How To Choose Your Dog – Three Golden Rules
This bonus lesson was inspired by an e-mail I received from one of my early hypoallergenic dog list subscribers. This was definitely someone who should have had my Free Guide!
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So let’s look at what happened…
The person received the list on 30th January 2010.
On 5th February 2010 I received the following e-mail:
I think we are going to be getting a Scottish Terrior, we fell in love with him at the pet store, and are eager to bring him home. If you have more specific info on Scottish Terriors. I would be very interested. I am trying to learn as much as possible. Thank you
My dilemma
I have met so many people who made the wrong choice of dog. You know nearly 20 years ago that was me too. That e-mail rang so many warning bells for me that I wanted to explain to this person exactly how much hot water I got into doing the exact same thing.
Well it wasn’t quite exact, but I got a Doberman from rescue by falling in love with her and not asking the right questions. It was disastrous. She was bad tempered with dogs, very ill and only lived for 10 months.
I SO wanted to save this person from making a poor decision! I e-mailed explaining in brief the kinds of things outlined here. Because they didn’t want to hear and were dead set on their dream, I just got a load of abuse back.
So what’s wrong with this picture?
Lots, but then I know that. What do you think? How many potential problems do you see here?
Let’s break it down.
Time
First of all, look at the number of days between the list being sent out and the decision. 6 days. 6 days! So what implications are there here?
- That’s nowhere near enough time to do anything properly. 8 vital stages were bypassed in this choosing process. 6 days isn’t enough to research one breed, let alone all the breed options whcih would work for you.
- Is it enough time to check whether you really are ready for a dog and do the shortlisting of what your lifestyle will support? Has this person really done the thinking they need to do to be sure they have the right dog for them? Do they really have all the equipment in place, dog-sitting arrangements, vets and kennels lined up?
- It’s an impulse buy. Having decided to get a dog, the first cute thing will do. And it has to be NOW. So all the vital stages in choosing a dog are bypassed to satisfy the impulse. Impulse buying of any animal is never a good idea.
- There’s not been enough time to properly get to know the breed in the flesh. You need to spend time in the company of your shortlisted breeds to really get a feel for their characters.
This impulse buying and bypassing vital stages could easily get the wrong dog. Which you then might have to live with for 15 years or rehome when it becomes a nuisance.
But worse still, it could easily result in you ending up with a badly bred dog.
Breeding
In the UK selling dogs and cats from pet shops and pet stores was made illegal many years ago. (Smaller animals like rabbits and hamsters are still sold this way). This was because some pet stores used puppy mills and animal auctions to keep their costs low, encouraging irresponsible breeding and impulse buying.
You are always recommended to buy direct from a breeder rather than a pet store. Why? Because:
- Some pet stores still use puppy mills and animal auctions. A friend of mine in Virginia bought a whippet from a pet store because she felt sorry for the poor thing. ‘Maryanne Whippet’ is a stunning little lady with a good pedigree but she was the product of a puppy mill outlet. My friend knew that because she is a dog breeder herself.
- You might not get a pedigree from a pet store. If you do can you be sure it is the one for the dog you’re buying?
- Will you get health screening certificates for known problems in that breed? Will the people in the store even know what the health issues are in that breed? I very much doubt it.
- You don’t have chance to see the parents, check their health, their pedigrees and their temperaments so you don’t really know what you’re getting.
- You don’t get to see the dogs and puppies in a normal environment – your dog and their parents could have been bred in and lives in crates their whole lives without adequate exercise and human contact.
- You have no chance to see the puppy with its littermates so you don’t know what the whole litter was like
- There’s not really enough opportunity to examine the puppy for any signs of ill health and spend the time you need getting to know the breed
Allergy testing
How will you be able to test for an allergic reaction and get a true result in a pet store? Not only because of the limited time involved but also because this hypoallergenic breed has possibly been surrounded by other ‘normal breeds’.
Different people respond differently even to low allergy breeds. So it is possible to bring home a supposed ‘low allergy’ dog only to find you don’t get on with it.
The Three Golden Rules
It got me thinking about the key problems with this person’s choice. It boiled down to three things, which I’m calling the Three Golden Rules of choosing a dog.
Golden Rule 1 : Give Yourself Time
It’s very easy to get sucked in by those cute puppy eyes in a pet store, or carried away by the impulse to have a dog. But your dream can easily become a scream if you jump in head first. Pace yourself. Give yourself time. If you feel like jumping for the first cute thing you see – sit on your hands. Hide the wallet. Don’t give into kids pleading – they’ll quickly lose interest after a couple of weeks and you’ll be left with all the legwork anway, quite literally.
Experts don’t choose on impulse. They take time, They understand that it might take 3 months, 6 months or even a year to find the right puppy for them.
Golden Rule 2 : Buy From A Breeder
Make sure you buy from a breeder. That way you can
- spend time around the breed to get to know it,
- test your allergy if you have one,
- get access to the pedigrees
- see the dogs in a normal home environment
- see the puppies all together
- get access to health screening
- get access to in-depth knowledge
This is vital if you’re going to get a well bred healthy puppy that’s right for you. Of course you need to know exactly what separates a good breeder from a bad one……but at least you might spot a bad one rather than buy a puppy from a bad one you’ve never met!
Golden Rule 3 : Know Your Breeds Thoroughly
There is no substitute for researching the breed or breeds you’re interested in. There is a TON of info out there on the internet about all the different breeds. Some of it does conflict but a lot of it also corresponds. Going back to where this all started:
I think we are going to be getting a Scottish Terrior, we fell in love with him at the pet store, and are eager to bring him home. If you have more specific info on Scottish Terriors. I would be very interested. I am trying to learn as much as possible. Thank you
This was 6 days from start to decision to buy. The e-mail demonstrates that really, this decision isn’t based on anything other than cuteness and impulse. There’s no knowledge of the breed demonstrated at all.
To recap
Please don’t make the same mistake! Use the list and the free resources on the internet. Get my e-book risk free for 60 days and be assured of success.
But whatever you do, please follow the Three Golden Rules:
- Golden Rule 1 : Give Yourself Time
- Golden Rule 2 : Buy From A Breeder
- Golden Rule 3 : Know Your Breeds Thoroughly
To your success!
Bev
P.S. You can get the ebook by clicking here