Thank you for posting the link to this article.
While the article is sad & tragic, it also reinforced a lot of things for me.
In the article, the author talks about, in the initial aftermath, feeling like she couldn't trust herself to choose another dog. What if her next dog also had aggressive tendencies?
As people have pointed out, how dogs act in shelters isn't necessarily a good judge of how the dogs will act in a home.
When we decided to get a dog for our family, we went w/ a breeder for a number of reasons.
After researching dog breeds, I realized we probably wouldn't be able to find a Keeshond at a shelter. While we might have found an adult Keeshond at a rescue, we really preferred a puppy, & I wasn't sure that a rescue would approve us.
However, additionally, like the author of the article, I was worried about adopting a dog from a shelter & not being able to really know the dog's history, character/personality, & tendencies.
Having a dog become a part of one's family is a big commitment, & I wanted our journey to be successful.
(Side Note: And while I know not every dog conforms to its breed "standards," different breed characteristics stand out more. And learning about the different breeds & common personality behaviors can be beneficial when it comes to choosing the right dog for your family - because, again, you want to be successful in your commitment to the lifetime of the pet. And, really, that's kind of what this thread is about - a pit bull mix is not going to be right for everybody, &, if you're choosing a pit bull mix, you need to know what you're getting.)
I think rescues probably do a better job than shelters when it comes to learning their animals & striving to find good placements for their animals. However, rescues also can be really strict when it comes to whom they approve to adopt their animals.
W/ our family, for example, as adults, my DH & I didn't have a lot of experience w/ dogs, had a small child at the time, & did not have a fenced-in back yard. (My DH's & my dog experience came from dogs we both had growing up, & neither of us had had an inside dog which truly lived w/ our families.) Most rescues would have told us "no".
Whereas at a lot of shelters, there is limited knowledge of the dogs' background & behavior tendencies & limited screenings of the people who are choosing to adopt the dogs.
But people want dogs. People want their kids to have dogs. So they go to shelters, instead of the stricter rescues. They buy from backyard breeders and/or puppy mills, not realizing what they are supporting. I live in the South, where backyard breeders & puppy mills are common. W/o even doing a lot of thinking, I know at least 3 people who have purchased puppies from puppy mills.
At the time, we were researching dog breeds & then looking for reputable breeder, I had asked questions on the DIS, & most everyone was very critical & told me either 1 of 2 different things: (1) don't go to a breeder - go to a rescue or a shelter or (2) your family doesn't have enough experience for a puppy.
Whereas, people in our real life, when they found out how much "research" we were doing were saying things like "Y'all are crazy - just go get a dog; it's not that complicated" or "I know a place where you can get full-blooded Yorkshire terriers for $100."
Our cat, who we had had for over 18 years, came from a shelter. As a very young married couple, we walked into the shelter & walked out w/ a cat - no questions asked which was a good thing because the duplex we were renting didn't even allow pets. We got her as a kitten, & she came to us w/ cigarette burns & a crazy fear of plastic bags. The only people she ever tolerated in her life were my husband & me. She'd hiss & scratch at others. She had behavior problems, but we loved her. But she was a cat - and a small, petite cat. What we could handle in a cat, we couldn't have handled in a larger dog.
So, long story... but, for all the above reasons, we went w/ a hobby breeder & purchased a Keeshond puppy. We drove 2 1/2 hours to meet the breeder, the Keeshond mom & her puppies, & the breeder's other Keeshonden. The breeder met us, talked to us, &, after learning about us, chose the puppy from the litter for us that she thought would make the best match for our family. And then we drove back a couple of months later to pick up our puppy.
And, when our little cat, who we had had for over 18 years, died, instead of going back to a shelter, we went w/ a cat rescue 2 1/2 hours away from us (in the other direction from our Keeshond breeder) & adopted 2 bonded sisters. And the cat rescue was much stricter than the shelter. In fact, the rescuer was trying to decide between us & another family from 2 states away, so she asked us both to write a little essay w/ pictures that showed who we were as families. So, in order to adopt the 2 bonded kittens, I wrote & illustrated a "picture book".
Anyway, I wrote all this to say... it's wonderful to adopt a dog from a shelter, but you really need to know & understand what you're getting, & there are some really good reasons for going w/ a breeder as well.
I think I just really identified w/ the author of the article being worried about not trusting herself to pick out another dog.
