HOW TO PICK THE RIGHT BREED OF DOG FOR YOU

Many people come to us yelling “MY DOG NEEDS HELP!!!” because they did not research the breed of dog that would be best for them and their families. Here are 5 major points to follow when choosing your next dog.(If you already own a dog and are in love with that certain dog, more tips on how to retrain that dog will follow)

1. Ask yourself: “Why do I or we want or need a dog right now?”

• A companion for another dog?

• A guardian?

• An exercise partner?

• A pet for the kids?

• A best friend?

Once you have picked one of the above, we can start to focus on the breed of dog.

2. You need to research the breed of dog as well as the dog breeder or dog importer. If you choose dog adoption, try and research the dog you like beforehand. Place a hold on the dog until your research is done. We will do free research on any pure breed dog and email our report to you within 3-4 days. Or, if you are in the Harrisburg, York, or Lancaster, PA area we will be happy to examine the litter with you for a fee.

3. After you have completed steps 1 & 2, we now need to ask ourselves, “Can I provide adequate time and exercise and of course, training for my new pet?”

• What are the exercise requirements for the breed I have chosen? If you don’t exercise and active dog, the dog will bounce off the walls and drive you to yell, “MY DOG NEEDS HELP!”

• Is the breed you’ve chosen going to be able to exercise with you? Example: You are a runner and you have chosen a Chihuahua. This is not going to work very well.

• Not all breeds can be trained the same way. Your dog trainer must know the dog breed you have chosen. Why you chose that breed and what you expect from your dog training experience.

You have now considered why you want a new dog, the breed of dog you are considering and have thought through the time commitment for your new dog. We can now go to the next step:

4. Researching a breeder that deals with the dog you are interested in and also finding out when they will have pets ready for sale or adoption.

Next comes the final exciting step of this process!

5. Going to look at the dog or the litter to find that one special friend or maybe more. Not all puppies in a litter are the same. Here are some things to help you in your decision:

• All will have different activity levels, aggression levels, mobility levels and temperament levels.

• Spend time with the parents and observe them

• Talk to the owners about the puppies and how they interact amongst each other.

• Separate the one you think is the right one and see how the puppy or dog interacts without the rest of his pack.

Now this is the moment you have waited for. You have followed the steps and now you can choose with confidence the pet you first set out to find!