rescue Take the Dog Back if Necessary?

Sometimes, an adoption simply doesn’t work out due to unforeseen reasons. Your new dog may not fit in with current pets in the home, or the dog may display surprise behavioral issues that you aren’t equipped to help them with.

Any rescue organization or shelter should be able to take the dog back for any reason, but if they refuse to take the dog back, you might not want to adopt from that specific organization. This is especially important if you are not sure how a dog will fit in with your lifestyle or current pets, but you wish to give them a chance.

In the case that you have too much doubt about a dog and the work it takes to properly care for and train them, it might not be the right time or place to adopt a dog just yet. You must think about the dog’s happiness and yours through the adoption process to ensure everything does as smoothly as possible.

Can I Afford to Adopt a Dog?

Another highly important question that you should be considering before and during the dog adoption process is whether or not you can afford to adopt the dog you are interested in. Adoption fees at rescues and shelters vary from free to a few hundred dollars, though you may pay more for a dog found through an organization that rehomes purebred dogs.

In addition to the one-time adoption fees, you should calculate how much it takes to keep your dog fed, healthy, and happy throughout their life. This is especially important if the dog you are interested in has any health issues or known health conditions that will require life-long maintenance.

Finding the Perfect Dog for You

Adopting a dog is a wonderful process, and many individuals enjoy the process of looking for a dog that is the perfect fit for their lifestyle and home.

It’s important to ask lots of questions throughout this process. Understanding your potential new dog’s background, health issues, and behavioral problems will give you a better idea of whether or not that dog will fit into your life easily. Then, you can decide if you can help that dog happily transition and live healthily in their forever home.