Dogs » Dog Adoption

Do Dogs Choose Their Owners?

I read somewhere that dogs choose their owners. This struck me as impossible, yet somehow true at the same time.

It makes me think about how I got my dog Shelley. I went to the shelter to see what kind of dogs they had. Shelley stood up in her cage, hanging her paws on the fence, and panted at me with her tongue hanging out in such a cute way, I was drawn to her right away. I took her for a walk and really liked her.

Since she was a stray they had found, I had to wait a week before she was put up for adoption. I stopped by several times that week to take her for walks, and got more and more attached to her. By the time I was able to adopt her, we had really bonded.

A few months later, Shelley and I were out in the yard. My house was next to a county highway, and all of a sudden, this minivan pulled into the driveway, and a woman and two kids got out. They said they recognized my dog, and she was their dog who had run away!

I was so worried that they would want her back, I didn?t think of asking many questions. But I did find out that the husband never liked her, and that they kept her outside. I got the impression that they didn?t feel very strongly about her or pay much attention to her. They had never thought to check at the shelter after she ran away.

Shelley did not react much to them. She acted like she didn?t know them. They said they didn?t mind if I kept her, and that?s the last I ever saw of them.

So now I wonder? Did Shelley run away because she was unhappy there? Did she act her cutest in the shelter because she felt that I would be a good person for her? She had plenty of opportunity to run away from me, since I did not leash her when she was in the yard (she always stayed in the yard). Did she choose her owner?

I wonder if something is going on when people choose puppies out of a litter too. Do the puppies sense which person they want to go with, and start to bond with that person? They are so good at body language, I would not be surprised.

What do you think? Have you ever heard of dogs choosing their owners?

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3 Responses to “Do Dogs Choose Their Owners?”

  1. Yzabel Says:
    August 8th, 2005 at 12:34 am

    If dogs choose their owners, I wouldn’t have any proof to say whether this is true or not. Dogs however, the way I’ve learnt to know them in the past months, are social creatures (the pack instinct and all of that), and it wouldn’t surprise me that, just like us, they also have more affinities with certain people, and less with others.

  2. blogdog Says:
    August 8th, 2005 at 1:02 pm

    Hi Pat! Thanks for visiting my site!

    I do believe dogs choose their owners when they have the opportunity to. My first Beardie, Merlin, picked me out. I had actually planned to take home one of his brothers, who was a pick-of-the-litter fawn, but the little blue boy insisted that I take him instead. Most of my other dogs have been rescues or rehomes, and I believe they were just the right dogs at the right times. We would have picked one another anyway.

    I do agree with Yzabel about dogs having affinities for certain people — they certainly do for other dogs. That could indeed play a part in the “selection” process.

  3. Pat Says:
    August 8th, 2005 at 10:55 pm

    Blogdog, I agree! Sometimes I think dogs have a lot more control over us than we realize. I guess it is like “love at first sight”.

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