The Four Best Ways to Find the Best Dog for You
From smart to scary, there are many ways to add a new furry family member. I’ve worked with puppies and dogs acquired in most every way, and those experiences have led me to the following recommendations.
Fourth best way:
Acquiring a puppy from a responsible and caring breeder
To begin, are you really certain you want to puppy? Puppies, although adorable, are not easy nor inexpensive! Do you have the time, resources, and patience to deal with house training and being sleep deprived because of it, cleaning up accidents, things being chewed including your hands and ankles, frequent vet visits for puppy vaccinations and more, ensuring your puppy is adequately socialized, and so much more.
If you’re up to the challenge of a puppy and committed to providing a forever home for 15 or more years, finding the right breeder is critical.
A responsible and caring breeder is NOT someone who sells their puppies in pet stores or via the internet - or sells them to anyone other than a loving home. Nor is a responsible and caring breeder someone who meets you in a parking lot . . .or really any public place.
A responsible and caring breeder IS someone who:
Asks you questions to ensure you’re a good match for the puppy.
Demonstrates experience and knowledge of the breed, and can answer all your questions.
Allows you to meet the puppy’s mother and siblings.
Provides appropriate medical care and can supply your puppy’s vet records.
Informs you of any issues in the puppy’s lineage and has done appropriate genetic testing.
Implements a puppy socialization program, ideally starting at 2 weeks old.
Insists the puppy is at least 8 weeks old before leaving its mother.
Wants your puppy back if there’s an issue, ever.
Third best way:
Adopting from someone you know or from your veterinarian
Sometimes, folks just can’t keep their dog for valid reasons. And sometimes, vets and their staff will assist a client in rehoming their dog.
In either case, you are adopting from a trusted source, and the owner or vet can inform you of any medical or behavioral issues. If there’s any issue, really consider whether it’s something you can handle. An issue for one person may be a non-issue for another. For example, the dog may be having issue with a child, another dog in the home, or a cat, and you have none of these.
Second best way:
Adopting from a shelter or rescue
Adopting from a shelter or rescue has many of the same advantages as from a private party and often more.
A reputable shelter or rescue examines a dog medically and should resolve most or all issues prior to adoption in addition to spaying/neutering the dog and ensuring vaccinations are up to date.
A reputable organization also evaluates the dog’s behavior and works with any issues. The staff and volunteers spend time with their dogs and can observe how they behave around people and other dogs.
Some shelters send some of their dogs to foster homes, and almost all rescues send all of their dogs to foster; this is a great advantage. The foster families help the dog get acclimated to a home environment and can work on any issues.
Shelters and rescues often offer some support services for adopters, such as a behavioral helpline or a free exam with partnering vets. They will also have your back if the adoption doesn’t work out.
Lastly, there’s the joy of knowing you’re saving a life by giving a home to a dog who really needs one and by opening space for the shelter or rescue to take in another dog.
The best way:
Fostering for a shelter or rescue
Fostering for a shelter or rescue has most of the same advantages as adopting from these organizations. However, with fostering, you enter the arrangement assuming it will be temporary.
The shelter or rescue covers expenses, providing food and medical care while the dog is staying with you. You are taking a dog away from an often stressful shelter environment and acclimating the dog to a home. You are enabling the shelter or rescue to save another life. At the same time, you are trying out your visiting pooch. You may well decide that this isn’t your perfect match or perhaps that a dog isn’t for you after all. However, you may live with a dog for several weeks and decide this is the one!
Most people wouldn’t decide to marry someone after one date, and yet people think nothing of acquiring a puppy or adopting a dog after one meeting. With fostering, you are providing an invaluable service to an animal organization and at the same time evaluating whether your foster dog is the right one for you. Folks who adopt their foster dogs are called “foster failures”, and it’s a term used with gratitude and affection by animal welfare personnel. And yes, I’ve been a foster failure . . .more than once.