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Before
you buy a puppy, several factors must be taken into
consideration. The size of your living quarters and
the freedom that your dog will enjoy should be taken
into account in selecting a breed. If you are a home
owner and have a large back yard where your dog can
have unlimited exercise, then the matter of breed
presents no special problem. If you are confined to
a small, city apartment, then it would be advisable
to limit yourself to a breed of dog no larger than
a Cocker Spaniel or a Fox Terrier.
It is
always wiser to select a purebred dog than a mongrel,
because with a purebred you can have a specific idea
of how your pet will look upon maturity, while, with
a mongrel, you can never be sure. None the less, there
are some people who have a special preference for
mongrels and a disdain for the kind of snobbishness
that often is associated with owning a purebred dog.
If you are one of these persons, then it can only
be suggested that you make it your business to find
out all you can about the parenthood of the puppy
because the little bundle of fluff you acquire might
grow almost to the size of a small pony—much to your
dismay.
In
the event that you can find out nothing of the puppy's
heredity, look at the size of the paws. A puppy who
will grow to be a large dog will invariably have very
large paws, while those destined to be of small or
moderate size will have proportionately smaller ones.
If for any reason you are not sure, make it a point
to show the animal to a veterinarian and allow him
to solve your problem. The next point to consider
is whether to get a long-haired or a short-haired
dog. The prospective owner of a long-haired dog must
be prepared to spend the time and money needed for
properly grooming and maintaining the appearance of
such an animal.
The expense of clipping and bathing
will cost anywhere from £15.00 to £60.00
a year and more; further, the owner must not mind
the discipline, and sometimes the sweat, of giving
the dog a thorough daily combing and brushing. For
people of limited means and leisure, the short-haired
breeds are recommended because these require very
little time and trouble, and the expense of maintaining
their appearance can be kept to a minimum.
Of course
people still have their preferences. But with dogs,
as with anything else, the discriminating use of common
sense in what you buy will tend to lessen future hardships
and annoyances. The selection of a particular sex
usually presents no special problem. If a person is
determined to raise a family of dogs, the choice must
obviously fall on a female. But so far as personality
is concerned, there are no consistent differences
between male and female. It is commonly said that
males are somewhat more rambunctious than females
and that females tend to be more docile and obedient.
But the plain fact of the matter is that the behaviour
of the individual animal will be determined more by
the training that it receives than by any differences
in natural disposition due to sex.
It
is true, however, that the female will come into heat
a couple of times a year for periods of three weeks
each, and that these heat periods may prove rather
messy and troublesome to some owners. If the owner
is the least bit squeamish in this regard, then the
problem can be permanently eliminated by having the
animal spayed. But even the female in heat will not
be particularly annoying if the animal is obedience
trained, and properly restrained by a leash while
outside the confines of home.
The
male, on the other hand, will be on the prowl for
females if permitted to run loose. So obedience training
and leash restraint are just as necessary for the
male as for the female. The selection of a dog according
to sex, therefore, would not appear to be an especially
crucial problem. While there are no essential personality
differences between the sexes, there is no doubt that
some personality variations exist among the various
breeds. Though rather minor, they are significant
enough so that they should be inquired into in order
that the particular breed can meet individual needs.
This fact may be of special importance where there
are children in the household. The disposition of
an animal certainly must be compatible with the personality
of the child.
Some
breeds have a tendency to be peppy, alert, excitable,
or noisy, while others are generally quiet, lazy,
or phlegmatic. Some are more likely to become one-man
dogs, while others seem to want to encompass the whole
world in their sphere. True, training of the individual
animal has a lot to do with its final disposition,
but tendencies certainly do exist innately. There
are, however, enough breeds to satisfy almost any
requirement. Any veterinarian or kennel club agency
will be very happy to help you make your choice. Once
the breed has been definitely decided upon, it is
advisable to get in touch with a recognized kennel
club agency.
The
kennel club will usually be very helpful and will
go to great pains to put the prospective owner in
touch with reliable breeders who sell animals within
a suitable price range. It is especially important
that the breeder be highly recommended, for occasionally
breeders have been guilty of dishonest practices,
though these are the exception rather than the rule.
In the final analysis, however, there are reliable
and unreliable dealers in all fields, and the discretion
of the purchaser must ultimately decide the issue.
When
the animal is purchased, a ten-day trial should be
insisted upon, in order to have time to get veterinary
certification of good health, and to ascertain whether
the animal is of suitable disposition-that is, to
find out whether the animal gets along with your family.
The reliable breeder will agree unhesitatingly to
such a reasonable request. Less reliable breeders
will agree to a trial of only 24 to 48 hours. Since
latent diseases often do not arise for several days,
and since it usually takes more than a couple of days
to decide whether an animal's disposition is suitable,
the prospective owner is advised to proceed with extreme
caution when he has only a day or two to make his
final decision.
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