Whether or not it is the right time for you to add a puppy to your family is a question that no one can answer as honestly as yourself.
One of the top reasons families give up a dog is due to the addition of a child to the family. If you are currently growing a family, please think long and hard before adding a puppy to the list of responsibilities.
Puppies are a lot of work and require a tremendous time involvement. To mature into a healthy, stable family companion, a puppy needs a high level of socialization, a steady training routine, and constant supervision.
If you are thinking of starting a family in the future, it must be a priority to fully train your puppy before starting a family. It is unrealistic for most pregnant women to train a puppy during their pregnancy. It is unrealistic for the husband to believe they are going to do all of the training while the wife is pregnant because all members of the household are going to be involved in the training process.
Training is a process that must start when the puppy is very young. Puppies that miss early guidance are always behind in their development and do not mature to be the most stable adults. Waiting to train or socialize until after the puppy is an adult is detremental and simply unfair to the puppy.
Before adding a puppy to your home, consider the answers to the following questions.
Are you stable in your location? Are you prepared to move with your dog if you move during the dog's lifetime?
Renting a home is not always easy when you own a large dog (or certain breeds of dogs). If you own a dog and you are forced to move, it is your responsibility to find a new home that enables you to keep your dog.
Are you prepared to dedicate large amounts of time to training and socializing a puppy?
The first several months are a crutial time period for a puppy. Time lost at the beginning of a puppy's life is a crutial developmental stage lost, and it cannot be regained. While training can happen at any age, socialization and mental development cannot. ALL DOGS MUST BE TRAINED AND IT IS THE OWNERS RESPONSIBILITY TO MAKE SURE THE FAMILY PET IS TRAINED. Liberty Run can start you out with a wonderful puppy, but it is your responsibility to develop that puppy into its full potential.
Are you financially prepared to handle the veterinary demands of owning a dog, knowing that emergency care is not only realistic, but also potentially expensive?
It is easy to predict the normal yearly costs of owning a dog, vaccinations and yearly examinations, heartworm prevention, flea and tick prevention, food, toys, training classes and training equipment, but it is impossible to predict the potential emergencies that may arrise. Dogs may develop ongoing medical needs, or suffer from emergencies such as bloat, break a leg, get hit by a car, etc. Accidents happen, emergencies occur and as a dog owner, you must be prepared for the unexpected.
Are all members of the family ready for a puppy?
Family units must act as a unit with the best interests of the entire family in mind. If one member of the family is not ready, the family is not ready to add a puppy to the home.
Is every member of the family participating in the decision making process?
It may be appropriate to surprise young children, but it certainly is not appropriate to surprise an adult with a new puppy. Every adult in the home must have full knowledge of a puppy being added to the family. The responsibility for training and socializing the puppy falls on every adult in the home and one member of the family does not have the right to thrust that responsibility on an unsuspecting family member. At Liberty Run, we require communication with every adult in the household and will not place "surprise" puppies.
Do you have a fenced yard?
Having a fenced in yard is not an absolute requirement for getting a Liberty Run puppy as we recognize there are some city developments that disallow fencing. However, there are strong advangages to having a fenced yard. Dogs have to eliminate, and that means they must eliminate several times a day, and in all kinds of inclement weather. Without a fenced yard, you must be dedicated to physically taking the dog out to eliminate, no matter what the weather is doing outside. At 2 in the morning, it is certainly simpler to open the door to the fenced backyard than to find your snow boots and parka and accompany the dog outdoors on a leash.
Have you researched and actually met the breed you are adding to your home?
This may seem like a silly question, but it is one you must consider. The number of people inquiring about a breed they have never met and know nothing about is incredible. You do an extreme injustice to a dog if you bring it into your home and then decide it is too big, too active, too hairy, sheds too much, or is the wrong color. These are real reasons people give up dogs, yet are all characteristics that can easily be determined about a breed long before you make the decision to add it to your family. Before adding a dog to your home, you need to learn about the breed.
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