Getting a pet this summer?

It's summer and school is out.  From volunteering at a shelter, I can say that this is a busy time for pet adoptions.  People are looking to bring a puppy or young dog home while the kids are on summer vacation so they can take care of the dog.

While this sounds like a good concept, and can help teach kids some responsibility, please be aware that after a while the kids may become bored with the dog and will no longer want to care for the dog.  Let’s be realistic. Kids will be kids and they often don’t stick to things for very long.  Think about how many different sports they go through trying.  Maybe at first it’s soccer, then they try baseball, then maybe basketball or something else.  It is part of the nature of kids to try different things to find out what they really enjoy.  They then drop the things they don’t enjoy.  Think about all the toys they’ve got and how long they begged for a specific toy and then once they got it, it lost its appeal within a few days or weeks.  It’s part of growing up and learning and experiencing.

The difference with a dog (or any pet) is that this is a living creature that needs you to take care of it.  As a species, we have domesticated the dog and cat and when we buy or adopt one, they need us to care for them.  They need us to feed them, take them to the vet, walk them, clean up after them, give them fresh water, socialize them, play with them, train them and give them what their species needs to be a happy, healthy pet.  A pet is not something that you can stop doing because you no longer enjoy it.

While volunteering, I saw many people wanting to give up a dog because the “kids are no longer taking care of the dog” or because the “dog was just too much work”.

Getting a dog, or any pet for that matter, is a lifetime commitment.  Pets can live anywhere between 8 and 20 years depending on the type of pet, the size and the breed, so make sure you’re ready to commit to that many years.

Please also think about the amount of work involved in taking care of a pet before getting one.  Don’t let that cute puppy in the puppy store sway your decision or keep you from researching the breed, annual and lifetime costs, potential medical needs, socialization needs, exercise needs and grooming needs. 

Nearly every dog needs some sort of grooming.  At the very least, a bath and nail trim every 4-6 weeks.  Can you do those yourself or will you need professional help?  Does the dog you’re interested in need more grooming than that?  Are they a double coated dog that needs daily brushing and professional grooming to get rid of their undercoat (Shepherds, Huskies, Chows, etc.)?  Are they a dog that needs a haircut every 6 weeks (Poodles, Bichons, Shih Tsus, Lhasa Apsas, Maltese, etc.)?  How much does professional grooming cost?

Every dog needs to eat?  Many dogs these days have some sort of food allergy and need to be fed special diets.  Are you ready for that if your dog turns out to be one of those dogs?  You won’t know about allergies as a puppy. Allergies tend to show up in adult dogs.  There are some breeds more prone to problems with grains.  Are you ready to feed a good quality grain free diet?

What about healthcare?  There is pet insurance available and there are many different providers.  Can you afford one or would you rather put your money in a savings account just in case your dog is one that winds up with luxating patella or hip dysplasia? Is the breed you’re looking at prone to diseases?  Can you afford annual exams, rabies vaccinations and other health issues that pop up?

How about training?  Dogs do not train themselves.  This is something you must do to ensure you’ve got a well trained and well behaved dog.  I can’t tell you the number of people that wanted to give up their dog because it wasn’t trained.  When asked what classes they’ve taken, the vast majority said, “none”, but thought the dog should be able to learn and be trained without classes.  If you have never trained a dog, then how will you know how to train it so that it can learn?  Classes aren’t just for the dog – they’re for the owners, so they know how to handle a dog, the commands to use and to teach basic manners, loose leash walking and the fun stuff too.  When looking for classes, see if you can observe a class first.  If not allowed, then find another class.  Ask the trainer what methods they use – are they positive or punishment based?  A dog that does things for you because they are afraid of getting punished is not really a well trained dog (imho).  They aren’t doing things to please you, they are not doing certain things because they don’t want to get choked, pinched, kicked or worse.  A dog that does things for you because they want to please you is a well trained dog.  Please also keep in mind that even well trained dogs have lapses.  No dog is like Lassie unless extremely well trained.  Did you know it took several dogs to portray Lassie?

Where will the dog go when the kids go back to school and you’re at work full time?  Are they crate trained and stay in their crate all day?  Or do you need to make some other arrangements because you’ve got a very active breed or a dog that doesn’t like to be alone? 

What about socialization?  Is your dog well socialized?  Behaviorist, Ian Dunbar, talks about how a dog should get to meet 100 new people in their first 100 days of life.  This is important so that your dog will know that people are not something to be afraid of and can handle themselves when they meet new people.  Wow – that’s a lot of people!  How will you do this? 

I personally believe that you should have your dog meet 100 new dogs and take them to 100 different places as early in life as possible (those first 100 days would be good).  The experts talk about the first 16-18 weeks of life being the prime socialization period.  If the dogs are socialized during the first 16-18 weeks, they’ll be good in many, many situations.  If not, that’s when things can become tricky for dogs and you wind up with potential behavior problems.    I personally have a dog that was not socialized until the shelter got him at about 6 months when his first owners gave him and his sibling up.   I decided to foster him and help with his socialization more and I wound up being a “foster failure” because I adopted him.  He’s VERY afraid of new people, new places and new things.  He barks at new people and backs away looking for a place to hide.  My sister-in-law visited for a few days over the 4th of July holiday and he was terrified of her.  He finally calmed down in the 3rd day, but because he did not get the opportunity to meet lots of people when he was young, he does not know how to deal with meeting new people now.  However, he’s fantastic with other dogs because he was allowed to be with other dogs when he was very young.  He can be around strangers as long as they have a dog attached to them.  I think that he believes the dogs are in charge of the leash, because when we go on walks with other people and their dogs, he’s so much better with those people.  Mare Potts of Flydogs Training calls this a “bridge dog”.  He uses that other dog to bridge the gap between him and the strange people.

Also, socialization and training aren’t things that stop.  Dogs need to keep meeting new people, new dogs and be introduced to new situations to be very social.  You need to keep practicing the skills learned in training classes on a daily basis – just 10-15 minutes a day.  It’s something that needs to be done for the life of your dog, not just as puppies and then forgotten.

These are all things that should be researched prior to getting a dog (or any pet) so that you know what you’re getting into for the next 8-20 years (depending on the type of pet, size and breed).

One last note about getting a dog and I know it will be controversial, but please don’t buy from a pet store.  Most pet stores get their dogs from puppy mills where there are hundreds of dogs kept for the sole purpose of breeding.  They never get to put their feet on grass, they live their entire lives in crates and don’t get proper medical attention.  Please don’t support this inhumane practice.  There are plenty of puppies at shelters and if you’re looking for a specific breed, please check out www.petfinder.com or www.adoptapet.com.  Both websites allow you to search by breed, gender, age and zip code.  It’s the best way to find a new pet.  Don’t shop – Adopt.