so how, exactly, are we supposed to find small business alternatives without Google, Meta, Microsoft Bing? And how, as a small, online business, am I supposed to connect with new customers without social media (organic or paid) ???

The long-term dogs just become part of your regular volunteer shift, you get to know them and maybe do extra activities with them like take them hiking, or home for a weekend stay. Sometimes the shelter is actually a better place than where these dogs came from, situations of neglect or abuse.

I thought I answered, and if I didn't, I'm sorry. We don't have a lot of dogs who aren't eventually adopted, and we don't have a timeline for how long a dog can stay. Dogs do sometimes stay for months. My previous shelter had dogs stay for over a year.

depends on the shelter, some have a "time limit", mine doesn't. Some will transfer to other shelters if they stay too long, my shelter is one that transfers dogs in. Many shelters have no other option but to euth. for space because of uncontrolled breeding, and so many dogs are dumped like trash.

For example, months ago I was the first volunteer to get nipped by a specific dog, his behavior escalated so he was "staff only", and they worked with him for months. Unfortunately he bit someone in the face when he was getting medical treatment. After his bite hold he was euthanized.

I can get information about the dogs and why they've made the decision, but many times I'm part of the information gathering on the dogs behavior.

... then the decision is still heartbreaking, but the right one. As a volunteer I'm not involved, but I absolutely support these decisions.

We aren't able to help every dog, and that's the hard part. In some cases they are so mentally damaged from previous experiences that euthanasia is actually more humane than letting them live a life stressed out in a kennel. When you see a dog loosing their mind and injuring themselves and others...

Sometimes it does take a while, and sometimes even more than one home isn't a good fit, but we keep trying!

you do need to compartmentalize a bit, but I also know that I don't have the "ideal" home or lifestyle for a husky, for example. The rewarding part is watching dogs find their ideal people and home which is even better than the one I could even come close to providing them.

I'm pretty sure that vaccination rates for pets is also dropping, maybe not for rabies as much because those are required for licensing, but I believe we've seen more distemper and parvo cases...