A lot of people like single and elderly people, families and children.get benefits from owning a dog. On the other hand many dogs are neglected, dumped, put down or rehomed as their ex owners haven抰 been able to cope with them. It is important to choose your dog in order to give him suitable management, care and training and you will get the most from this relationship for yourself.
In Choosing your new puppy:
揂sk yourself some questions before getting a puppy :
Do you have enough free time to train, play with, socialise, exercise, shop for, feed, groom, clean up after and read about a dog?
Can you afford the expenses which are necessary to feed, house, train, and care for the dog, pay for a veterinary attention, pay for registration, put it in boarding kennels, buy necessary equipment and so on?
Do you have tolerance and patience to put up with the irritating and frustrating behaviour of a puppy??
Most people, who have decided to get rid of dogs, have done this because of behaviour problems. But do not think that all dogs are bad or they have bad owners, the reason could be a mismatch between them.
You have to consider a lot of things to choose the right dog for you.
Dogs differ from each other, they are not the same. They differ in size, type of coat, colour, appearances, temperament, breeding, intelligence, behaviour and activity level.
Size
Dogs in size can vary from tiny to giant and quantity of their food depends on the size.Small dogs eat less than big ones, but it doesn抰 mean that they are more expensive to feed.Also they need no more space and exercise. Some house pets require only moderate exercise. Some small dogs are very energetic and only active people should choose them. A small dog might be good for an old woman, but a Jack Russell Terrier for example could be a really bad choice.
Type of coat
It is not easy to understand from a puppy抯 coat what will it be like as an adult. Anyway it is important to know whether the coat will be long, medium or short with an undercoat that sheds a lot and how much it will grows. That is necessary to know to have in mind how much grooming, clipping and washing it will need. There are also other issues you have to considered. After all dogs with non-shedding coats are in different sizes, they need different amount of exercises and they are different effective as watch dogs.
Appearance
Dog抯 appearance can be a trap. A cute face may hide a bad temperament, a beautiful colour hides an unsuitable personality. Also it is important to know from what generations dogs come from.
Cost
You won抰 have the best dog for the most amount of money and opposite that one that is 揻ree to good home?could be better for you. However, most breeders, animal or businesses welfare organisations, have costs which include the cost of vaccinations, upkeep of the dogs, desexing and veterinary attention. And you have to pay for this. The cost of a vet-checked desexed dog from an animal shelter can be about $150, from a breeder is around $300 to $600, more for rare dogs . Of course you will pay less from someone who purchased the dog as a puppy because dog owners are more concerned to find a good home for their ex pet than get a good price for it. However, they maybe feel that the new owner will be more responsible if he pays something for their dog.
It takes money to look after a dog , don抰 forget that.
When you choose a dog you should consider some issues
What is the guide for choosing a dog if it is not the size, appearance and cost. Far more important are its behaviour, energy level and temperament. They determine whether your pet and you will be a good combination. It is difficult matter to decide if the dog is 揼ood?or not. Also your own lifestyle is important and what the sort of relationship you want to have with your dog. Try to find a good match.
Let抯 answer the question: what sort of relationship do you want to have with your dog?
You should match your specific lifestyle with the specific behavioural characteristics of the chosen dog. Think about these: Are you very active physically? Do you stay at home a lot? What is your idea of spending your free time ?to sit with a book or watch TV with a dog on your lap, or to ride a bike path or throw a frisbee with your dog on the beach? Do you spend a lot of time to visit friends and family, and if that抯 so would they welcome your dog in their houses too? Do a lot of people come to your house and do you want your dog to welcome them or to wary of callers?
Nowadays dogs have less freedom than years ago when they weren抰 fenced and spent most of the tine on the streets. Today dogs lead more structured lives and our lives is full of problems such as destructiveness, boredom and nuisance barking which means that our dogs don抰 get enough physical and mental stimulation. So you should do a lot in order to provide quality time for your dog or to teach it to be alone at home?
Temperament and behaviour
Behaviour and temperament are difficult to predict and assess because they depend on a mixture of environmental influences and inherited factors like:
?breed dog type
?parents dog抯 and their characteristics
?individual differences and experiences of the dog
?later training
?early socialisation
All these factors have their influence to determine what your dog will be like.
If you think about adopting an older dog, have in mind that you can抰 do anything about its early socialisation, all you can do is connected with its later training and experiences . And even if you can not get all information about the dog抯 history you still have one very important advantage - what you get is what you see. With small puppies will be very difficult without any knowledge of its background and no idea how big the pup will be when it is fully grown , that抯 why identification of breeds and cross breeds are absolutely necessary. No one can guarantee your dog would have perfect behaviour or temperament. Dogs need a lot efforts from you to train them.
Some important aspects of character and temperament :
?its confidence
?does the dog socialize easily with people,
?is it independent and standoffish , is it submissive or amenable , assertive or pushy,
?does it react to sights and sounds or is it unreactive at all
?is it excitable and playful or placid
We can not say if all these qualities are good or bad in themselves. Less confident dogs are an excellent choice for a mild-mannered, quiet people but not good enough for 搉oisy?family.
What is the dog energy level?
Dogs have different energy levels and different need for stimulation. A good indicator is its breed and the purpose for breeding them. A lot of energy is required for working, hunting and herding breeds like border collies, cattle dogs and kelpies, so they are good for active people. They also need mental stimulation ,interaction with their owners and physical exercise. But do not leave them in the back yard and do not allow them to roam. Give Weimaraners, Hungarian Vizsla, or the German Shorthaired Pointer an outlet for their energy, they really need endurance and persistence otherwise they can become destructive or 搒tubborn?
Breed of the dog.
The breed of dog, and the belonging group like herding breeds, gun dogs, terriers, guarding breeds or sight hounds gives you only an indication of what you may expect. Individual characteristics are no less important than breed generalisations. Not all puppies from the litter are suited to your needs personality. You should choose the most or least assertive, more independent or more sociable depending on your requirements.
There are a lot of dogs which are mixtures of breeds or crosses between two breeds, and it is hard to identify them unless you know their parents very well because the appearance can be deceptive.Even if you know exactly which two crossed breeds your dog comes from, not all puppies from the litter look like or behave like both parents , there can be other pups which look like one of the parents but behave like the other.
Pure breed dogs are more predictable in general than mixed breeds, also there are exceptions as not every dog has the qualities of the breed standard which actually represents the ideal. A popular breed doesn抰 mean that all dogs are perfect , just there is a market for them.
How smart is the dog?
All dogs need interaction and stimulation even if they are intelligent or not. Smart dogs are not easier to handle or manage.
Age of the dog
A puppy is not the same as mature dog . If you have had a stable, mature dog, to take on a new puppy can be a rude shock because you will need to have patience, tolerance and time and be prepared for irritating behaviour. That抯 why people prefer to adopt an older dog. No matter it can come with a lot of baggage so it will take a lot of efforts and time to sort it out. The advantages of puppies are that they socialise easier to fit in with your lifestyle.
