| CHOOSING THE RIGHT DOG FOR YOU |
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| Young or old Let's face it--puppies are adorable. It takes a strong pet lover to turn away from a wide-eyed puppy's face. But sometimes continuing your search is the best thing to do before you are ready to commit to a young, energetic, untrained puppy. With all that "cuteness" comes a lot of time, work, and patience as you try to teach your puppy all the things that he needs to know to become a wonderful adult companion. Puppies mean lots of work. Of course once the potty training and other "behavioral" problems are out of the way, there isn't a Pet Parent around who isn't grateful to have their pooch (it's kind of like the diaper stage of human infants). However, if you are gone much of the time or just do not want to worry about training and teaching a new puppy, perhaps a puppy isn't what you should be looking for in the first place. An adult or mature canine can make a wonderful pet. True, you won't get the pleasure (or hassle) of puppy training and antics, but you will get a pet who obviously needs a home. Most adult dogs are hard to place because of the competition they receive from the "puppies are so cute" syndrome. Unfortunately, a lot of puppies get adopted and then "undadopted" after a Pet Parent realizes, for whatever reason, that they weren't prepared to handle the responsibilities that come with raising a rambunctious pup! Now there is a half-grown or full-grown dog, who isn't at the peak of his "cuteness" level, without a home or family of his own. This is why you should consider adopting a homeless adult dog. Puppies are cute, but these older dogs have much less of a chance of being adopted. In most cases, they will already be trained (at least for the important things, like bathroom habits) and will be a most appreciative member of your clan. Of course, these mature dogs will already have personalities of their own, but overall they'll be able to adjust to change as long as they know they are loved! Big or small Another consideration in your dog search should be the size of your dog once he reaches adulthood. All puppies are little, but just how big will a tiny pup become in the next year or two? Will he be too big? Or perhaps you want a good-sized dog to take on walks with you and to play games in the backyard. A small dog might be what you envision carrying around with you or riding around in the basket of your bicycle (seatbelted in, of course). The reasoning isn't really important. If you have a certain size dog in mind, you should probably try to stick close to that so you won't be disappointed at a later date. Pedigree or mixed Probably one of the biggest choices you'll have to make is whether to get a mixed breed dog or a pedigree. A pedigree comes complete with registration papers and, quite possibly, a hefty price to go along with his status and lineage. The advantage of choosing a purebred dog is that you can better pinpoint behavior characteristics and other factors common to each breed. You can research the breeds of dog and pick one that fits the personality and size you had in mind. You should research your breed of choice, as well as any breeders you might deal with to ensure a high quality dog. Mixed breeds, however, are mostly what you find behind the bars of cages in shelters and pet stores across the nation. Unplanned pregnancies produce unwanted puppies who end up homeless and in need of a family to adopt them. Of course if everyone were responsible and had their animals altered, this wouldn't be a problem. But, they don't and it is! Although you can't pinpoint exactly how a mixed dog will behave or act, a pedigree is only expected to carry the common traits of his breed and there are no guarantees that he will. |
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