Monday, May 4, 2009

Where to purchase your dog or puppy

Now that you have an idea of what breed of dog you are looking for you’ll need to look at a good place to buy one from. Buy a dog from a reputable breeder if you’re looking for a pure bred dog. Ask the breeder if the parents of the dog are available for you to meet. The parents can tell you a lot about the puppies and seeing the litter of puppies together can tell you a lot about the one puppy you are looking to buy. How does the puppy you have your eye on interact with its littermates? Does it seem to be the leader or bully of the pack, Or does it interact with all the puppies in a calm manner? Also ask the breeder at what age they will relinquish the pups for sale. Most people put their pups on the market at the age of eight weeks old, however the age of twelve or thirteen weeks would be preferable as those weeks help the puppy learn important socialization skills from his littermates.
You may also want to look into breed rescues. Breed rescues take a specific dog breed and foster it until they can find a permanent home for them. Be ready to go through a thorough screening process as the rescues want to insure the dogs they place won’t end up back in their facility. A breed rescue may be able to tell you where the dog came from and what if any special attention is needed for the dog. You can find breed rescues on the internet and in some dog magazines.
Avoid pet stores at all cost! Many puppies sold in pet stores come from puppy mills and you are going to pay just as much if not more than you would if you went to a breeder directly. Puppy mills are run by people whose main interest is making money, not to improve upon the breed. Their dogs are often kept in small, fecal ridden wire pens, have little to no human contact, rarely get proper vet care, and are inbred among the dog family members. Breeding between sister and brother or mother and son are not uncommon practices. Also many puppies from pet stores end up with severe health problems that show up throughout its life. A good breeder can usually show you records of the parent’s health and give you certain guarantees against health problems that the breed is prone to. The reason I stress this is because if you pick up a puppy or dog that ends up with severe health problems your therapy visits may have to come to a sudden halt. It is not fair to put an ill dog through the commands of sit, down, then stand and heel if you’ve found he’s been diagnosed with hip dysplasia.
If you choose to adopt from your local pound you are most certainly preventing an inevitable death but they cannot give you any health guarantees. However if you are purchasing a mixed breed from the pound most of their health problems are bred out of them, thereby making them somewhat more sound from health defects. Beware though, that many people who buy purebred dogs from pet stores may also turn them into the pound if they find they can not care for the dog. Ask the pound to give you as much background information as possible on any purebred dog they are adopting out.

picking the right dog for the family & therapy dog work


Picking the right dog or puppy can be the key to success in any relationship. Therapy dog work can become mentally and in some cases physically exhausting for a dog. If you are an active person chances are you will want a dog that can keep up with you. When you and your dog have spent the day hiking you want to make sure that the dog will be physically able to make a scheduled therapy visit in the evening. On the other hand if you are not active and get a dog that lives for something to do, he may be too wound up to take on a therapy visit. Read up on the breed of dog you are interested in and match that breed to your life style. For example, while a Border Collie is smart and very good at agility it can become very destructive to your home and yard if not given the proper exercise and job to do. This same energy could be let loose during a visit, by jumping, pawing, or barking. While all dogs need and look forward to daily exercise with their owner, there are some breeds that do not require quite as much exercise. Make sure to do your homework when it comes to picking out the right breed for your family life style. This is also true with a mix breed dog that you may purchase from your local pound. A mix breed dog may carry many dog breeds all in one package. Ask the pound if they know what breeds of dog were mixed together that made up the particular dog you are looking at. Keep in mind that most breeds of dogs were bred to do a specific job. The Border Collie for instance, was bred as a herding dog, where as the Terrier type dog was bred as a rat dog. You can expect many holes in your yard if you pick a Terrier. They’re not being spiteful, just doing the job they were bred for. If you purchase a breed which was meant to hunt, like a German Short Haired Pointer you can expect that he is always on the prowl looking for game. A retrieving dog, such as the Labrador or Golden Retriever, has a great temperament but has the instinct to retrieve. Can you tolerate a dog that will most likely carry around your shoes and socks all day? Most importantly, will the dog be able to curb his natural desires while he is on a therapy visit if he hasn’t gotten his needs filled at home? This is why I stress that it is important to research the type of dog you want and to match it with your activity level and family lifestyle. There are plenty of books and web sites on different breeds, or you could go to a dog show and speak with an owner or handler who works with the breed you are interested in. Remember to keep in mind the grooming aspect of the breed you chose as well. Long haired dogs may require daily brushing and may need to be bathed once a month to keep shedding and tangled hair at a minimum. My therapy dogs are Newfoundlands and while their personalities are that of a gentle giant, the grooming required to keep them clean for a therapy visit is very time consuming even with daily brushing. They seem to have an attraction to mud and the rainy season exacerbates that delight even more! They also continuously drool, so on my therapy visits I must carry along kitchen towels to wipe their mouths. A shorter haired dog can easily be wiped down with baby wipes, non alcohol of course, to give it that fresh and clean look.