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Wednesday, July 20, 2016 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Paw
Prints
Jodi Schneider McNamee
Columnist
Adopting an
adult dog
You’ve had a puppy
before and although he was
cute and cuddly, it took a lot
of your time and energy in
the first few months when
you brought that tiny ball of
fur home. Memories of train-
ing him days on end to use
the bathroom outside and not
to bark at every passing car
or person who came to your
door go through your head.
So this time around,
you’re planning to adopt an
adolescent or adult dog from
a rescue group or shelter.
There are millions of
dogs surrendered to humane
societies and rescues every
year. Adopting a dog from
your local shelter is a heroic
thing to do. You’ll be saving
a life and greatly improving
yours.
It generally takes adult
dogs a lot longer to get
adopted than those irresist-
ible puppies, even though
they may be calmer, better
socialized, housetrained, and
even past the “chew every-
thing in sight” stage.
There are many advan-
tages of adopting an adult
dog. For one thing, you don’t
have to deal with those sharp
puppy teeth. And because
your new dog has her adult
teeth, she is less likely to
chew everything within
her reach. If not already
housetrained (and many are),
a mature dog at least has the
physical ability to hold his
bladder or bowel for lon-
ger periods of time and can
usually learn appropriate
potty habits quickly, with the
right training. And if you’re
looking for a ready-made
exercise partner, you don’t
have to wait months for your
walking/running buddy to
go with you on your next 5k
run.
You’ll already know the
size and disposition of your
new furry friend, although
you probably won’t know
of his past. But the good
news is since dogs live in the
moment, it is possible to take
an adult dog and start over.
An adult dog can be inte-
grated into a new household
more quickly and with less
work than a new puppy. And
as an added benefit, you
can feel good that you’ve
adopted a dog that might oth-
erwise not be able to find his
forever home.
But before you adopt your
new best friend, know what
qualities you’re looking for,
and what you can’t tolerate.
Be honest. Whether you’re
adopting from a shelter or
from a private individual,
tell the person you’re deal-
ing with the truth about what
you can handle and what you
can’t. Ask loads of questions
about the dog you have taken
interest in. Shelter adoption
specialists often know the
dogs fairly well and will be
straight with you.
The shelter staff will be
able to give you a good idea
of the dog’s temperament. If
he interacts with other pets
or is better by himself. The
shelter staff will also let you
know if he is clingy or laid-
back. If you’re bringing your
new dog home to a house
that already has cats and
dogs in it, look for a dog that
has lived with other animals
before. Spend some time
alone with the pooch you
want to bring home. Ask the
shelter staff if there is some-
where you can interact with
the dog.
The dog you have picked
out at the shelter seems the
perfect fit. And now after
all the paperwork, it’s time
to bring Rover to his new
home.
First, know that your
new adult dog is grateful to
you for rescuing him from
an unpleasant situation. The
first couple of weeks you and
your dog are getting to know
one another. Remember he
doesn’t understand why he
has come to your home or
what is expected of him.
Your new pooch must learn
a whole new set of rules. Be
patient and consistent. Don’t
leave tempting shoes, cloth-
ing or children’s toys within
reach of your dog.
Take your new furry
friend to obedience class as
soon as possible. The trainer
can help you with any trou-
blesome problems before
they become ingrained.
Within a week or two,
your pooch will have set-
tled into his new home and
his new routine. Some may
take a little longer. But in
most cases he will be a well-
adjusted member of the fam-
ily within a month.
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— Since 1997 —
Safety hotline open
for canning season
By kym pokorny
Correspondent
Oregon State University’s
food preservation and safety
hotline has opened for the
season.
The toll-free hotline at
800-354-7319 runs until
October 14 from 9 a.m. to
4 p.m., Monday through
Friday. When the hotline is
closed, callers can leave a
message. Additionally, many
Extension offices offer free
pressure-gauge testing.
Master Food Preservers,
who have completed 40 hours
of training, answer question
ranging from how to avoid
botulism to how to convert
grandma’s recipe for pie fill-
ing to modern standards. The
hotline gets thousands of
questions a year.
“The most important part
of safe and healthy food
preservation is finding cur-
rent, tested instructions, and
following them,” said Jeanne
Brandt, Extension Master
Food Preserver program
coordinator. “Food preserva-
tion research is an ongoing
process, so there are a lot of
recent changes in canning
recommendations and new
equipment and products.
Using the most current and
research-based instructions
will help ensure your prod-
ucts are safe, healthy and
delicious.”
Most commonly, people
ask about preserving salsa,
tomatoes and tuna. OSU
Extension offers publications
on each: Salsa Recipes for
Canning, Canning Seafood
and Canning Tomatoes and
Tomato Products.
For more information,
go to the OSU Extension
website on food preserva-
tion. OSU Extension’s Ask
an Expert service also takes
online questions about food
preservation.
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