Choosing a Puppy...

A new dog can bring you years of enjoyment and companionship. But if you and your dog are not well suited to each other's personality and lifestyle, the experience may not be very enjoyable for either of you.

Before you bring home that new puppy, consider the needs and expenses involved in responsible pet ownership. Make sure you have the time to feed, groom, exercise and properly train your dog. In addition to high quality food, dogs need veterinary care, grooming, and perhaps boarding and other supplies. You might consider calculating and comparing expense budgets for the dog breeds you are considering. If you have other pets or small children at home, consider how a new dog will fit into your household.

Pet stores are another area of
concern as a source for puppies

When deciding what type of dog is right for you, give consideration to the following:

• Hair coat - longer hair is beautiful but needs frequent brushing and may need periodic trimming. Dogs with heavy undercoats are most comfortable in colder weather, but shed more heavily than short-coated dogs in spring and autumn. Short-coated dogs require less coat care, but may not handle cold weather as well.

• Activity - Smaller breeds of dogs can be more active than larger breeds. Some herding and sporting breeds need a lot of exercise, and may become frustrated or even destructive if they do not receive it.

• Male or female - Female dogs are often easier to train and calmer than male dogs, but individual dogs and breeds can vary.

• Information - A good source of information about specific dog breeds is your veterinarian. He or she can be invaluable in guiding your decision. Talk to breeders and others who own breeds that interest you. Pick up books on various breeds at the Love My Pet bookstore.

• Puppy selection - If you're picking a puppy from a litter, first make sure that you like the looks and personalities of both parents. Watch the behavior of the whole litter. Try to avoid the most aggressive pup and the one that is most shy. Handle several puppies; a good-natured pup will quickly relax in your arms as you gently restrain it. The pup should be curious and interested in its surroundings, and readily come to people rather than running away.

• Sources - When you are ready to purchase a dog, buy from a reputable source that provides a health guarantee. Dogs from shelters and pounds also need homes and can be excellent pets, but remember that some dogs are taken to shelters because of behavioural problems. You might not be able to train such dogs out of the undesirable behavior. Ask the shelter staff about the history of any dog you are thinking of adopting before you make a decision.

• Normal Puppy Behavior - When picking a puppy, there are a few things to learn about normal puppy behavior. The first two weeks after birth, newborn pups sleep and eat, moving around minimally in a small area close to the dam (mother dog). Their eyes are sealed closed, and their ears are limited in hearing ability. At 10-14 days, the eyes start to open, and the hearing starts improving rapidly.

All puppies are irresistible, but always remember the Absolute Rule: Never get any dog on impulse!

At 3 weeks, the pups show greatly improved coordination, and they become more aware of and interested in outside stimuli. They start playing with the dam and each other a bit. By 4 weeks of age, the pups are moving better, are more coordinated, and are strongly interested in their environment. They will start relating to humans now as well as their littermates. Pups will start experimenting with solid food, and are becoming very playful.

From 5-8 weeks, their playfulness, curiosity and coordination grow. During the phase from 4-8 weeks, they should be exposed to a lot of stimuli, especially to human adults and children. Otherwise, they will not bond well with humans.

By 7-9 weeks of age, most puppies are fully weaned and are capable of leaving the litter and going to their new families. This is an ideal age to go to a new home. If the breeder has done a good job, the pups should have been exposed to a variety of environments, animals and people, so that they are relaxed about new stimuli and will bond easily with humans.

From 8-16 weeks is a continuation of a very important window of opportunity of learning for pups. From 4-16 weeks of age, puppies are maximally open to new experiences and learning. This is the time to expose puppies to as many different people, places, environments, situations (including mild stresses so she learns to cope with stress), and other animals as possible. Pups are most receptive to new stimuli during this phase; this is the best time to learn socialization with other dogs and people. Whatever you want the pup to be comfortable with for the rest of her life, now is the time to expose her to it!

Purebred Dogs - If you're buying a purebred pup, your best source is a reputable breeder. Good breeders can be found through national, state and local breed organizations. Breeders that advertise in the newspapers may or may not be reputable and knowledgeable about the breed. Sometimes these are people who happen to have two purebred dogs, but may not know much about the breed standard, breed lines, health problems to test for, and how to breed for good disposition. You want a breeder who is knowledgeable about all of those things.

Never buy a pup to save it from a poor environment!
You will only be encouraging an unscrupulous breeder

Pet stores are another area of concern as a source for puppies. You will not be able to see the pup's littermates or parents to be able to judge the pup's likely future behavior. Nor do you know if the pup was properly socialized before coming to the pet store, or whether the pet store employees are continuing to socialize the pups adequately (remember that critical window of learning and socialization between 4-16 weeks of age). And many pet stores that offer pups obtain them from commercial pet breeders and dealers, the so-called puppy mills. There are good quality commercial breeders, but there are many that are not. You have no idea which was the source of the pups in that store.

Try to visit several purebred kennels to compare different lines of the same breed. You will also be able to get different kinds of information from various breeders. Observe the breeders and their premises. The kennel areas should be clean and not smell overpoweringly of dog waste. The adult dogs should look clean, healthy and well cared for. The dogs should obviously be a part of the family, and should be very responsive to humans. The parents of the litters should be friendly and easy to approach (unless their pups are very young, then females are often more protective). Be suspicious of anyone that seems to have a lot of problems with his dogs, his kennels, the dogs' health, the puppies' health, etc. and a lot of excuses for those problems. Never buy a pup to save it from a poor environment! You will only be encouraging an unscrupulous breeder.

