Afraid of big dogs? Can I still get hired at an animal shelter?

When you start volunteering at the shelter, ask to be given a tour of the shelter and ask many questions about the individual animals. Before you approach or handle any animal ask someone there (who knows the animal) whether you need to watch out for certain behaviors, what the animal likes, what not and how to approach it. With time you will get enough experience to be able to judge for your self. Always greet the animal verbally first and see whether it wants to approach you. Do not run after an animal and do not "just" touch it. Make a fist and let the animal smell it first. It is much harder to bite into and hurt a fist. Ask the animal to come to you. I am sure, the shelter will not let you handle dangerous animals in the beginning. Ask many questions.

It will all depend on his temperament! Big dogs can get along with small dogs just fine but it does depend on their personalities. Make sure they meet in a neutral area (so not your yard that your small dog "owns." It wis probably a good idea to take the bigger dog on a hard walk to wear him out and also have a helper with you. If you are scared, have them meet with a fence between them first. You can absolutely train him to a kennel still. Lastly, make sure your fence is high enough and in good condition. It's pretty tough to train a dog not to jump a fence. One option is to get an underground fence and run the wire along the fence line. Most dogs will respect this system and won't try to jump the fence. I also recommend to do some reading about Labs in general. They are typically very good dogs but they do require some exercise. I hope this is helpful and please feel free to post any additional questions.

I am so sorry to hear about your losses. I would definitely consider a mixed breed dog from a shelter or rescue group. A medium to large sized dog, such as a retriever or pit bull mix might be a good size if you are looking for a dog to be a "protector". You will want to be sure to talk to the rescue group or shelter about what you are looking for in a dog and what your lifestyle is like (active vs. mostly sedentary, living in an apartment vs large fenced yard, other pets in the house) so they can fit you with the right personality for your dog. You can also look at http://www.akc.org/find-a-match/#slide1 to help get an idea of some breeds you may be interested in (however a mixed breed is always a great choice).

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! This is a lot more common than you think. The majority of hospitals have experience in these types of scenarios and are more than capable of dealing with this. They would restrain him well and be able to proceed with the vaccinations and whatever else was needed. Sometimes sedation is needed depending on the patient though this is rarely needed just for vaccinations. Good luck and have a great day!

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! The first thing would be to start by having Cashew interact with dogs of his size first. When he gets completely comfortable in this scenario and the interaction goes well, then I would recommend perhaps starting to have him interact with larger dogs. The fact that he was bitten last time does not mean that every interaction he has with another large breed dog will be like this. I would highly recommend that there is always someone present when these interactions occur. This should help getting him socialized in general. Good luck and have a great day!

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! She probably had a bad experience with a stuffed animal. You would be surprised to know that I have actually seen this before and in that case it improved with time. I do think that this will eventually get better. I would just have her exposed to stuffed animals every once in a while but without pushing her too much. Eventually she will likely get more and more comfortable around them. Good luck and have a great day!

Adopting a new dog is so much fun! Whenever bringing a new dog into the home, it should be done slowly with the existing animals already there to make the transition smoothly. The new dog should be kept separated from the other animals when home alone to avoid any problems, and their interactions should be monitored when you are home so you can separate them at any problem. I'm not sure if you have any additional animals in the home, but if you have cats for example, it's normal they will hiss at the dog. Do not allow them to swipe at the dog, separating them right away if you notice the cat getting upset. Also do not allow the dog to chase the cats. If you don't have any other animals in your home, then just be patient with the dog as it acclimates to his new house. Moving into a new home can be stressful, and some dogs may not eat or drink at first. This will pass in time. Shelter dogs should be taken care of just like any other dog: Fed twice a day, make sure they are up to date on their vaccines, flea and deworming treatments, and feed them a high quality dog food :-)