How to choose a puppy (Part 2): the Right Breed For Your Lifestyle
View the previous posts in this series:
If you have your heart set on a purebred, do some research ---find out what the breed was created to do, and think about how that will fit in with the lifestyle you want to lead. Do you have or want other pets, or children? Are you active, or do you want a pet content to putter around the house with you? How much space do you have ---a studio apartment, or 100 acres of rural property? All these things are important variables that will profoundly influence what breed of dog is right for you ---and what breed is wrong wrong wrong!
Sometimes the answers to these sorts of questions will help you figure out which dogs to steer clear of. If you have a pet rabbit, you would do well to avoid dogs that were bred for hunting small game or 'vermin,' like most terriers. If you want a dog to go on 15 mile hikes with you, well, that cute dachshund is just not going to be able to keep up. On the other hand, those gorgeous huskies were bred to run all day long in a blizzard ---don't expect them to be happy sitting in the house or in a hot yard all day! That border collie is an amazingly intelligent working dog, capable of learning enormously complicated tasks and of working tirelessly herding livestock or doing obedience and agility trials ---just don't ask him to sit in your city apartment day after day, waiting for you to come home from work to take him on a half hour walk, because he'll go absolutely stir crazy and become horribly neurotic.
If you think you've found the breed that's right for you, talk to as many people who own that breed as you can ---and ask them what they don't like about their pet. Most responsible breed advocates try very hard to make sure people understand all the potential downsides to the breed, because they never want to see one of their beloved dogs go into an inappropriate home.
If you have your heart set on a purebred, do some research ---find out what the breed was created to do, and think about how that will fit in with the lifestyle you want to lead. Do you have or want other pets, or children? Are you active, or do you want a pet content to putter around the house with you? How much space do you have ---a studio apartment, or 100 acres of rural property? All these things are important variables that will profoundly influence what breed of dog is right for you ---and what breed is wrong wrong wrong!
Sometimes the answers to these sorts of questions will help you figure out which dogs to steer clear of. If you have a pet rabbit, you would do well to avoid dogs that were bred for hunting small game or 'vermin,' like most terriers. If you want a dog to go on 15 mile hikes with you, well, that cute dachshund is just not going to be able to keep up. On the other hand, those gorgeous huskies were bred to run all day long in a blizzard ---don't expect them to be happy sitting in the house or in a hot yard all day! That border collie is an amazingly intelligent working dog, capable of learning enormously complicated tasks and of working tirelessly herding livestock or doing obedience and agility trials ---just don't ask him to sit in your city apartment day after day, waiting for you to come home from work to take him on a half hour walk, because he'll go absolutely stir crazy and become horribly neurotic.
If you think you've found the breed that's right for you, talk to as many people who own that breed as you can ---and ask them what they don't like about their pet. Most responsible breed advocates try very hard to make sure people understand all the potential downsides to the breed, because they never want to see one of their beloved dogs go into an inappropriate home.
View the next posts in this series:
- How To Choose a Puppy (Part 3): Well, Maybe Not Quite A Puppy
- How to choose a puppy (Part 4): Shelter Dogs
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This post was generously contributed by Dr. Stanley of Housecall Of The Wild.