|
|
(' ')
Before you run to the shelters or the pet stores to adopt or purchase, it is in your best interests to find out exactly what breed of dog will be "right" for you and your family. If you had three small kids in the house selecting a Great Dane or a Mastiff, both amazing creatures but a bit imposing to the younger members of your family would not be the best choice. It's nothing more than a mismatch. When this size puppy wants to play the mass of the dog can send a child flying in any direction. By doing a bit of homework you can keep the wonderful feeling of getting a new pet without the long term disenchantment. Many of the animals that you see in shelters arrived there via this particular avenue.
"He was a cute puppy but turned into a big old knock everything over dog and we couldn't control him so we had no choice but to bring him to the pound."
"Tiger was a great dog and then one day he nipped at one of the kids so we had no choice but to take him to the shelter."
This happens all the time and for many more reasons than a person could cite in a short paper. It will still probably happen all the time. I will hope that some may do the research that 'someday' we can put shelters out of business.
So you have all talked about it and you have decided to get a puppy or a dog from the shelter or breeder. But what kind of dog will become a pack member and which ones would become pack outcasts or worse still, be in charge? What kind of dog suits you and your family? What kind of person are you? What is your activity level? What is your lifestyle? What also is your income? You may think that income is not a prerequisite to dog ownership and aside from the normal 
routine vet visits for normal heath-care income is not an issue. It becomes one with certain breeds that may be prone to the many defects that like humans come onto us in age. To watch your companion in anguish and know something could be done if for the resources is not much different than watching a blood relative suffer in a similar form. When you select a puppy or more mature dog knowing yourself honestly is mandatory. Many shelters even under the huge financial strain of keeping animals from becoming another euthanized statistic by maintaining a no-kill posture have very strict guidelines about the adoption and process. I have read many posts where potential owners were sidetracked by shelters not approving their applications for adoption. They do not do this to frustrate prospects but to maintain a life of safety and stability for the pet, not its prospective owners. In simple words, it's all about you but really not about you.
Adoption Agencies and many breeders who sell prominent breed bloodlines will screen an applicant for a pet in the exact same manner as you should be screening yourself and your family. The assumption in your reading this is that you will be the "Alpha" of the home and your family members will be looked upon as all higher in the ranking as your prospective new family member. As such there's one thing that has to be very clear and that one thing is time and the amount needed to devote to your pet for the years to come. Of all the lifestyle considerations, family considerations, job considerations and so on the one that is not negotiable with any breed of dog is time! As the prospective primary caregiver you have years of responsibilities ahead as your companions food and shelter, their companionship. They, like all creatures, need exercise and activities that stimulate a dog's physical and mental health for the rest of their lives.
Grab a pad and pencil, yes I know it's not an electronic device but you'll manage, and write down some of the following questions that need to be answered honestly. This will make your decision the right one, finding a breed or type of companion that will bring a life full of happiness and joy to all parties rather than frustration that may be nothing more than incompatibility. Before going into the kind of dog let's do a quick questionnaire to decide on size and temperaments. There are hundreds of registered breeds designed for specific purposes. There are many mixed breeds that show amazing traits and characteristics that come alive when with the proper handler. But the wrong choice makes dog ownership a stressful experience not only for you but for the dog or puppy and leads to behavioral problems all around. Let me say this, people will "blame" the dog. And after a certain amount of time they will adopt, buy or foster another creature and when it does something that is not deliberate but from lack of attention, supervision or training how is it then always the dog's fault? A dog of all creatures on this planet is the only one specific to service to it's human family. Everything your animal does is a direct result of your handling so your dogs "attitude" reflects your "time" and responsibility.
First you figure out whether a dog will fit into the lifestyle you have.
- Where do you live?
- Is it an apartment in the city, a country home with land, the suburbs with precise lawns and neighbors to both sides?
- Do you rent or own your residence?
- Does your lease have clauses about the size and limit or the dog you can own?
- If you live in an apartment is it in a small separated house or on the 15th floor of an apartment building?
- How many are in your family?
- Do you live alone?
- Have children, toddlers, infants or teens?
- What is your age and health?
- You understand your new companion will need to be groomed and have regular visits to the doctor for shots and exams?
- What kind of work do you do?
- Does that work take you out of town for travel?
- Do you work a normal forty hour shift per se or do you have a varied shift, a night shift or work irregular hours?
- Do you have or have you made ongoing personal commitments for after work life, like an exercise class or another hobby or sport that commits personal time?
- What reasons other than "s/he's so cute" can you give yourself for wanting a puppy or dog?
- What is your activity level?
Now, why all these questions matter! Where you live is a variable on the size and breed of your new dog. Obviously it will not matter to own a Mastiff if you live on a farm where there is a lot of space for maneuvering. But owning a Mastiff in a Studio apartment on the 16th floor of a building may be too little and too much for both you and the dog. Conversely, having a Show Poodle on a dirt farm is not a perfect choice either. When you live in an apartment other considerations about a long term residence need to be thought out. For many of us apartments are transient living and while some may claim one apartment for many, many years of a stable home life, most do not have that agenda. Having an animal, dog or cat does not bring auto-acceptance to a person looking to lease in the apartment community. Too many ads are placed for dogs and puppies because owners are moving and their new landlords do not accept pets. Here, it is simply a case of the dog owner not invested in the dog but in the residence and a residence that is in flux no less.
