Choosing a puppy

Education will also have an important influence on your dog’s behavior, but also on your relationship with him in the long term. Before you rush off, take your time choosing the right dog . Here are some tips to guide you and help you see things more clearly.

Step 1: Ask yourself the right questions

A puppy is not a soft toy that you love one day and reject the next day. Adopting one means having the certainty of being able to give him all the love and all the comfort he needs. So you must:

• Have time to take care of it. Take it out several times a day for several tens of minutes. You will also have to brush it regularly, wash it often, always cuddle it. A puppy is above all a baby who should not be left alone. You devote all your time to it during the week, on weekends and during your vacation.
• Have a professional activity compatible with the life of your puppy. Make sure you can take him to your workplace or prevent him from being left alone. Working from home is ideal, as is having a flexible schedule to meet your puppy’s demands as much as possible.
• Have sufficient budget. You engage with your puppy, who will grow up to be a dog, for the next 15 years. Are you financially strong enough? For his comfort, his food, his health. Thus, it will be necessary to vaccinate your puppy, implant him an electronic chip, take him regularly for a routine consultation with the veterinarian. Expenses which, put end to end, can be substantial.

Step 2: don’t choose a dog just for its physical appearance!

For all future dog owners, it is often the physical aspect that triggers the crush. The coat, size, look and face of the animal often outweigh the reason of the future owner.

Apart from the physical aspect, each breed has its behavioral characteristics . You need to know the temperament of your future dog before you commit. It is also a way to make sure that you will be compatible in order to forge a healthy and harmonious relationship.

Once an adult, the dog may no longer correspond to the master or what the latter expects from the dog. Separation, however, remains impossible and the dog becomes more of a burden than a companion. Finally, even if he is small, don’t forget that depending on the breed, this puppy will grow considerably.

The size of the dog must therefore be an important criterion : a large dog remains more restrictive to take on vacation and especially more expensive to feed for example. Large dogs require a good education since they can represent a greater danger than a small dog. Likewise, the surface area of your home must be able to assume its physical importance.

3rd step: choose your puppy according to your personality

Knowing yourself remains essential to choose your dog well. First of all, determine your lifestyle, by evaluating your:

• habitat
• daily working time
• free time for your dog
• frequency of departure on vacation (will he be able to follow you?)
• budget to maintain a dog.

You can also define your personality to adapt the education that you will give to your animal with your behavior. Determine your temperament, whether you are more of a calm or energetic person, bossy or lax. Do you want a dog to guard your house or a playmate for you and your children? These aspects remain essential to be happy with your dog and to make him, too, happy.

Each puppy has its own character, and will develop it alongside you. You will therefore have a big role in the dog he will become. However, each breed of dog has its own temperament, its peculiarity. It’s hard to ask a Chihuahua for the same attention as a Labrador.

4th step: check the good health of the puppy

D-Day ! You have defined your needs according to your criteria and you will finally choose your dog. The problem with puppies is that they are all cute and you can quickly indulge yourself. Be careful not to get emotional at the sight of a puppy that looks sad and abandoned.

However, if you are convinced that one of them will match you, there are still some precautions to take. Examine him and check his health . It must present:

• a normal weight and height (it must not be bigger or thinner than the rest of the litter)
• silky hair and no red spots on the skin
• pink ears and gums with a good smell.
• clean buttocks without signs of diarrhea, dryness or incontinence.

5th step: pay attention to the adoption conditions

In a refuge …

The conditions for adoption are very tight . They alone sum up what we have just explained to you. Adopting a puppy should be taken very seriously.

Thus, you will need to provide:

• An ID
• Proof of address
• Proof of income (payslip, KBis extract, etc.)

At a breeder …

To know if you are dealing with a good breeder, you must quickly be reassured by his professionalism, his seriousness, his knowledge and the good behavior of his breeding. When adopting (which will take place over time) from a breeder, it is important to:

Read also: Choosing an adult dog

• Visit the premises of his breeding before the adoption
• Discuss, question the breeder about the mother’s temperament and be able to meet her
• Check his state of health

To conclude…

Take your time. Focus on researching breeds to make a list of those that might be right for you. Then take the initiative to talk to puppy breeders. They have all the keys and it is they, the specialists , who will give you their opinion in order to avoid big disappointments.

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