To decide which breeder to choose, make sure you feel very comfortable with the breeder, her premises, and the information she gives you. Good breeders will give you a lot of information about their particular breed and line; tell you the positives and potential problems with their breed; and provide a health guarantee. They will have tested for prevalent genetic problems in their breed, and they will ask you a lot of questions to make sure they are comfortable with you as the owner of one of their pups.

Be cautious about pounds and shelters

Next, make sure you like the looks of the dam (mother dog) and the sire, if he's on the premises. Many breeders send their bitches to a stud dog to be bred. If the sire is not on the premises, ask about his looks and personality. See if the breeder has a picture, and ask why she chose him as the sire. Make sure his disposition matches what you want in a dog, and that he matches the ideal breed standard. Although behavior can be modified with training (or lack of it!), remember that the looks and many personality characteristics are highly inheritable, so if you don't like the parents, you probably will not like the offspring. If you like the looks and disposition of the parents, however, that improves your chances for getting a pup that you will like.

There are many sources for mixed-breed dogs, or mutts. They can be found at pounds or shelters, or at family homes. Some of the same rules of purebred dogs apply: Make sure you like the home or shelter where you find the pup. Make sure you like the parents, and that you are comfortable with the size of the parents. If you don't have the opportunity to see the parents, you won't be able to assess what the final size of the pup may be. And if you can't see the rest of the pup's litter, you can't compare him with his siblings.

As for disposition and behavioural characteristics, it's difficult to predict which of the parents' traits will show up in the offspring. For example, if the parents are a herding dog and a terrier, will the offspring herd, or dig for vermin? Or a little of both? If both parents were mutts, what then?

Try to find out as much as possible about the parents, especially their dispositions and any behavior problems. This gives you a slightly better idea of what to expect in the pup you choose. (Although mutts are known to be full of surprises as to how big they get, what they eventually look like, and how they behave!)

Try to avoid the most aggressive pup
and the one that is most shy

Be cautious about pounds and shelters: Although many good pups and dogs can be found at shelters, some dogs end up there because of behavior problems. Ask a lot of questions such as why the animal was given up to the shelter, whether it has any behavior problems, can it be left home alone without becoming destructive, and is it compatible with other pets and children? Many dogs are given up in the first two years because they are too exuberant (those wild teenage years); these dogs could settle down as they mature and become very good dogs. For others, however, it may be difficult or impossible to train some dogs out of undesirable behaviours, especially aggression.

Temperament testing - This should be done with any pup you obtain. It provides you with some general ideas about what to expect from the pup, and whether its disposition matches what you want in a dog. This is not foolproof! Pups will change in their responses to these tests over time, or if they are ill. But this will give you some ideas of what behavioural traits to look for when choosing a pup.

When you go to pick a pup from a litter, find out from the breeder what the puppies' schedule is. You want to observe them when they're awake and feeling very active. Watch the behavior of the whole litter before handling any of them. Try to avoid the most aggressive pup and the one that is most shy. Both of these extremes tend to develop behavior problems when they get older.

Attract the puppies' attention and call them to you, backing away slowly. Good pups should be curious and interested in their surroundings, and readily come to people rather than running away. Start handling the pups one at a time. Test each by gently restraining it against you. Put your arms around it so that your arms or hands are over the top of its legs (this tells the pup that you are the leader). A good-natured pup may wriggle at first, but will quickly settle down in your arms. A pup that refuses to relax, that keeps struggling, trying to get its paws over the top of your arms, and even howling in frustration is trying very hard to dominate you. He will tend to challenge you for leadership and may be difficult to train.

If you have friends or family with you, gently (and carefully!) pass the puppies around from person to person. Do this while sitting on the floor so that you don't risk dropping the puppies from a great height. Good-natured pups will not mind being passed around. They will wriggle, but usually settle down fairly quickly.

With the pups on the floor, play with them with your fists closed, so they won't be tempted to chew on your fingers. Watch how they play. Watch how vigorously they play. If they want to chew on you or your clothing, try to interest them in other toys. Those pups that are really determined to chew on hands and clothing, and refuse to become interested in anything else could become a real nuisance at home. Pups that are highly active and fling themselves vigorously into whatever they do (compared to their littermates) could also be a handful at home. (Remember, these are not absolutes, they're merely guidelines and can vary in predictive value.)

Pay attention to the puppy or puppies that keep coming readily to you, and seem to "choose" you. Animals are often fairly clear about whom they like. If this is a pup that comes readily to you and allows you to gently restrain it, that plays happily without becoming ferocious, you will likely have a good-natured dog that will be a joy to own.

If you're getting an adult dog - Make sure you can handle the dog on a leash and that he is housebroken. Take him to a quiet place away from his kennel (if he's at a shelter). See if he settles down outside his kennel area or if he continues to be a bundle of high energy. Decide what energy level you can handle in a dog.

In a quite and safe place for the dog, handle him all over -- ears, mouth, feet, back, belly, tail, head. If he does not tolerate this or actually snaps at you, cross him off the list. Look at his attitude. He should have his ears in a natural position, his eyes should look relaxed and he should be avoiding direct eye contact with you. This means he accepts you as a leader and is comfortable with that.

Make some unusual noises and see how he responds. Repeat handling him all over. If he continues to accept this, he should remain a good-natured pet that will fit well with your family.

Remember, if you do your research carefully and avoid buying any animal on impulse, you and your new pet will likely be a great match!