by Thinking carefully about your expectations and requirements when selecting the right dog will help you choose one with the correct temperament that suits you well and fits easily into your lifestyle and daily routine.
Examine your lifestyle
Dogs come in all shapes and sizes, and there are numerous breeds and different types of character from which to choose. To make selecting a dog easier, you should think very carefully about what you and your family really want from owning one.
To begin this selection process, consider your requirements under the following topics:
How much time do you have?
Think honestly about whether you have sufficient time for playing games with a dog, exercising and grooming them, giving them love and attention, plus the extra time that it will be needed for keeping your house clean. Even the cleanest dog brings in dirt and makes a lot of mess.
Do you have enough spare time every day for owning a dog?
How much are you at home?
If you add up the hours you spend at home during an average week, you may find that your lifestyle is not suited to owning a dog that needs many hours of companionship each day.
How much can you afford
Bigger dogs cost more to feed than small ones, but all dogs need veterinary care as well as other things like bedding, toys, collars, leashes and so on. Dogs with coats that need clipping or stripping require frequent visits to the local grooming parlor.
Can you afford all of these costs of dog ownership?
How active are you?
Getting an active dog with lots of energy is not a wise decision if you’re a couch potato who likes nothing better than to relax in front of the television all evening and much of the weekend. All dogs need daily exercise.
Does the dog have to be good with others?
Do you have children, a baby or planning one in the near future, elderly relatives, other dogs, or small pets? A new dog in your home will have an impact on everyone in your family and they need to be able to get along with each other. Consider the effect on existing relationships when deciding the breed of dog.
What personality and character traits does your ideal dog have?
Once you have decided what you want from a dog, sourcing the right dog for you becomes easier. Finding out what different breeds need in terms of their physical requirements, assessing their character type to see if it fits in with yours, and seeing if their needs match what you can provide are quite easy. Take care to research all these issues thoroughly in advance.
Adult or puppy?
You also need to decide whether to get an adult dog or a puppy. Puppies are a clean slate and they are relatively easy to mold to your ways, although you need to make sure that you find a healthy, well socialized one whose parents and ancestors had a good temperament.
Puppies are lovely, but they do need an intensive period of training and education, as well as a large amount of your time in their first year to help them develop into perfect pets.
Adult dogs are already formed, and the difficult house training, chewing, and early education stages are all over. They are ready made dogs and what you see is what you get, although they will eventually adapt to your ways and routines with some careful training and education. However, you must take time to get to know them before you decide.
Conclusion
Many people choose their dog by browsing through breed books and finding one they like the look of. This will often appear familiar, resembling a previously owned pet, or may even have quite similar facial characteristics to themselves.
Choosing by looks alone without considering the behavior traits and character type of that breed can be a huge mistake, and new owners may end up with a dog who does not suit them in fundamental ways. Choosing by temperament is a much better way to select a dog.
It’s important to make sure to seriously think through these considerations before making any decisions on choosing a new dog.
