Advises buying or adopting a dog

General information to avoid problems

The dog is the oldest domestic animal, about 15.000 years. The dog is the domestic animal who has been living nearly always very close with humans, and he is still doing so, sharing home, food, and sometimes even the bed with him. He is able to adapt himself to different habits, environments and situations and we call him our best friend.

Therefore it is so surprising to see that we really do not know that much about our favorite pet. There are still so many "legends" about how to educate or how to punish him, about canine communication, behaviour and needs.

All this lack of knowledge leads to a lot of misunderstandings and wrong dealing with dogs.

Possible reasons for future problems

"Breeders"

It is also frightening to see how many unscrupulous "breeders" decide to make money "producing" dogs. They do not care about the animals, they are only interested in money. Therefore I beg you to be careful with so-called breeders, who

• breed or sell more than one breed
• over the bitch every time she is in season (age of the mother/quantity of the litters alphabetically, e.g. the D-litter ist he 4th litter, all puppy names begin with an D)
• separate the puppies younger than 8 weeks from the mother
• breed with any bitch or male; select the parents only for their physical appearance, but not for their health (hereditary diseases, e.g. canine hip displasia) or they do not take in consideration the parents characters. Behaviour and temperament are also passed on the puppies. That is, fear and aggressive behaviour have (amongst others) an genetic origen.
• has puppies of different ages
• will neither let you see the location where the bitch lives with the puppies, nor shows you the puppies together with their mother.

Generally be careful with shops where they sell dogs and cats. A lot of them buy the animals from dubious dealers, who themselves get the puppies with falsificated documents from "reproduction-fabrics" in Eastern Europe. Besides, no responsible breeder would sell his puppies to a dealer or to a shop! In "Puppies Mill" you can read more about the cruelty of animal reproduction. Buying a dog in these places, the probability to catch an animal who in the future will have health or behaviour problems is much bigger as if you would buy your dog from a responsible breeder. Please, consider, that there will be an offer as long as there is a demand.

Please, be careful, too, with private people who only want their bitch to pup once. Often these people do not know enough about the correct raising and care of puppies. They only want to earn a bit money additionally and they do not want to spend too much money for the raising, therefore, often they separate the puppies too early from their mother (less than 8 weeks).

Caution! Because on the long term, first of all, the new owner has to cope with the consequences: ill dog, fearful dog, aggressive dog etc. etc. etc. But unfortunately the last bill pays always the dog: He ends up in an animal shelter or is put down.

Problematic dog because of the owner

Nowadays, a reason for many dogs to become problematic and therefore unwanted is the totally boring life they live: a 15 minute walk on the leash around the block three times a day. And that's it. For the remaining 23 hours and 15 minutes, people expect the dog to sleep without bothering them. Especially during the day when the owners are working, the dog must stay alone for many boring hours. The development of undesirable behaviour is pre-programmed.

Another reason is that a lot of people humanize their dogs. A dog is a dog who thinks as a dog, reacts as a dog, communicates as a dog. Never as a human! Please, stop interpreting your dog's behaviour from the human point of view.

Utiliy dogs

How will a Husky feel, whose genetic destiny is to pull a sled during several hours a day when he has to spend the day sleeping? How will a shepherd dog feel who cannot herd sheep? Etc., etc., etc.

The pleasure to work is in our dogs' genes, because the majority of breeds has been breeded for determined tasks. But now they are expected to be satisfied doing nothing.

Is my lifestyle really compatible with the needs of the breed whose physical appearance I like so much?

Social animal

A dog is a social being (the same as a human). By his nature he needs the contact to his group. Voluntarily he would not live alone.

A dog suffers, when he stays alone during hours, closed up in a flat or in a garden, without contact to any other being. Staying alone means stress, frustration, boredom and that often leads to "problematical" behaviour.

Acquisition of a dog

Things you should consider before buying or adopting a dog!

You should answer the following questions with "yes":

• Am I prepared to live with a dog during the following 15 years? (Dogs are social animals, who need company. Having a dog to keep him on a chain or to put him in a cage during his whole life is cruel. If I am humane, I will not do this!)
• Am I prepared to pay (probably) a lot of money for the dog's health, bringing him regularly to the vet?
• Am I prepared to spend a lot of time with the animal to satisfy his basic needs: daily walks, activities for nose and brain?
• Am I prepared to spend time and perhaps money to educate my pet?
• Am I prepared to pay for a suitable dog-hotel when I go on holidays?
• If I buy a puppy: Am I prepared to accept that the puppy will need several months to become housetrained and that, chewing, he will destroy a lot of things when he is left alone?

Some considerations before the acquisition

• Where do I live? In an apartment, a house, with garden, in the city, in the country and so on, and therefore
• which kind of dog would suit to my lifestyle - seize of the adult dog, temperament of the breed, needs of the breed (what was the breed's original purpose of use)?
• How old I am and how strong I am? Will I be able to handle, to controle physically the adult dog (what will be his weight then?)?
• Am I perhaps too old for a puppy? The dog can live longer than me.
• Why do I want a dog?

General advices

• Never buy a dog because you saw him in a shop window and you found him so cute at the moment. The decision to have a dog should never be spontaneous. It should be very considered.
• Never buy a dog because your children want one. The one who will have to look after the pet is you. Besides, a dog will not accept a child with less than 15/16 years as leader. All responsibility, the education will be your obligation. Besides there are some laws about walking a dog in a lot of spanish provinces (in Germany, too). They say that only adult persons are allowed to walk a dog. If your child walks him you risk a fine and, in case of an accident, your insurence will not pay.
• Before buying a dog, please have a look at animal shelters. They are full of animals of each ages, seizes, breeds and mongrels.