So your kids want a dog…

Does this sound familiar? “Dad can we get a puppy? I’ll take care of it“.

What parent has not heard these words? Dogs are great pets and faithful friends but please do yourself and the dog a favor and think first about this major life event before jumping into it.

Puppies are cute and cuddly but they are also very destructive unless properly monitored and paid attention to. Before getting a puppy know in advance that the cute little puppy will be peeing and dropping the occasional dookie on your carpet and hardwood floor. They will also chew on anything they can get their sharp little teeth into. They particularly like expensive designer shoes and wood such as furniture legs. If you are getting a puppy be prepared for this and don’t get mad at them because this is what puppies do.

My Family has been through both routes and although the puppy turned out to be an exceptionally good dog and wonderful part of our family, it was not without casualties to our property. One thing we learned with the puppy is the neccesity of crate training. Dog crates are wonderful things! Get one that will be big enough for the dog to stand in without bumping his head when full grown.

You may think it cruel to lock the puppy in a crate but it is not. It is just a tool to use in properly training your new puppy. If you have kids the dog will at times go in on his own to get some quiet time when the kids are getting on his nerves.

Crate train the puppy as soon as you get him or her home. When you are not with the puppy such as having to run to the store or when you go to bed, put the puppy in the crate. Immediately upon letting the puppy out, take it outside to do it’s business and then praise the dog for a job well done. Keep up this practice and the puppy will be house trained very quickly.

Please, for the sake of the puppy or dog, if you don’t have someone home all the time to train and pay attention to the dog, don’t get one! Crates are not meant for locking up a dog for 12 hours a day. If you both work, a better alternative is a cat or a hamster etc. Getting a dog or a puppy and then leaving it alone all the time is not fair to the dog and will result in a pet that misbehaves.

Keep in mid that your dog has about the intelligence and maturity of a 6 year old child and the energy to match.

For a great dog training course see the Dog Training Zone

Consider Adoption

If you have made the decision to get a dog as a pet please consider adoption.

There are thousands of dogs and cats out there in shelters that are in need of a loving home.

We adopted our most recent addition, Scout, from Rogers Rescues which rescues dogs from over crowded shelters in the southern United States and places them in Foster Homes awaiting adoption. They do wonderful work! Scout is a great dog. He is somewhere around 2 years old, a yellow lab/shepherd mix and is a very friendly fun loving dog. He was a bit thin when we got him from Rogers after spending months in a shelter in South Carolina but he has filled out nicely and settled right into our family.

There are countless dog and cat shelters out there. Look in the yellow pages or do a lookup on Google for one near you. Meet the dogs and make sure if you have children that the dog you choose is a dog that likes children. It is best to have several meetings letting the dog interact with the kids to see how things go before making the decision.

Also remember that when you travel on holidays, or when you take a vacation, your dog will need to have arrangements to stay with other family members or be boarded at a reputable kennel. It sounds crazy but some people do not think about this until after they have adopted the pet.

Most dogs live 10 to 15 years and it can be as devastating when our pet dies as it is when a human member of our family dies. Just know that your kindness in adopting your pet has given this dog or cat etc. a wonderful life in a loving home that it might not have had otherwise.