What should I think about before getting a puppy?

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We took our current dog as a puppy in a shelter. A small white teddy bear, selflessly loving children, was thrown to the sidelines. It turned out not needed. Did not fit. It seems to me that a dog is a great happiness. The dog will always be waiting for you. She will always be glad for you. Do not betray her! Therefore, you need to think it over twenty times before starting a puppy. Prepare psychologically, theoretically and practically. About what you need to consider when acquiring a puppy, how to choose a dog "for yourself", I will tell in this article.

Prepare yourself mentally!

The presence of a dog imposes certain restrictions and obligations on the owner. The dog will limit your freedom: you will no longer be able to leave or go somewhere, leaving it one hour for 8 or more.

Regardless of the weather, you need to walk the dog 2-3 times a day and, preferably, at least an hour - the dogs need to move actively. The first year of life, the dog, in general, will need to devote a lot of time - the puppy is active, active, curious, it must be taught to teams and develop life skills in your house in it.

Left unattended, a growing puppy is capable of causing destruction in the house similar to a small tornado - it will nibble, tear, and gut everything, even with its own toys. He needs you and your time.

Do not forget about guests and relatives - the dog needs to be properly educated so that it does not create problems for guests and owners. Even if you are completely unsociable, you may need, for example, plumbing services.

In an apartment building, a dog should not create problems for neighbors.

Dog hair will become your constant companion, you need to come to terms with this. And the harvest will be one and a half times more.

Almost every city now has animal shelters. You can try to take the puppy for overexposure - and the shelter will be grateful to you, and the puppy will be better for a while. Animals in the shelter are usually vaccinated, treated for fleas and helminths. This will assess the level of your readiness to acquire a dog.

Place for a dog and purchase of essentials

The dog in the house should have its own place - relatively protected, not in the aisle, but not completely isolated. Dogs do not like this and will gnaw their way to relative freedom. Here you need to put a litter sufficient for the free lying position of an adult dog. The puppy, most likely, will gut it, so no fillers, optimally - a rug.

Water should always be available, feed - only at the right time. Little puppies eat five times a day and do not know the measures. She must know the owner. An adult dog is fed twice a day.

Relatively neatly, dogs eat only dry food. Soft and liquid partially flies in all directions, including water. So it would be nice to put an easily washable mat under the feeder and not put it next to expensive wallpaper.

Toys are very necessary for the puppy. If they are not, the puppy will use household items as toys. Toys need soft and hard to carry and nibble. When the teeth grow and renew, the puppy chews everything, he needs to provide supplies.

Care products: combs, brushes, shampoo, towels. For the most part, dogs love combing and combing, but washing is far from all.

The puppy must be given the necessary vaccinations, periodically treated for helminths and fleas, in spring and autumn - and for ticks. He necessarily catches a flea, they are everywhere, and if he climbs in the fall and spring (and he will certainly climb!) On the grass and in the bushes - he puts on ticks.

I in the "brutal" first-aid kit must have an ASD-2. As an antiseptic and immunomodulator I use it for a long time and successfully.

A collar, a leash, a harness, a muzzle (for certain breeds) - without this, nowhere.

Depending on the region and breed, clothing for the dog may be needed.

How to choose a dog "for yourself"?

Here it is necessary to approach this moment very responsibly. It is advisable to choose a dog not only in appearance and, moreover, not in accordance with fashion trends (fashion will pass, but the dog will stay with you for a long time). It’s better to choose "for yourself" - it will be more comfortable both for you and the dog.

If children grow up in a family, Basset Hounds, Collies, Labradors and Cocker Spaniels will be good nanny friends for them.

Many years ago, I watched with friends a picture of “walking” a child of an adult collie: they dressed the girl and let the dog out into the street. From the window of the apartment it was clearly visible how the dog was running with the children, gently pushing them away or pulling them away from the puddles, picking up the lost toys and stoically enduring a variety of jaws. The grandmothers and mothers of this entire small company with the advent of the dog noticeably relaxed, while the collies easily and with appreciable pleasure fulfilled the "shepherd's" duties. By the way, socks for the whole family were knitted from the hair of this dog.

It is useful to know that Malamutes and Husky love to howl, Chow Chow, Collie, Terriers, Poodles, Chihuahua, Shih Tzu love to munch. In a closed room it is very tiring, and for some it is unbearable.

By the way, many dogs react to high or rhythmic sounds - howl, whine, howl. Our dog howls at a working coffee grinder, at friends - playing the piano, work colleagues complained about accompaniment by popping of pop concerts and the sound of a working drill.

When choosing a breed, it is completely insufficient to study the characteristics presented by the breeders, since even the most honest seller will try to disguise information about the shortcomings.

In serious descriptions of the breed, among other things, the diseases characteristic of the breed are necessarily listed - this information is very useful. In purebred dogs, genetic and hereditary diseases accumulate, for example, hereditary nephritis in Samoyeds, dysplasia of the hip joint in a German shepherd (and not only her, this is a common genetic disease), gallstones in Dalmatians.

There are a lot of selection options, each has its own and it is desirable to take them into account to the maximum.

All longhair will require regular care: combing, haircuts, washing, drying. Shorthair is easier - paws washed after a walk and enough.

Shaggy and generally “warmly dressed” dogs (such as Chow Chow or Samoyeds) are hot in the apartment, it is better to start them with a house and a plot. Definitely bad in the apartment for huge shaggy Alabai, Caucasian Shepherd dogs, Moscow watchdogs, St. Bernards, Newfoundlands, as well as huskies, greyhounds and hounds.

Siberian husky with its indefatigable activity is able to smash the whole apartment and grab a vestibule.

Perhaps the most “apartment” - basset hound, Italian greyhound, Pekingese, lapdog, dachshund.

In the presence of physical exertion, for example, long jogging walks, you can start a German shepherd, golden retiver, corgi, cocker spaniel, fox terrier.

Some dog breeds are particularly prone to dominance (for example, bulldogs and Dobermans, a little less - bullmastiff, rottweiler and chow chow). That is, the dog will show by all means that it is the owner. There are many ways in dogs, in addition, animals are very inventive in this matter. For the proper education of such a dog, special skills are needed, and, most importantly, time.

And if ambition is not important, it is better to take a simple cur. They are very dedicated, smart and tenacious (natural selection in action!). And completely unpretentious.

The right decisions for you!