A while ago I read an article about the Danish Animal Protection Agency. Right now their shelters are overbooked with dogs. In addition, they have waiting lists of people who want the shelters to take in their dogs.
The same trend is seen in other places where dogs are usually sold. The markets are overflowing with adult dogs.
When I was very young, I worked for a couple of years at one of the shelters under the Danish Animal Welfare Service. Here I met many wonderful, funny and beautiful 'recycled dogs'. That's why I would like to encourage you to consider a recycled dog the next time you get a dog.
Of the eight dogs I've had in my adult life, four of them have been 'recycled dogs.' I've loved them all!
I had been living with Birger for about a year when he came home one day and told me that he had been offered a four-year-old, neutered Danish/Swedish farm dog, if I wanted it. I quickly considered it, but then said yes, and the next day we drove out to pick up Niki.
Niki lived with someone who had now become too ill to take care of him. It was her adult son who tearfully handed us the dog and his little red wool blanket.
The red woolen blanket turned out to be really important to Niki. He had been looked after many times over the years, and each time he had been given his little red blanket. Wherever the blanket was, there Niki lived. It was his fixed point of reference.
Niki was neither neutered nor four years old, it turned out. He was six years old, and as he settled in, we discovered that he was a small dog with a HUGE ego. He had never met a cat, which was a bit of a challenge for both us and our six-year-old cat Mads, who was also not used to dogs. However, the project brought together family worked out so well that the two ended up being able to sleep together for dinner on the same lap.
Niki loved coffee with sugar and cream and couldn't stand the sound of a whipped cream dispenser. This probably contributed to his extremely bad teeth.
Niki's previous owner really loved him. When she was able, she took him everywhere. To check-ups at the hospital and in the supermarket shopping cart. She had taken much better care of Niki than she had taken care of herself.
When Niki passed away, it took a few years of having children before the energy and desire to have a dog again kicked in. Then Hallie moved in.
Hallie was a two and a half year old Welsh Corgi Cardigan female. We were her 4th home after she left her breeder. Fortunately, she had been happy in all the places she had lived, so she had retained her trust and love for people of all sizes.
Her biggest issue was the discomfort of being driven away from home by car. She had experienced too many times not being able to return home. If we drove from destinations other than our home, there were never any problems with her.
I had her passport with me when I picked her up and was able to see who she had lived with. I contacted her breeder and first owner to tell them that she was now living with me.
Hallie always had her YES hat on! She moved in with three cats and two children, ages 13 months and almost 3 years old, and she took it all in stride. A month after she arrived, we moved into our current home. I can't recommend getting a dog at that point in your life, but she did it anyway.
At first she chased cars, mopeds, trains and bicycles. I made sure she couldn't get hurt, but otherwise did nothing to stop it, as I thought it was related to the stress of having moved again. After about three months it stopped on its own.
Hallie became my soulmate. I always say that if I had a million dogs to choose from, I couldn't have found a better fit for me and my family than she did.
Hallie was fantastic. When daughter Sigrid, who had just learned to walk, fell on her, she simply gave her a loving treat on the nose and moved on. However, she had difficulty holding a warm fish cake in a small child's hand, which meant that she quickly became a little rounder than planned. She participated when the children built caves, jumped on the trampoline and much more.
She checked for rodent holes around the property. If she found an active hole, she would come get me.
We ran agility, did tricks, and she taught me how to herd.
About a year after we had Hallie, I was overcome with stress and depression. It was Hallie who cheered me on every day, along with Welsh Corgi Cardigan No. 2, 8-year-old Aladin, who had joined us in the meantime. It was into her fur that I sobbed and cried when it all became too overwhelming.
Hallie became the mother of the first two litters of puppies we had here at Autogården. The mini corgi is the result of a cozy moment between Aladin and Hallie.
Unfortunately she got cancer and we had to make the difficult decision to say goodbye. Even though it's been five years, I still miss her. She was a very special dog.
With a second-hand dog, you often avoid the hassle of having a puppy, but there are often other issues to deal with. Separation anxiety, bad habits and more. Sometimes, however, a change of environment helps to change the challenges. It is not always a simple task to take over a second-hand dog!
My best advice: GIVE IT TIME, BE PATIENT.
It is stressful for a dog to be taken out of its regular environment, to be among strangers and to have to deal with a completely different life. Typically, it takes three to six months for an adult dog to adjust to a new place – longer if it has had many changes. During that period, it needs to have peace and love to deal with it all.
There are so many wonderful dogs out there. Let them have another chance.
About this week's blogger:
Helene is an early retiree and spends a large part of her time with her animals. The animal team consists of 4 dogs, 1 cat, 15 free-range chickens, approx. 80 aviary birds and her daughter has three axolotls. And now she and Cookie can also call themselves a reading dog team.
She loves writing short stories, poems and stories from her everyday life and enjoys reading a good Scandinavian crime novel.
In addition to Helene and all the animals, the family consists of Birger 55 years old, Thor 12 years old and Sigrid 10 years old.
