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Choosing The Right Puppy Breed
By Randy Myers, Fri Dec 9th
For all too many, the process of choosing a puppy or isbased purely on how cute the puppy is or how playful itspersonality seems at the pet store or kennel. Granted, playfuland cute can really tug at your heart strings and urgeyou to make an impulsive and expensive decision regarding thisvery important addition to your family, but without properthought and research into the type of breed you are purchasing,your family and your cute, adorable puppy could be in for a longroad of pain and frustration ahead. Purebred puppy breeds have inherent characteristics that areparticular to their breed, and these characteristics usually getmore pronounced with age. While different breed characteristicswill be appropriate for different families, matching the wrongbreed with the wrong family can have devastating consequences. It has been estimated that the number one reason why competentpet owners relinquish ownership of their puppy or to oneof the many county humane services to be found all across thecountry is because they have become frustrated with certaincharacteristics of the dog. No matter whether the problem isbig, such as aggression to children or other pets, or small,such as a tendency to chew everything in sight, as the puppygrows and its cuteness wears off, the frustration experiencedfrom having a poorly matched puppy will increase. And theconsequences can be heart wrenching for the both the family andthe dog.
But by simply taking a little time to research the breed you areconsidering purchasing, you can guarantee that your new puppywill be a well-loved addition to your family unit. While I'm notsaying that you should discount a breed entirely based on onetroublesome characteristic, I'm saying that you should beprepared and able to deal with any problems, behavioral orhealth related, that is associated with the breed. In order to obtain accurate information when choosing the rightbreed of puppy for your family, stay away from sources that havean interest in selling the puppy. I learned this one
the hardway. After my children and family fell in love with a puppy at alocal, reputable pet store, I had many questions for the salesclerk about how easily the puppy could be house broken. A puppymaking messes all over the house is just not something that Ican deal with a few times let alone for months of housebreaking. I was assured by the clerk that the breed was very intelligentand able to be crate trained in a matter of three days. To makea long story short, $1,500 and 9 months later the puppy stillrequires constant supervision and cannot be a complete part ofthe family due to our inability to house break him. Researchconducted after the purchase revealed that the breed wasinherently stubborn and in some cases unable to be house brokendespite all attempts. So, instead of relying on biased sources, turn to the libraryand people who own that particular breed of puppy or have ownedone in the past. If you know someone who has relinquished apurebred puppy of the breed that you are considering for afraction of the cost that they paid for it or for free, you needto ask them some serious and pointed questions before decidingto invest in that particular breed of puppy. Here are the mostimportant questions that you need answered before purchasing apuppy or puppies: 1. What is the temperament like? 2. What is the mature size andweight? 3. Are they good with children? 4. What are theirindigenous health problems? 5. How long do they live? 6. Howmuch do they shed? 7. How much do they eat? 8. How trainable arethey? 9. Can they be easily house broken? 10. Do they require alot of grooming? 11. How noisy are they? 12. How protective arethey? 13. Do they require any special care or management? 14.Are they good with other dogs and animals? Now all you need to do is match the answers of these questionswith your family's needs. Choose wisely, and you will havechosen a best friend of a lifetime, a dog that will truly be ajoy to have and a treasured member of the family. About the author:By Randy Myers Find more puppy articles, tips and tricks at my website: Wise Puppy http://www.WisePuppy.com
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