Get the right dog!

THERE are many ways of getting a dog. A friend may send you one as a present. You can adopt a stray mongrel from a dog's home. You may be looking idly in a pet-shop window one day and before you know what you've done, you have asked the owner just to let you see that little black-and-white number over there. You pick it up and that's your finish.

Nearly every book I've read on the care and selection of dogs has warned its readers to beware of pet shops. I know there are many disreputable shops in cities but in behalf of the honest dealers (and there are some) I hesitate to condemn pet shops altogether. I think it's always much safer to get a dog from a reliable country kennel, but sometimes it's not always easy for the city buyer to get to one. Some of them, as I have said, are run by conscientious people, and I've seen a number of excellent dogs that came out of pet shops. The better dog shops generally smell of disinfectant and not of dog odours. They are clean, and the animals on the whole have a healthy, well-groomed look. The proprietors of good shops (who also have a healthy, well-groomed look about them) are usually frank with their customers. They’ll tell you where the dogs came from, what kennels, and if you're at all skeptical and you want to bother, it's easy enough to check up on them with a telephone call to the kennel. Furthermore, some of the better shops will refund your money if you are not satisfied with your dog .

A grown dog will already have become attached to someone before you in all probability, and you’ll find it hard, if not impossible, to win his affection. Dogs apparently have an uncanny memory and loyalty for their first loves. They may pretend to like you but secretly they are always comparing you unfavorably with their former master.

A puppy is by far the most satisfactory buy—one from three to six months old. At this age you can be assured that he's not housebroken, and I can guarantee that he’ll chew up everything in reach. Otherwise, puppies are delightful company. They are comical and affectionate and young enough to be adaptable. When you raise a dog from puppy-hood, you may have to nurse him through a few puppy ailments, but they are nothing compared to the satisfaction you will have in watching him develop day by day and the eventual reward of having in your dog a creation of your own.

Regarding whether you get a male or a female I do not think it matters in the least, except in price maybe; females are generally cheaper. Undoubtedly, you have heard that females are more affectionate than males; that males often run away but hug-the-hearth females, never. I have never seen any proof of these contentions. I do not think any dog, male or female, will run away from a kindly master who has raised it from puppy hood.

I must caution you about big dogs (and I do think they are better suited to the country), I must admit that I've seen dozens of perfectly healthy big dogs live to ripe and robust old ages in cities. In addition, as for sufficient exercise, how many country dogs take exercise all on their own? Most of them lie around on the doorstep or in front of the fireplace all day long. If their owner or some other human takes a walk, the dog will go along. Otherwise, he takes it easy. I would hazard a guess that overall city dogs get considerably more exercise than country dogs. Any of the smaller dogs are good city dogs. The small or toy dogs present no problems that cannot be coped with, but again I will have to leave the choice of breed up to you.

There is one thing every amateur dog buyer must beware of and that is well-intended advice from people who think they know everything about dogs. That includes me. Many people will warn you, for example, that certain breeds of dogs are nervous and high-strung; that certain breeds are vicious—Chows and German Shepherds (police dogs) are frequently libelled in this manner; that certain breeds are ideal with children; that certain breeds (usually the French poodle or the common mongrel) are smarter than all the rest put together, and so on and on.

As getting a suitable dog for your child there are three general rules that are pretty safe to follow in dealing with dogs and children:

1. Get the child first.

2. Wait until the child is old enough to know how to treat a puppy and also to hold his own with a puppy, for the gentlest dog in the world is liable to knock a small, unsteady child over just in playing with him.

3. Get a puppy and not a grown dog.