Some advices to buy or adopt a dog

General information to avoid problems with the dog The dog is the oldest among pets, about 15.000 years. The dog is the pet who has been living for the longest time with humans and keeps on living with them, sharing home, food and sometimes even bed with them. He is able to adapt to different habits, environments and situations and we call him our best friend. For this reason, it’s surprising to see that we really don’t know that much about him. 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 abuses. "Breeders" It is also scary to see how many unscrupulous “breeders” decide to make money “producing” dogs. They do not care about animals, they are only interested in money. For this reason, please be careful with the so-called breeders, who

	breed more than one breed
	mate the female dog every time she is in season
	separate the puppies from their mum before they are 8 weeks old
	breed with every female and male dog, choosing the animals for their body and appearance and not for their health (for instance, dysplasia problems) and even less for their nature: The behaviour and the nature (fear, aggressiveness) can also be inherited
	have puppies of different ages
	don’t let you see where they breed, where mothers and puppies live, nor the mother

In general: Be careful with shops, which sell dogs and cats! For the same reason, be careful with single persons who believe that their female dog has to pup at least one time. None of them knows enough about dogs, nor is interested in how to socialize the puppies in the right way. They are interested in the business. This is why they want to get rid of the puppies as soon as possible. Take care because in the long term, first of all the new owner has to suffer the consequences: sick, fearful, aggressive dog and so on. In the end, the animal will have to pay the consequences by ending up in a dog pound or being put to sleep. Problematic dog because of the owner Another reason that many dogs become problematic nowadays and are therefore unwanted is the boring life they are living: a 15 minute walk with a leash around the block three times a day. And that is all. 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 hours. Breeds chosen to work How will a Husky feel? A Husky, whose genetic destiny is to run and tow a sled during 8 hours or more? How will a sheepdog feel? A sheepdog who cannot accompany the sheep all day long from a meadow to another? The will to work is in their genes. Social animal A dog is a social animal. He needs contact to his group by nature. He would never be alone. Eight hours alone, confined into an apartment or a garden, without contacts, makes the animal suffer. Consequently, the animal will often behave in a "strange" way. Many people "humanize" the dog and this is another reason for the problems. A dog is a dog, who can only think, act and communicate as a dog. He will never do it as a person. Please stop interpreting dog behaviour from a human point of view! Buying a dog Questions you should answer before buying or adopting a dog! You should answer “yes” to the following questions:

	Am I prepared to live with a dog during the following 15 years? (Dogs are social animals, who need company. Having a dog to tie him to a chain or put him in a cage his whole life is cruel. If I am humane, I will not do it!)
	Am I prepared to (probably) pay a lot of money for the dog’s health, bringing him to the vet?
	Am I prepared to spend a lot of time with the animal to satisfy his basic needs - long daily walks, not only a short walk around the block?
	Am I prepared to spend time and perhaps pay money to educate the animal?
	Am I prepared to look and pay for a suitable kennel for the dog when I go on holidays?
	If I buy a puppy, am I prepared to accept that the animal will need a few months to control his sphincter and that he will chew and destroy lot of things if he is left alone?

Some considerations before the purchase:

	Where do I live? Apartment, house, garden, city, country and so on. Therefore,
	which kind of dog is suitable for me: dimension of the adult dog , character of the animal, breed’s features and needs (which was the original use of this breed)?
	How old am I? How strong am I and therefore will I be able to control the adult animal? How much will he weigh then?
	Am I to old for a puppy? The animal 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 cute in the moment. The decision to have a dog should never be spontaneous. It should be very considered.
	Never buy a dog for the children. The one who will have to look after the dog is you. Besides, a dog will never accept a child as his boss, if the child is less than 15/16 years old. All responsibility and education will be your obligation.
	Before you buy a dog, please have a look at dog shelters. They are full of animals that are no longer loved, of every age, dimension, breed and mixes.