Selecting the Best Pet for You and Your Family: Part 4

Thinking about adding a pet to your family? Palm Harbor veterinarian Elizabeth F. Baird of  explains some things you may want to consider.  

Finally, you’ve decided.

You think you’ve found the perfect choice of pets for your family, and decided what breed is a good fit.  The last decision is equally important…  what age pet should you get? And how many?

The age debate is often best answered by another look at your lifestyle. If yours is a busy family with many obligations , a young puppy may just be more commitment than you have the time to manage.   Potty training alone requires a good bit of attention during the first several weeks.

If you think a puppy is a good choice, plan to devote a lot of time and energy to socialization exercises and training during those first two to three months. The ideal age to acquire a puppy or kitten is generally agreed to be around 7 and 9 weeks of age.  The socialization process may begin before that time with the breeder, but often doesn’t. Early socialization is the key contributing factor to the development of a calm, well-behaved, well-adjusted dog or cat. Many undesirable behavior issues in dogs result from an inadequate socialization.  These are mostly preventable with a proactive, disciplined, and consistent approach to training & socialization.

An excellent guidebook to raising puppies is The Perfect Puppy in Seven Days by animal behavior specialist, Dr. Sophia Yin. This book is an intriguing step by step detailed and illustrated guide to managing everything about raising a new puppy from potty training and barking to jumping on people.  Ideally, you should read the book thoroughly before you get your puppy so you can plan and prepare for the task ahead of you.

After due consideration, perhaps you’ve decided a puppy is a bit too much of a time and energy commitment and that a mature pet would be a better choice. With an adult, you miss the opportunity to socialize the pet during their formative period, but you may also find that an older, calmer, less exuberant pet is a better choice for you.  It’s still wise to plan time for getting acquainted and doing some socialization exercises with your new pet, but the time commitment is not as demanding as with a young puppy. If possible, try to find an adult dog or cat that comes from an environment similar to your own and the pet’s adjustment to its new home will likely be smoother.

Many people choose to adopt more than one pet, especially siblings or animals bonded in the previous home.  Such an approach provides an immediate, “built-in” companion for the new pets, but often increases the workload on the new owner too. Kittens are often acquired in pairs and it is a joy to watch them play and interact.  Kittens, especially sibling pairs, are bonded as youngsters, and they typically will continue to abide peacefully throughout their life. Introducing cats as adults does not always go so smoothly!

Multiple puppies are definitely considerably more work, but will provide great exercise and companionship for each other and usually remain to be deeply bonded throughout life. Rabbits are very social creatures and ideally should never be kept alone. Ferrets do fairly well as singles or in pairs, but they do enjoying rowdy play and need a handy outlet for that energy (preferably not you). Most ferrets enjoy playing with dogs & cats, assuming the dog or cat is willing! Birds are a bit trickier and much depends of the type of bird as to whether they are better alone or in pairs. Research is definitely a critical part of the process before jumping into the ownership of a parrot or larger bird.  Many parrots have impressively long life spans - 50 to 70 years for a Yellow Nape Amazon! That calls for some serious commitment and planning whether you chose one or two.

Take the time to make sure your choice of a new pet is a good fit for you and your family. Acquiring a pet is a long-term commitment and there will be many life changes over that time.  Advance planning and dedication to the pet’s socialization can make this a terrifically fulfilling journey.  The resulting payoff will be a priceless life companion.