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 Selecting the Right Dog- Part 1
The Importance of Compatibility The decision process regarding adding a dog to your household is in many ways tantamount in significance and perspective to your decision process when selecting a mate. Ideally, a spousal relationship expands the quality of life for both you and your partner. Similarly, pet ownership should generate a mutually beneficial, symbiotic relationship that enhances the quality of life for both you and your pet. However, compatibility is a key issue in determining whether the process realizes optimal outcomes. Humans will frequently spend many years evaluating amongst a pool of potential spouses. Yet, in contrast, they will somehow on a whim drive to the humane society or a breeder’s home and without much forethought capriciously bring home a companion they expect to love and cherish for as long as the next sixteen years. Does anybody see the lack of logic or consistency? Certainly, dissolving an unsuccessful relationship with a pet is a less arduous and expensive task than divorcing a spouse. Nevertheless, there often is unhappiness and incapacitating morose guilt associated with the animal’s departure from the household. Although training may minimize the likelihood and magnitude of failure, implementing direct control by selecting the right pet in the first place provides the greatest probability of formulating a successful, happy human-pet partnership. The following are key questions prospective pet owners need to ask themselves even before selecting amongst breeds or individual dogs. Question #1: Should I even own a dog? A dog needs attention, structure, routine, leadership, food, veterinary care, toys, supplies, and training. Consequently, you need to have adequate time, money, patience, and innate leadership ability to properly provide for your dog. Question #2: Should I get a puppy or adult dog? Puppies are cute and arrive with little or no environmental baggage. However, they require training and patience for them to develop appropriate housebreaking, household manners, and obedience behaviors. In contrast, adult dogs may come already trained in both household manners and obedience. However, they may also arrive with undesirable behavioral complications caused by neglect, abuse, lack of training, limited socialization, or adverse environmental experiences. Question #3: Where should I get my dog? Choices include professional breeders, backyard breeders, pet stores, humane societies, rescue organizations, prior owners, and strays. “Professional” breeders do not necessarily act professionally. A truly professional breeder may be expensive, but will provide documentation about the health, history and lineage of a prospective pet; will have pertinent health certificates for the parents; will have a goal-oriented breeding program; will provide a hygienic environment; will provide puppies and adults ample socialization and appropriate household and obedience training for their age level; will offer you a formal sales contract that provides you protection against certain contingencies; and will interview you to confirm suitability. Nevertheless, unscrupulous breeders exist who, in a quest for money, will mate substandard dogs that exhibit heritable health or temperament problems. Furthermore, many breeders have too many dogs to provide them adequate attention and care and live a less than hygienic lifestyle. Investigate a breeder thoroughly before bringing home a puppy or adult dog. Part 3 of this article will assist you in evaluating a breeder or shelter facility. Backyard breeders are hobbyists who breed their family pet, show dog, or competition dog. Breeding is not a major source of income for the backyard breeder. Some backyard breeders will provide you care and quality equivalent or superior to a professional breeder. However, many backyard breeders breed the family dog for no logical reason other than they wanted to breed or they wanted their children to see the miracle of life. In most cases, run away from a breeder who cannot logically describe the rationale behind the breeding or who owns a dog that is a poor example of its breed. Pet stores all too frequently sell poor quality puppies at inflated prices. The puppies are commonly purchased from unscrupulous puppy mills that breed inferior stock or outright lie on pedigrees. Most importantly, pet store dogs are often notoriously difficult to housebreak. Due to a psychological travail known as ‘learned helplessness’, they learn to urinate and defecate in their crates, which violates natural precepts required to successfully housebreak a dog. Unless the pet store adequately demonstrates that the puppy is well socialized with dogs and people and taken outside to relieve itself, do not let emotion lead you to an impulse purchase. Humane societies often have nice pedigree and mixed breed dogs available for a nominal charge. If you adopt a puppy, ask what information they have regarding the age of removal from the mother and/or the litter. A puppy that lives a feral existence with its litter for an extended period (past 10 weeks) will often remain permanently inhibited in its