What's Breed Got to Do With It — Vol. 1
- May 12
- 4 min read
Everything. The answer is everything.
I'm going to say something that might ruffle a few collars: sometimes you should shop for a dog.
Not instead of adopting. I want to be very clear about that, because MBL has spent real time, real energy, and real money supporting rescues and shelters — and that's not changing. But "Adopt Don't Shop" was never meant to be a substitute for doing your homework. And skipping that homework? That's one of the biggest reasons dogs end up in shelters in the first place.
Let's talk about that.
The Problem Nobody Wants to Say Out Loud
Every year, thousands of dogs are surrendered to shelters not because their owners were bad people, but because the match was wrong from the start.
Someone falls hard for a Husky's bone structure. Brings it home to a 600-sq. ft. apartment. Works ten-hour days. Is shocked — shocked — when the dog redecorates the living room and howls at the neighbors.
Someone sees a Border Collie and thinks: smart, beautiful, manageable. What they didn't account for is that Border Collies were bred to work all day, think constantly, and problem-solve at a level that will make you question your own intelligence. Give one nothing to do and it will invent something to do. You will not like what it invents.
Someone adopts a Malinois because they saw one in a movie and thought they looked cool. I'll just leave that one there.
Breed isn't just aesthetics. It's energy level, instinct, stubbornness, prey drive, noise output, socialization needs, and a whole catalog of "this dog was literally bred to do a specific job for hundreds of years and it is going to try to do that job in your house."
If you've followed MBL for any length of time, you may have read about my dog Pike — the dog who almost broke me. What I know now, looking back, is that a lot of what made those early years so hard was a mismatch between what I expected and what his wiring required. We figured it out. We more than figured it out. But it took work that could have been avoided with better upfront research.
This Isn't Anti-Adoption. It's Pro-Homework.
Here's the thing: "Adopt Don't Shop" and "know what you're getting into" are not competing ideas. They're the same idea, said two different ways.
The goal — the whole point — is for dogs to end up in homes where they stay. Where they thrive. Where nobody ends up overwhelmed and nobody ends up at the pound.
That goal is served by adoption. And it's served by research. And the two work a whole lot better together than either one does alone.
So before you adopt or shop, do this: take the AKC Breed Selector quiz.
It's free, it takes about five minutes, and it asks you the questions you should be asking yourself: your living situation, your activity level, your experience with dogs, how much grooming you're up for, whether you have kids, or other pets. It gives you a list of breeds that actually make sense for your real life, not your aspirational life.
It's not magic. It's not a guarantee. The right breed match can still be the wrong individual dog, and the "wrong" breed can sometimes be exactly right. But it's a starting point grounded in reality instead of vibes, and that matters.
TAKE THE QUIZ
Answer a series of quick questions to find your best dog breed matches! You'll be asked about your preferences and needs for your new dog, and about your everyday lifestyle. The more questions you answer, the better the matches. https://www.akc.org/breed-selector-tool
What's Coming Next
This is Vol. 1 of a new series here at My Barking Life: What's Breed Got to Do With It. We'll dig into individual breeds, what they're actually like to live with, what people consistently get wrong about them, and what kind of home they genuinely need.
I'll work to highlight breeds I'm seeing in local shelters — dogs who are perfectly good dogs in the wrong situation, just waiting for the right one. Because the other side of this conversation is that sometimes the right breed for you is absolutely sitting in a shelter right now, and you just need to know where to look.
The series isn't about talking anyone out of adopting. It's about making sure that when you do — or when you shop — you go in with your eyes open. For your sake and for the dog's.
So ... have you ever had a breed mismatch? A dog whose wiring you weren't quite prepared for? Or did you do the research first and land in a match that actually worked? I'd love to hear about it in the comments.
And if there's a specific breed you want covered in this series, let me know. I'm watching shelter listings and I've got a list — but your requests are going to help shape where we go next.
Don't miss a single bark.
What's Breed Got to Do With It drops right here on the Bark Blog — but if you want it delivered straight to your inbox along with everything else happening at MBL, subscribe to Bark Bits, the My Barking Life weekly newsletter.
My Barking Life is an animal-themed art and advocacy brand based in Ohio. Follow along at mybarkinglife.com and on Instagram, Threads, Facebook, and Pinterest.
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