Dog's Best Friend: An Activity Book for Kids and Their Dogs
1 Think about your lifestyle your family and your finances Any animal that you adopt will require a long term commitment from you and everyone else in the household It's a commitment that should last for your dog's lifetime 2 Talk with everyone in your home before adopting a pet This is the time when you're likely to find out who your pet care helpers will be and who won't be helping 3 How many hours a day is your house empty Puppies can be adopted as young as seven or eight weeks old but such young creatures need to develop self confidence so that they will inter act in healthy ways with kids and other house hold members This confidence is built by not leaving the puppy alone for long periods of time and giving him a lot of attention and even a few short obedience training sessions where your puppy can receive much needed praise Training problems such as chewing on things you don't want him to may develop if the dog is left home alone too often 4 Is an adult in the household willing to provide the obedience training including socializing behavioral training and house training to make the addition of a puppy to your home a good choice 5 What kind of time do you have available for a
dog Are you home a lot but work out of your home so that you're not readily available 6 Do you have young kids who are not in school Are the kids older 7 What is your family’s activity level Do you like to sit and read books Watch TV Or is your fam ily very active and do they enjoy a lot of physical activity If you are a low activity crowd don't adopt a dog who requires a lot of physical exer cise such as a greyhound Instead think about adopting a breed like a basset hound They enjoy a lot of relaxing too 8 How do you want to interact with a dog Do you want a dog who's going to give a lot of affection or one who's more independent 9 Do you want a small medium or large dog 10 Do you want a male or female dog Male dogs tend to be larger eat more and be more indepen dent and therefore more difficult to obedience train They are also more likely to fight Female dogs tend to be easier to manage and are gentler These are generalizations and early environ mental influences such as loud noises and phys ical abuse and breeding will also affect the personality of individual dogs Neutering male or spaying female will mellow some of these sex specific
Once You Have Made the Decision to Get a Dog Once you take account of how you and your family members spend your time you can search for a breed whose temperament matches your lifestyle Here are some additional hints to help you in this decision making process If you're thinking of adopting an older dog con sider the age of the animal as compared to his average life span This will indicate how well the animal will adjust to a new home environment A dog in the early part of his life can be easier to train than one who has had time to develop bad habits and as with people longtime habits are hard to break However keep in mind that pup pies are the most challenging to train because they require the most effort patience and exper tise Don't read breed specific books when you're hunting for a breed of dog who suits your life style Such books are for people who have already decided on a breed so they are written with this in mind to help you enjoy your choice Also don't rely on breeders to give you unbiased infor mation because they love the breed they raise otherwise they wouldn't be in the business Here are some books to help your
Benjamin L Hart The Perfect Puppy How to Choose Your Dog by Its Behavior New York W H Freeman and Company 1988 Michele Lowell Your Purebred Puppy A Buyer's Guide New York Henry Holt and Company Inc 1990 Chris Walkowicz The Perfect Match A Dog Buyer s Guide New York Howell Books 1996 Shelters are great places to find companion ani mals There is a tremendous overpopulation of dogs and cats in the United States You can help reduce this problem by giving a slightly used dog or cat a new home Not only can you find many loving animals at shelters but they're a good val ue too Most shelters give an adopted animal all the appropriate vaccinations provide spay or neutering operations and even give you start up supplies often valued at hundreds of dollars all for a small fee Also you may be surprised to learn that shelters are great inexpensive places to find many purebred dogs without the purebred price Involve Kids from the Beginning Involve your kids as much as possible when you are deciding on what type of dog to get You want your kids to feel that they're a part of this decision too Also involving your kids now will help you keep them involved later when the dog that they helped
