Choosing A Puppy Or Dog

Choosing a puppy or dog is something that requires careful thought if you are to get the breed of dog suited to your circumstances. There is an extraordinary variety of different breeds and they have very different requirements. You will want to choose a breed that fits in with your lifestyle, the amount of room you have and the amount of energy you want to expend. If you want a comprehensive guide to choosing a puppy or dog and all other aspects of caring for and training a puppy or dog, check out the Secrets To Dog Training guide.

You should never be tempted to choose a puppy or dog just by its looks. You should look into the history and characteristics of the particular breed. Here are some of the characteristics you need to think about:

• Available Space: the larger dog obviously needs more room
• Cost: the larger dog will eat more food and, therefore, cost more to keep
• Grooming: smooth coated dogs obviously don't need as much grooming as longer coated ones which will require daily grooming and will shed more hair around the house. With some breeds like poodles you may need professional grooming which will be an additional cost to consider
• Energy Level: some breeds need more exercise than others
• Temperament: some breeds tend to make better family pets, especially when there are young children to consider. For example, the Golden Retriever makes an ideal family pet - it is gentle and affectionate.
• Country versus town - not all breeds adapt well to living in the town.

Temperament

Suitable dogs for families that may have young children include cocker spaniels, golden retrievers, pointers and labrador retrievers. If you have older children, you may also consider Airedales, Beagles, German Shepherd Dogs, Staffordshire Bull Terriers, and small terriers such as the West Highland White Terrier and Jack Russell Terrier.

If you lead an active lifestyle, like long walks and want a more high-energy active dog, then you can look at Border Collies, Boxers, Jack Russell Terriers and Springer Spaniels.

If you don't want a very active dog that needs a lot of exercise and is also mild-natured, you could consider the Bichon Frise, Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, Miniature Poodle, Pomeranian, Pekinese, Pug or Yorkshire Terrier.

Breeder or Animal Shelter

Dogs from an animal shelter may have behavioral problems because of how they have been treated. They may have health problems. There may be difficulty in getting them to adjust to your home.

If you want to get a puppy from a breeder, you can get details of breeders from the professional dog clubs such as the American Kennel Club in USA or The Kennel Club in UK.

Puppies should be over eight weeks old before you go to see them to choose one. Ask to see their mother so that you can observe her temperament.

You should examine a puppy for health problems:

• discharge from eyes
• discharge from mouth
• discharge from vulva.

In any case, don't choose the runt of the litter.

Observe the puppies and choose one that is confident and extrovert. If he approaches you with curiosity, that is a good sign.

It's much better to take time in choosing a puppy or dog, to investigate thoroughly, than to run into problems later and regret your decision.

Do you have all the information you need to select your puppy or dog? If your answer to the above question is no, then I strongly recommend that you check out the Secrets To Dog Training Guide. It's very in depth and great value for money. There's the downloadable manual, and audio version of the same and some great bonuses like a 30 minute video. The whole package covers everything you need to know about selecting a puppy or dog, caring for your dog, training your dog, dealing with any behavioral problems such as hyperactivity, barking and biting and much more. Click here to check out the Secrets To Dog Training website .