"Dog Obedience, Dog Training
and Dog Health Tips"
dogs: Page 2 of 13
Pros and Cons when Choosing a Specific Breed of Dog
by: Jon Dunkerley
Ok so you have made the big decision to purchase a dog. Whether the
decision was yours alone, or that of your kid's, you being the voice of
reason must determine the appropriate breed of dog that will be part of
your family for the years to follow. Think of it as a trip to the grocery
store. You have your absolute necessities, your health food, and your junk
food.
Necessities
So you are at your wits end! Your kids are driving you crazy, "we wanna
dog, we wanna dog, we wanna dog!" You dream of puppies in your sleep, your
kids demand animal crackers in their school lunches; they draw pictures
of puppies and stick them to the refrigerator door. Just last night, you
thought you heard your wife bark in her sleep You decide that living in
this state of craziness is no longer acceptable! Your options are; get the
hell out, invite your family to lobotomy class, or submit.
Junk Food
So you walk into the grocery store and immediately see this huge box
of chocolate chip cookies. You know in your heart that you shouldn't buy
the damn box, but no matter how hard you try, your mind will not waver from
imagining big fat chunks of chocolate mixed with icing sugar as it dribbles
down your chin and stains your nice new shirt!
We can and will use this same analogy when discussing the new addition
to the family:
Every year, thousands of dogs are purchased, adopted, or taken in by
individuals acting on pure impulse. These people just want a dog, its cool
to have a dog, oh wait till the girls see me now, nobody's gonna mess with
me now.
These people have no time to think about the implications to owning
a pet nevermind which specific breed would best suit their living situation.
They do not fathom the living cycle:
Mrs. Johnson walks into a pet store with her 5-year-old daughter. By
the way, Mrs. Johnson is a single mother living in a 2 bedroom dump up town,
and holds two jobs just to make ends meat. Upon entering the store, Jenny,
Mrs. Johnson's daughter sees a little Husky pup and remarks emphatically
that she wants this dog! Wanting to please her daughter, Mrs. Johnson works
out a payment plan with the store, and the mother and child exit the store
with the pup. Do you remember the big chocolate chips with icing sugar.
So the pup is now at home and growing rapidly! The child is in school
all day, the mother is at one of her two jobs leaving the pup alone. All
of us know what happens when young pups are left unavaded to their own device?
Now the icing sugar is really beginning to drip.
Three months have passed and the mother is at her wits end! The daughter
is no longer interested in the pup, the mother would rather mop the floor
with it than take care of it leading to the pup being dumped at the nearest
animal shelter! Stain.
The lesson here is simple. When planning on adding a dog to the family,
research the different breeds that exist, to try to best suit the breed
characteristics of the dog to your own living arrangements.
Health Food
The health food isle of one's grocery store should be frequented quite
often throughout one's weekly visit to the supermarket. Being knowledgeable
on what you put into your body can make a world of difference in ones productivity,
emotional state, and overall well being.
When selecting a breed of dog to add to the family, refrain from giving
in and choosing the cutest pup you can find, do your research, and be fair
to the dog! Let's practice empathy for a minute:
You have just graduated from College and are looking for work. While
you are looking for employment, you rent this 375 Sq. bachelor pad above
Maria's Pizzeria. The place is a dive and you know it! You are afraid to
tell your parents where you are living, you refuse to invite your friends
over, half of your stuff is in storage due to lack of space! Now imagine
yourself as a rapidly growing Husky pup. You want to see the world, wanna
run, be free, chase rabbits, chase a ball, dig in snow. Instead you are
confined to a small living space, ly in a corner, overheat in the heated
apartment, are subject to abuse from your owners when it is their falt for
not watching you when you mess up, unable to fulfill your own instincts!
I hope by this stage of the game, you are grasping the point that I
am trying to make. There are thousands of dogs on the streets today due
to lack of research, commitment, love, and basic understanding. These dogs
did not ask for the life that they have, it was placed on them by stupid
humans who think of nothing else but how to improve their own self image.
The situation is however improving. Now, good breeders will not just
sell pups to anyone. They require a wealth of information relating to living
conditions before parting with a puppy. I can only hope that more people
will follow suit and start paying attention to where their dogs go, and
who they go with.
About The Author
Jon Dunkerley is an active member and moderator of web-rover.com.
Copyright 2005 by Jay Jennings. All rights reserved.
|