Any way to get a rescue that isn't fixed?

I'm moving into an apartment soon and would like to get a medium/large dog but am worried about getting a higher energy puppy, so am thinking maybe a 2yo dog from the shelter may be a good option. But I notice all come fixed prior to adoption. any way to get a dog around 2yo that isn't fixed?
 
It may differ from place to place, but I don't think they fix them at the shelter, I think they leave that to the person who adopts, after you sign paperwork stating that getting them fixed is part of the deal. And they take the dog back if you don't follow through. Either Animal Control or the police, probably depending on where you live. Either way, it's legally binding paperwork. Best bet is to call whatever your local shelter is and ask them. Things may have changed drastically since the last time I adopted a shelter dog over 25 years ago. I know it varied from location to location back then, and it may still be that way now.
 
Youd be FAR better off with a puppy....raise him or her right and you have a companion for life....which becomes IMPORTANT if you happen to find a critter that just isnt interested. There are some that just are not. There is a certain amount of luck involved
 
Youd be FAR better off with a puppy....raise him or her right and you have a companion for life....which becomes IMPORTANT if you happen to find a critter that just isnt interested. There are some that just are not. There is a certain amount of luck involved
Any recommendations for a breed that can do well in an apartment? I can commit to a 30 min walk daily and some time in the dog park. And currently work from home but that may change in the future. hard finding recommendations for medium to large dogs that are low enough energy to be happy in an apartment.
 
I got my boy on a Craigslist’s-like website. Plenty of people give away dogs for various reasons on here, and they’re often not fixed.

Any dog can be happy living in an apartment. To me most dogs living in apartments are a lot happier than most dogs living in houses with garden since people are forced to take care of them, which is what dogs actually need. My boy is high energy and we live in a relatively small place, but we’re out walking or seeing other dogs at least 2h daily.

To me you should wait to be in a situation where you could commit more time to him on a daily basis. 30min would be enough for an old dog to be happy maybe, but not for a puppy, no matter the breed.
 
Any recommendations for a breed that can do well in an apartment? I can commit to a 30 min walk daily and some time in the dog park. And currently work from home but that may change in the future. hard finding recommendations for medium to large dogs that are low enough energy to be happy in an apartment.
A 30 minute walk a day isn’t enough , mine gets at minimum 2 hour long walks no matter what the weather
 
I got my boy on a Craigslist’s-like website. Plenty of people give away dogs for various reasons on here, and they’re often not fixed.

Any dog can be happy living in an apartment. To me most dogs living in apartments are a lot happier than most dogs living in houses with garden since people are forced to take care of them, which is what dogs actually need. My boy is high energy and we live in a relatively small place, but we’re out walking or seeing other dogs at least 2h daily.

To me you should wait to be in a situation where you could commit more time to him on a daily basis. 30min would be enough for an old dog to be happy maybe, but not for a puppy, no matter the breed.

That's a good point. most of the apartments I am looking at have dog parks (not huge, but definitely enough room for fetch), so was hoping I can supplement some of the extra walking with another 30ish mins of fetch or time for them to play with other dogs in the park in addition to indoor play.
 
A 30 minute walk a day isn’t enough , mine gets at minimum 2 hour long walks no matter what the weather
That's exactly why I was asking for breed recommendations for dogs that don't require 2 hours of walking. I had a corgi in the past that was quite happy with a 30 min walk and 1 or 2 weekly trips to a bigger park for long-range fetch.
 
I got my two girls as puppies and couldn't be happier!

I waited until I found a breeder that wasn't a hoity toity 'my dogs are 3000$ from the purest german blood-line' person with documents longer than an average lease to even be considered (much respect to that, but i'm not looking to go to shows or breed them), or a person who's just looking to get rid of the puppies because they had an accident or they have a straight up puppy farm. Gotta look for the happy medium.

There was one breeder here (highly respectable and I took a few of her classes) where the papers you had to sign actually had it so she would go through your house annually for an inspection, and if it wasn't to her code she would take the dog back... On a level I understand the love and responsibility she has for the puppies, but that seemed a bit much.

All the rescues here spay/neuter puppies as soon as they get them (i've seen as young as 4wk old puppies done.... AHHHH). The lady that runs it even stopped me on the street with my GSD (who was about 2 months old at the time) and gave me a lecture about how I wasn't spaying her immediately (I'm like... calm down Bertha, she's got a long ways before her first heat).

My advice would be to find that happy medium breeder (in my case, the owner wanted to have a litter from her favourite dog before she was spayed). Spend time with the puppies if you can and try and read the dogs. You can usually tell which ones will be the barkers and you can get a basic idea on their energy levels. It's usually obvious while watching the litter interact to see who the bullies are and which ones are more on the docile side.

Even if their docile, they'll still have that crappy puppy-teenage-dog phase where they're always challenging you and seeing what they can get away with. It's very fun and it's the most rewarding challenge. Though you'd definitely need a solid living situation. It's a 10+ year commitment so you have to be ready for anything that comes your way, you should always have fall-back plans. A buddy of mine recently got a dog, soon after things fell out with his job and he had to move to another town where none of the rentals allowed pets, so he had to give away his dog. Very heartbreaking!
 
I got my two girls as puppies and couldn't be happier!

I waited until I found a breeder that wasn't a hoity toity 'my dogs are 3000$ from the purest german blood-line' person with documents longer than an average lease to even be considered (much respect to that, but i'm not looking to go to shows or breed them), or a person who's just looking to get rid of the puppies because they had an accident or they have a straight up puppy farm. Gotta look for the happy medium.

There was one breeder here (highly respectable and I took a few of her classes) where the papers you had to sign actually had it so she would go through your house annually for an inspection, and if it wasn't to her code she would take the dog back... On a level I understand the love and responsibility she has for the puppies, but that seemed a bit much.

All the rescues here spay/neuter puppies as soon as they get them (i've seen as young as 4wk old puppies done.... AHHHH). The lady that runs it even stopped me on the street with my GSD (who was about 2 months old at the time) and gave me a lecture about how I wasn't spaying her immediately (I'm like... calm down Bertha, she's got a long ways before her first heat).

My advice would be to find that happy medium breeder (in my case, the owner wanted to have a litter from her favourite dog before she was spayed). Spend time with the puppies if you can and try and read the dogs. You can usually tell which ones will be the barkers and you can get a basic idea on their energy levels. It's usually obvious while watching the litter interact to see who the bullies are and which ones are more on the docile side.

Even if their docile, they'll still have that crappy puppy-teenage-dog phase where they're always challenging you and seeing what they can get away with. It's very fun and it's the most rewarding challenge. Though you'd definitely need a solid living situation. It's a 10+ year commitment so you have to be ready for anything that comes your way, you should always have fall-back plans. A buddy of mine recently got a dog, soon after things fell out with his job and he had to move to another town where none of the rentals allowed pets, so he had to give away his dog. Very heartbreaking!
I hate people like that. But at least we can hope that Bertha is so overzealous, she got her own children clipped immediately after birth. The fact that genital mutilation of animals is so widely accepted just blows my mind. Breeders are hardly any better either, some breeders have genepools so shallow at this point, you could barely submerge an ant. If people keep snipping, the genepools sure aren't getting any deeper either. Man, these stories just hit so many of my nerves.
 
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