Dogs of Illatos street – stinky mutts?

Of course they are not, but for some reason they just got stuck with us too; there is all the attention, the rehabilitation, all veterinary procedures and treatments, the beautiful pictures, the up-to-date information – but somehow the one just hasn’t come for any of them yet. They are not in danger with us, of course and they have all the time in the world to wait for their forever family, but the sooner it would happened the happier we’d be. There is just one thing better than a dog with a forever home; lots of dogs with their forever homes.

All these dogs have their own stories; they all react different to leaving the kennel at the pound where they stayed temporarily, all of them have a different way of opening up, of responding to freedom, to the changing circumstances, to the attention – to love. But they all do open up and change, and to live through these complete process with them from the very first moment is a privilege given to not very many.

Large male dogs have the least chance at the pound as most people instinctively don’t trust an adult, mature, strong male dog. Unfortunately even rescue societies’ hands are tied as these dogs don’t get a lot of interest from potential adopters either. 

Gamandor was estimated to be 6 months old according to the pound, but we have quickly realized that he was somewhere between 3-5 years old, so definitely an adult dog. In the beginning he was acting like a typical rural or outside dog; he either didn’t react to human approach or growled. But as these dogs are getting used to the regular attention and starting to form a bond, their soul becomes more and more visible for the knowing eye and their world becomes focused on human attention. And yes, their life in our kennels is much better than the regular rural/outside dog approach; while their kennels present safety to them, they also experience freedom during their daily walks. They also develop a bond during our daily training classes – and so do we – and that is the prerequisite of a dog being in an adoptable state. Gamandor has completed obedience training with us, so we are confident to say that he can easily be motivated, is very focused, and real fast learner. He is very good on the leash and while he is not the friendliest with other dogs, he isn’t looking for trouble and is never an aggressor. However, he’d really love to be an only dog. When something is going on – he’ll perk up; otherwise he is very laid back and snoozes on his bed – which makes him a perfect dog for apartment living as well. As he currently is living in one of our kennels, we are looking for a foster and/or forever family for him. 

Black dogs usually do not attract very much attention either – it is harder to take good pictures of them and there is just generally a mistrust in people about black dogs. 

We know some people think it is important for homeless people to have dogs; we however experience the opposite most of the time. Dogs coming to us from homeless individuals are usually very unsure, they are very defenseless, and way too often have experienced way too much of life’s dark side. This is exactly what happened to Tutu, who is black to begin with, and was also a fear growler. Which nulled out all his chances of being taken from the pound by individuals rather than rescue groups. After she was placed into a family, she opened up and we’ve discovered that while she really is pretty scared of strangers, she can easily be bribed. She is guarding her territory, which might have been her role where she came from. She is perfectly compatible with other dogs, walks beautifully on a leash, knows basic commands and is housetrained. She is not causing trouble or destruct anything in the house while being left alone, she occupies herself quietly. 

Everybody knows that older dogs don’t have much chance of finding a family. We all envision a long, happy union with the dog we choose, so falling in love with a senior seems like a ‘waster’ of our love – wasting it on a dog who might only have a couple good months or years with us. We humans measure out our emotions on a rather selfish way – when we decide who to love and who not to love, it is so much easier to fall for a puppy (and then we the puppy chews the sofa into tiny little pieces, peals the wallpaper off, chews through all the electronic cables unfortunately a good many of us ‘withdraw’ their love, because the puppy doesn’t ‘deserve’ it). Senior dogs are miracles – they have a past – a good one or a bad one, but they know what to appreciate and what to fear. They have a personality developed, but they are willing to change it to create the perfect harmony with our personality. Who has never opened their hearts and homes to an older dog have no idea about the feeling when they are really, truly loved, accepted for simply being there

What is really interesting is that older potential adopters are all looking for young dogs. It almost seems like they are looking for an extension of their own youth through a young body and soul. We do not adopt directly to seniors – not young or old dogs either -, we always involve a younger relative in the process. It is necessary to make the young relative also an official adopter, so in the event of the senior adopter’s decline of health or death, they become responsible for the dog. Some think it is hurtful – but most accept it and we’ve met people who particularly appreciated that our strict guidelines made sure our animals are always taken proper care of. However most pounds would give an 8 week old puppy to an 80 year old man without a question any day. It might not always be because of these situations, but do see it often that an elderly person passes away and no one is willing to take responsibility of the pets (as opposed to his house…), so they end up at pounds or rescue groups or if the resident vet is a little less caring – they might just be put to sleep.

If there was a contest for least chance of finding a home – Tiara would win it no doubt. She was an older and very blend looking (one of a dozen, nothing special for the looks) dog, who at the time was really introverted. She just curled up in a dark kennel and it looked like she has given up on life. After we have taken her out of the kennel a tumor was discovered on her neck – and after the biopsy it turned out to be cancerous. She is under constant surveillance – and unfortunately the tumors came back. She has woken very slowly from the last operation so it is not an option to put her under anesthetics again – and as long as we have alternative ways of controlling the size of the tumors and they don’t prevent her from having a trouble and pain free life, she will be with us. She is a bull headed, but very nice and friendly dog. Her hearing is the not best anymore and that helps her make her own decisions – she is able to completely lock out the external world. She can only be walked on a leash because of this issue. She is housetrained, behaves well inside the house and is very friendly with people. She loves her walks and enjoys hikes, but if there is nothing happening around her, she is completely content being quietly around her people. She is currently living with a foster family – fortunately, as she wasn’t doing very well in the kennels. We suspect she might have been a family dog at one time. We are hoping that there is someone somewhere out there who’d like to call themselves Tiara’s owner for the rest of her years. 

All of our dogs are up-to-date on their shots, have been microchipped, are regularly dewormed and neutered/spayed. We only adopt dogs to families where they will live inside under controlled circumstances. And while we believe in responsible decisions, we do take any of our dogs back if there is a problem – the have a life time warranty on them. More information about our adoptable dogs at info@futrinkautca.hu. 

We welcome foster volunteers as well as forever homes!