Dogs: The Pros And Cons
by Terry Bytheway on 2007-09-22
Bringing a dog into your home, can change your life in many ways. It can bring the lost feeling into your home and give you and your family a warm feeling inside knowing that your pet is happy, or it can bring bad headaches including dog poop in your garden, and urine in your homes. Be sure to ask yourself ‘Will the dog be loved? And looked after properly!?’, if the answer is no, I strongly recommend you do not consider buying a dog until you have thought more about it.
All too often you hear of dogs being abandoned, especially at Christmas time. People just haven’t thought it through as to all mess and noise that a new puppy will bring, and can’t cope with it in the early days. So leaving them at the side of the road or in an alley way seems like the only way out just to be rid of the problem but it isn’t. It’s the animals that loose out.
When you first decide that you want to buy a dog, do a list of pros and cons. Do you want a big or small dog? Will you take the dog on regular walks? Do you have a garden where the dog can go to the toilet in? Do you have the room for a big dog or would a smaller dog be more suitable. Will you be leaving the dog on its own all day while you’re at work or do you have a good neighbor or friend that can call in to take the dog for a walk or let it into the garden? Remember, asking a friend or neighbor to do this on a short-term basis is fine, but are they going to do it on a daily basis for you and your new friend? How much will you pay for your dog? Will you go to a local breeder or a dog’s home? Will you get pet insurance and how much will it cost? Phone around a few places first and get some quotes before hand. Where will your dog sleep? Are you going to keep your dog downstairs? Or will you let it upstairs? When you go on holidays are you going to take your dog with you? If not will a friend or relative look after it for you or are you going to leave it in a kennels. What kind of food will you feed it – tinned or dried? Will its bed be in the living room or hall? Do you have toys so that the dog has something to chew on rather than your own items such as slippers and furniture legs?
There are so many questions to ask yourself before buying a dog, but if you do your research first it should save you and your dog lots of heartache.
All too often you hear of dogs being abandoned, especially at Christmas time. People just haven’t thought it through as to all mess and noise that a new puppy will bring, and can’t cope with it in the early days. So leaving them at the side of the road or in an alley way seems like the only way out just to be rid of the problem but it isn’t. It’s the animals that loose out.
When you first decide that you want to buy a dog, do a list of pros and cons. Do you want a big or small dog? Will you take the dog on regular walks? Do you have a garden where the dog can go to the toilet in? Do you have the room for a big dog or would a smaller dog be more suitable. Will you be leaving the dog on its own all day while you’re at work or do you have a good neighbor or friend that can call in to take the dog for a walk or let it into the garden? Remember, asking a friend or neighbor to do this on a short-term basis is fine, but are they going to do it on a daily basis for you and your new friend? How much will you pay for your dog? Will you go to a local breeder or a dog’s home? Will you get pet insurance and how much will it cost? Phone around a few places first and get some quotes before hand. Where will your dog sleep? Are you going to keep your dog downstairs? Or will you let it upstairs? When you go on holidays are you going to take your dog with you? If not will a friend or relative look after it for you or are you going to leave it in a kennels. What kind of food will you feed it – tinned or dried? Will its bed be in the living room or hall? Do you have toys so that the dog has something to chew on rather than your own items such as slippers and furniture legs?
There are so many questions to ask yourself before buying a dog, but if you do your research first it should save you and your dog lots of heartache.
About The Author: www.smalldogbreeds.co.uk provides a huge database of over 180 dog breeds including small dog breeds.