I know, so many questions and so many things to consider. However if you do consider and do ask and answer these questions in an honest manner the end result of long term dog ownership is a reality. Your limits or lack thereof of space, time and activity remain the best indicators of what kind of dog you should get. One question remains, do you get an older teen or adult dog or a puppy? And with the dog or puppy you do get will you be able to afford his long term feeding, grooming and health concerns?
Whether you want the brand-new-to-the-world puppy or an older dog both have considerations you need to ponder. Although a puppy is brand new to the world and you acquiring it at such a young age is a wonderful advantage as you can start with a clean slate. It's also a lot of work and more responsibility. A puppy has many of the same requirements that any newborn has. Fairly constant care and supervision and training as well as insuring diet and medical needs will be met. I remind people that puppies are similar to infant children yet more demanding of your time. Yes, I said more demanding! When your puppy needs to go to the bathroom there's no disposable diapers to let the event happen and then toss the soiled pad into the rubbish, your puppy needs pads and outside time and also has to be trained appropriately first in the home then outdoors. When it comes time to play a baby has little mobility and can be soothed by holding, caressing or driving in the car. With a puppy the world is a place that fills the senses 1000 more times than our own. They arrive in the world stumbling but soon walking, trotting or running all over, something we wait for with our newborns. For your puppy the world is an exploration of sound and smell and those four little legs will take them anyplace they choose to investigate. Go in to make supper and come out to find the television remote, which was placed high on a shelf out of the way, half-eaten in your puppies mouth as they look at you with the most innocent and complacent stare. The patterns of growth mean additional early responsibilities for the pet owner. Like our children our puppy is constantly in need of input from its elders. You teach a puppy where it is permitted to go to the bathroom, indoors and then outdoors. You teach your puppy how to greet others, how not to greet others and their behavior during those times. You teach your puppy to walk correctly, to be obedient and sometimes patient. You teach them how to have acceptable fun. You are solely responsible for their exercise, feedings and fairly constant supervision.
An older dog may already have some of this training from rudimentary commands up to any form of true working or hunting dog. Adopting a dog is bringing in an animal that has a past and that past may have been a good one or may have been a poor one. The more information you have on an older adoptee the better. Although it's a mixed bag and an experienced dog owner can discern one from another you may miss seeing things like anxiety, aggression, submission or dominance issues by merely looking at how the dog stands and handles himself. Without a history you may miss abuse and poor or inconsistent treatment. Some adopt from other homes directly and will have a better indication of the pet's personality watching it interact with the person(s) that it's with currently. You also have a very complete history or at least one as long as the current owner has had the pet.
The word time, so important to remember, is also something to think about when choosing between an older dog and a puppy. Dogs grow 7 years to each 1 of ours. The intensive time needed for a puppy's best start happen in their first years. If trained, socialized and competent with obedience commands you will have established a great start for your puppy's transition to adult life. So time is necessary and needed for both the pup and its owner to establish a good and consistent routine. Now, all dogs can be rehabilitated. If their previous life experience and handling have hurt their personalities those personalities can shine again. It takes, patience and time. Dog's show responses to emotional cues and the better able you are to read those cue's the better able you and your family will be to retraining what can be a very well adjusted dog.
Size matters, whether you live in an apartment or on a sprawling ranch. When puppies are puppies they are cute and cuddly and many other greeting card metaphors for delight. But puppies grow and grow fast. The one mile 15 minute walk that would pacify turns into an hour long walk where you come back tired yet refreshed and your puppy has yet to pant. Size does matter.
Initial and ongoing expenses are also considerations, more so in the current economy. The costs after initial are more or less the same. Initial costs would be for an adoption fee, the price of a puppy from a breeder or what's called a re-homing fee, which if you will excuse a small opinion, is a owners way of getting his dog adopted from a home he knows and trying to recoup the money as if it were an investment. Re-homing fees are an individual choice yet for me if I had to give up Duma for circumstances that I could not control, money would not be the motivator. Finding a family that will give him "more" than I can and further enhancing his life is what is more important to me. Also, many people overcharge for animals that have at best marginal training and less obedience. These are the owners who did not read this or other articles like this before they brought the dog or puppy home.
|
I cannot stress enough the "need" to be completely honest with yourself, your family and this commitment to a puppy and/or dog. How many times have we read of dogs attacking others and then sadly it is the dog who bears the blunt of the blame. This is not the case, the blame and responsibility falls entirely to the owner(s) period. Your animal has to have structure and know his/her place in the pecking order. Although many do not know or understand this, a dog actually thrives when that place is firmly assertained. Your canine is not the leader, but barring a leader he/she will have no choice but to assume this role. In that statement comes all the troubles with disobedient animals. Their human counterparts do not step-up to the Alpha role and your animal does.
|
|
|
|
 "There is and has always been convictions of what is in an absolute sense. The human machine must know of something beyond this existence. It must have more time. In this is the greed of human nature. To be satisfied for only a breath of time with great loss of a life." RJM '10
Many Exceptional Free and Pay for Images Available here Fotosearch.com
|
|
Main Page
