Heads or tails? How to pick a pet

Flix, a 1-year-old male domestic shorthair cat, being pet by Midcoast Humane Marketing and Communications Manager Kate Griffith. The Times Record file photo

If we accept that flipping a coin is not a reliable way of deciding if a particular pet is right for you and your home, then what is?

This is a layered question with a lot of variables. The ASPCA did a study in 2012 on why adopters pick specific pets. Their findings were very interesting: “Appearance was the most frequently cited reason for kitten adopters (23%), while adult cat adopters cited behavior with people as the most important reason (30%). In contrast, appearance was the most frequently cited reason for adopters of both puppies (29%) and adult dogs (26%).”

Boiled down to the nitty-gritty, the study showed that people picked the kitten and canine whose looks appealed to them, but the adult cat who interacted with them the way they wanted. In the day-to-day of adoption counseling, we see the study’s results confirmed.

Adopters tend toward specific colors or patterns on kittens (the one who wanted a blue-eyed orange tabby last summer was doomed to be disappointed) but look for particular behaviors in adult cats. Those looking for a lap cat, or an independent cat, or a cat who likes other cats or children will consider those factors first and consider appearance after. Adult cat adopters tend to be flexible and amenable to meeting multiple cats when our staff make suggestions after discussing the adopter’s criteria and they often leave with a different cat than the one whose picture they liked on the website.

Dogs are a different story entirely. As the study showed, the appearance of a dog was the most often cited reason for adopting a dog. When counseling for an adoption, we discuss pretty much everything about a dog except their aesthetic appearance. We go over their history if we know it, their medical history with us, how they have interacted with our staff and foster homes, their energy level, exercise needs, training needs and so on. We ask the adopter about their home, how many people live in it and their ages, experience and comfort with dogs, the activity level of the home, their ability to afford ongoing veterinary care when looking at pets with known medical conditions, as well as their simple preferences for how they want to live with their dog.

When I adoption counsel for dogs, I ask people to think about their worst day, the day that has been a drag at work and they’re tired, that is in the middle of winter when there’s 12 inches of snow and ice on the ground and it’s dark at 4:30 in the afternoon but they don’t get home until after 6 p.m. What do they have to offer a dog on that day? Because that’s the dog we should look for, not the “aspirational dog.”

The aspirational dog is the dog we see with the best version of ourselves, the person we will finally be when we manage to build daily strenuous outdoor exercise into our lives, the dog who will run 5 miles with us and hike all day. The problem with the aspirational dog is that he needs that aspirational version of the adopter right away on day 1, not in six weeks or six months, when we get where we aspire to be.

I, for example, am not a great dog mom. I am regularly gone 10-12 hours a day, and when I get home, I’m tired and just want to snuggle with my dogs. Thankfully, we are a multi-generational household, and my retired father holds down the daytime potty break needs and ball throwing in the yard while my husband, kids and I are gone, and the kids make sure our dogs get excursions when they get home.

If I were counseling for me as a single-person household, I would steer me away from a puppy, a very energetic dog, or a dog with a high working drive because I would not be able to give them what they need and I would ask me to seriously consider whether a cat might suit my life better.

I feel the single most important factor in successful adoptions is not what that pet looks like, but how well they fit into an adopter’s lifestyle. My lazy porch hound fits me perfectly. It so happens that I love hounds, and my redbone coonhound Daphne is quite lovely with her long, soft ears and pretty red coat that is whitening as she ages, but it’s her independent personality and low energy that make us a good match for each other.

She’s quite happy with a sniff-based walk and then laying on the porch in the sun to watch me garden, while occasionally checking in. People get attached to particular looks in dogs, but it is incompatible lifestyles and behaviors that often cause dogs to be brought to shelters. I have had adopters leave the shelter having adopted a complete surprise dog and be so happy that they did and, conversely, I have had adopters bring back the dog whose picture they fell in love with because they couldn’t live with an aspect of the dog’s personality.

When adopting, we ask adopters to keep an open mind and meet multiple pets, especially ones suggested by the staff who they think may meet the adopter’s hopes. We want both you and the pet to be happy!

Jess Townsend is executive director of Midcoast Humane, a Brunswick-based animal shelter. Pet Prattle is a weekly column looking inside the shelter and the world of pets. For more information, visit midcoasthumane.org.

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