'Recycled dogs'
A while ago I read an article about the Danish Animal Protection Agency. Right now their shelters are overbooked with dogs. In addition, they have waiting lists of people who want the shelters to take in their dogs.
The same trend is seen in other places where dogs are usually sold. The markets are overflowing with adult dogs.
When I was very young, I worked for a couple of years at one of the shelters under the Danish Animal Welfare Service. Here I met many wonderful, funny and beautiful 'recycled dogs'. That's why I would like to encourage you to consider a recycled dog the next time you get a dog.
Of the eight dogs I've had in my adult life, four of them have been 'recycled dogs.' I've loved them all!
I had been living with Birger for about a year when he came home one day and told me that he had been offered a four-year-old, neutered Danish/Swedish farm dog, if I wanted it. I quickly considered it, but then said yes, and the next day we drove out to pick up Niki.
Niki lived with someone who had now become too ill to take care of him. It was her adult son who tearfully handed us the dog and his little red wool blanket.
The red woolen blanket turned out to be really important to Niki. He had been looked after many times over the years, and each time he had been given his little red blanket. Wherever the blanket was, there Niki lived. It was his fixed point of reference.
Niki was neither neutered nor four years old, it turned out. He was six years old, and as he settled in, we discovered that he was a small dog with a HUGE ego. He had never met a cat, which was a bit of a challenge for both us and our six-year-old cat Mads, who was also not used to dogs. However, the project brought together family worked out so well that the two ended up being able to sleep together for dinner on the same lap.
Niki loved coffee with sugar and cream and couldn't stand the sound of a whipped cream dispenser. This probably contributed to his extremely bad teeth.
Niki's previous owner really loved him. When she was able, she took him everywhere. To check-ups at the hospital and in the supermarket shopping cart. She had taken much better care of Niki than she had taken care of herself.
When Niki passed away, it took a few years of having children before the energy and desire to have a dog again kicked in. Then Hallie moved in.
Hallie was a two and a half year old Welsh Corgi Cardigan female. We were her 4th home after she left her breeder. Fortunately, she had been happy in all the places she had lived, so she had retained her trust and love for people of all sizes.
Her biggest issue was the discomfort of being driven away from home by car. She had experienced too many times not being able to return home. If we drove from destinations other than our home, there were never any problems with her.
I had her passport with me when I picked her up and was able to see who she had lived with. I contacted her breeder and first owner to tell them that she was now living with me.
Hallie always had her YES hat on! She moved in with three cats and two children, ages 13 months and almost 3 years old, and she took it all in stride. A month after she arrived, we moved into our current home. I can't recommend getting a dog at that point in your life, but she did it anyway.
At first she chased cars, mopeds, trains and bicycles. I made sure she couldn't get hurt, but otherwise did nothing to stop it, as I thought it was related to the stress of having moved again. After about three months it stopped on its own.
Hallie became my soulmate. I always say that if I had a million dogs to choose from, I couldn't have found a better fit for me and my family than she did.
Hallie was fantastic. When daughter Sigrid, who had just learned to walk, fell on her, she simply gave her a loving treat on the nose and moved on. However, she had difficulty holding a warm fish cake in a small child's hand, which meant that she quickly became a little rounder than planned. She participated when the children built caves, jumped on the trampoline and much more.
She checked for rodent holes around the property. If she found an active hole, she would come get me.
We ran agility, did tricks, and she taught me how to herd.
About a year after we had Hallie, I was overcome with stress and depression. It was Hallie who cheered me on every day, along with Welsh Corgi Cardigan No. 2, 8-year-old Aladin, who had joined us in the meantime. It was into her fur that I sobbed and cried when it all became too overwhelming.
Hallie became the mother of the first two litters of puppies we had here at Autogården. The mini corgi is the result of a cozy moment between Aladin and Hallie.
Unfortunately she got cancer and we had to make the difficult decision to say goodbye. Even though it's been five years, I still miss her. She was a very special dog.
With a second-hand dog, you often avoid the hassle of having a puppy, but there are often other issues to deal with. Separation anxiety, bad habits and more. Sometimes, however, a change of environment helps to change the challenges. It is not always a simple task to take over a second-hand dog!
My best advice: GIVE IT TIME, BE PATIENT.
It is stressful for a dog to be taken out of its regular environment, to be among strangers and to have to deal with a completely different life. Typically, it takes three to six months for an adult dog to adjust to a new place – longer if it has had many changes. During that period, it needs to have peace and love to deal with it all.
There are so many wonderful dogs out there. Let them have another chance.
About this week's blogger:
Helene is an early retiree and spends a large part of her time with her animals. The animal team consists of 4 dogs, 1 cat, 15 free-range chickens, approx. 80 aviary birds and her daughter has three axolotls. And now she and Cookie can also call themselves a reading dog team.
She loves writing short stories, poems and stories from her everyday life and enjoys reading a good Scandinavian crime novel.
In addition to Helene and all the animals, the family consists of Birger 55 years old, Thor 12 years old and Sigrid 10 years old.