Some dogs who failed government training – for being too nice – are thankfully, now up for adoption.
While some dogs are born for the life of sniffing out explosives and catching criminals, others just want to spend their time playing and being stroked.
The dogs, who are just too pure and friendly to make it through to the graduation ceremony of government-dog training school, unfortunately had to leave – but that’s not to say they can’t still have a purposeful life doing what they do best; being nice to people.
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has a dog adoption program to help re-home all the good boys and girls who weren’t cut out for a life solving crimes.
Of course, there are often certain types of dogs who are favoured in the contraband-sniffing department, so if you’re after a little Chihuahua to potter around with, this might not be the adoption centre for you.
Dogs like German Shorthaired Pointers, Labrador retrievers and German Shepherds are more common police training pooches, but with a lot of the dogs in the centres being ‘too nice’, I think any of them would be a perfect new companion.
There are a number of adoption centres who help in finding the ideal home for their four-legged residents, whether they’re old or young.
Freedom Service Dogs of America trains shelter dogs to become working service dogs, but some of the pups are too easily distracted or timid for the all-important role, with only one in three or four making it all the way through to the end.
The ones who aren’t cut out for the working life are put up for adoption to loving families, who won’t mind if their new best friend suddenly gets distracted by a woodland creature.
The website explains dogs gets released from the program due to the following:
[They] Do not have the qualifications to become a service dog.
[They] May be timid, easily distracted, or unable to resist chasing the occasional squirrel
[They] Have x-rays or eye exams indicating they cannot complete service dog certification
May require advanced behavior modification
All dogs that come through our doors receive a second chance at finding their calling in life. Consider making a difference by adopting one of these special dogs!
Service Dogs Inc. runs a similar program, also putting their less-able trainees up for adoption to good homes.
They describe their adoptive dogs as ‘career change dogs’, and explain:
A service dog faces a constant flow of new situations and people that pet dogs rarely encounter. If a dog is not comfortable with this work we never force it.
Once we are sure it’s best for the dog, it is released for adoption. We never return a dog to the shelter — we find them home.
It’s a career change for them, from Service Dog in-training to pet dog in your family.
I think all of the furry pups definitely deserve to go to happy homes where they can fulfil their true life purposes of just being really, really cute and happy.
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Emily Brown first began delivering important news stories aged just 13, when she launched her career with a paper round. She graduated with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University, and went on to become a freelance writer and blogger. Emily contributed to The Sunday Times Travel Magazine and Student Problems before becoming a journalist at UNILAD, where she works on breaking news as well as longer form features.