Quote Originally Posted by cofi View Post
fwiw every shelter dog i have fostered has been a train wreck either physically or mentally most of them are in there for a reason

that being said im sure good ones are out there

for me id rather spend money on a good dog......your gonna have the lil guy for 10-15 years its like trying to cheap out on a tattoo
Exactly the opposite experience. I volunteered formally (as a board member) and informally for our local shelter for over 20 years. Every single one of our current 5 dogs are rescues from various shelters. They are all fantastic dogs.

My experience has been there isn't any thing wrong with the vast majority of sheltered animals. The train wrecks, for the most part, are the people who give up their dogs (and other animals) to the shelters. Over 20 years most of the dogs I saw taken in were from selfish, stupid people who got tired of caring for them or just dumped the animals on the shelter doorstep.