abilities to comfortably socialize with humans. Whereas, a puppy removed too early (before 6 weeks) may remain permanently inhibited in its abilities to comfortably socialize with dogs. When considering an adult dog, complete the testing procedures and questions described in Parts 3 and 4 of this article. Consider only a healthy, happy, well socialized, well mannered dog. Do not bring home a dog that exhibits lethargy, depression, health issues, anxiety, shyness, or aggression. Ask if the organization has a history of the dog and a reason why the dog was abandoned. Ask for a trial period if there is no history. Do not adopt a dog that has a history of house soiling, separation anxiety, or escape behavior or exhibits such behavior during the trial period. Rescue organizations will foster pedigree and sometimes mixed breed dogs abandoned by prior owners or found as strays. The cost is far less than purchasing a puppy or dog from a breeder, but usually more than from a humane society. They often will have more information on an available dog than will a humane society and generally will foster the dog in a household environment rather than a kennel, which will provide valuable observations about the dog’s prior upbringing. Regardless, exercise due diligence and the principles of caveat emptor. In addition, evaluate whether the rescue representative is totally truthful. Some rescue persons misstate or leave out material information to accomplish their mission of adopting the dog into a loving home. If you are uncertain, ask for a trial period. When evaluating a dog from a present/prior owner consider strongly why the owner is placing the dog for sale or adoption. Exercise caution about assuming someone else’s problem, regardless of whether the problem is due to poor genetics or poor ownership from the present seller or a previous party. Nevertheless, often very nice dogs become available due to the misfortunes or lifestyle changes of an owner. Again, diligently ask questions and complete the examination procedures described in Parts 3 and 4 of this article. Almost everyone feels sorry for a stray dog. However, hesitate extending the sorrow to yourself. Adopting a stray can be a wonderful, humane task. Adopting a stray can also be the commencement of years of misery. Have a veterinarian check the puppy or dog. A dog with heartworms, for instance, immediately has a price tag of several hundred dollars or more and may never totally recover. Evaluate the dog’s comportment amidst people (including children), dogs, and noises. A shy, fearful or aggressive animal is a long-term project. We have observed magnificent stray or abandoned dogs taken in by CPT customers. We have also dissuaded clients from maintaining possession of inappropriate problematic stray dogs. Each of the available sources has the potential of providing an outstanding pet as long as you are careful in the evaluation process. Weigh the advantages and disadvantages of obtaining a pet from each source as described in this section along with the information provided in Parts 3 and 4 of this article before undertaking a purchase or adoption decision. Question #4: Should I get a male or female? Generally, males are more dominant and, unless neutered, more likely to roam, to exhibit marking problems, and engage in dog fighting. Alternatively, females generally are smaller, softer emotionally, and more cooperative. Females also, unless spayed, will spot the carpet, exhibit anxious, unfocused behavior, and perhaps mild urinary incontinence during estrus and an accompanying false pregnancy period. Nevertheless, you minimize many of the preceding gender characteristics by spaying/neutering your dog. Therefore, the main criteria once you know whether you are ready to own a dog, whether you should purchase/adopt a puppy or adult, and where you most likely will look to find a dog is not what gender is preferred or available, but the characteristics of each individual animal you evaluate. Summary In summary, you should not act haphazardly when purchasing or adopting a dog for your household. Conduct a thorough, well-thought decision process that emphasizes compatibility. Compatibility is the key ingredient when formulating a solid foundation that supports a successful long-term relationship. Asking the four questions listed in this article is the first step when commencing a decision process that achieves optimal compatibility. However, it is only the first step of a multi-step process. Part 2 will discuss selecting the right breed. Part 3 will discuss evaluating breeder and shelter facilities. Part 4A will discuss evaluating an individual adult animal and Part 4B will discuss evaluating an individual puppy and puppy testing. Read each section in detail and act upon the recommendations to maximize the probability of bonding with a canine companion that will provide you years of love, pleasure, and joy. © Copyright Mark Spivak and Comprehensive Pet Therapy, Inc., April 2007, All rights reserved. Dog Training Brochure | Agility Training | DayCare | Locations | Newsroom | Grooming | Retail | Dog Training Resources Copyright ©2002 (Rev April 2008) Comprehensive Pet Therapy, Inc. All rights reserved. |
