I recently had my dog of 12 1/2 years, Angel, put to sleep due to multiple health problems – she had suffered from a splenic tumor two years prior and survived a surgery, then a year later she developed diabetes. She was such a sweet animal and I miss her presence everyday.

I have started to look slowly for another dog, but this isn’t as easy as you would think. I often browse Facebook and have seen a number of dogs that look like real possibilities, and have gone as far as filling out the adoption forms (with references and current vet info) either to never hear from the site or be told the dog was just recently adopted. The last connection I made was for a dog being fostered in Texas and the expectation was that you agree to adopt the dog without any kind of personal contact. I would at least like to meet the dog before agreeing to a commitment like this.

My son and I have also visited a number of shelters in the area. Unfortunately what we have seen is a lot of pit bull mixes or dogs that are severely traumatized and won’t even venture out of the kennel to meet a prospective family. One pit bull mix seemed like a real sweetie but when I talked with my vet he suggested we keep looking. Their unpredictable behavior and strong jaw clench could be dangerous.

I’m curious how other family’s in this situation have handled this – I would love a calm female dog and not a puppy, but am willing to look at a lot of different alternatives. I adopted Angel fairly easily in about two weeks time, but that certainly hasn’t been the case this time around. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Kathi