Happy Pets

Your temperament, physical fitness, height, weight and wage packet should all come into your considerations. Let’s take it from the bottom. The wage packet is important in the size of dog you can afford to feed. The days of feeding the family pet on scraps have long since gone. A large breed of dog, such as a German Shepherd (Alsatian) or Doberman, will eat about two pounds of food a day whereas smaller breeds, such as Yorkshire terrier and toy poodle, will only require four to six ounces. Then, there’s the strength of your body and mind to consider. I have seen a four-month-old Great Dane puppy drag his owner along the pavement. I have also seen a 6′ 2″ man with a voice like thunder endeavouring to persuade his Yorkshire terrier that he is not an ogre.

Are you able-bodied and fit enough to cope with the demands of dog ownership? It’s no good complaining, ‘The old leg hurts,’ when the dog’s desperate to go out for a walk.

Can you be completely honest with yourself about your temperament? If not, ask your nearest and dearest to assess it for you. I don’t wish to cause a rift in any marriages, but it won’t do the dog a lot of good if you lie to each other.

Are you short-tempered and ready to fly off the handle at the least opportunity? If so, what will you do when your new puppy has chewed the leg off your Chippendale? Are you placid and good-natured, finding it hard to reprimand the kids when they tear the place to shreds? Would you mind dog hairs in the lounge and muddy paw marks across your kitchen floor? Will you be prepared to give up some of your telly-watching to pay a little bit of attention to your dog?

In all honesty can you offer a dog a decent home? I don’t mean that you should have a palatial mansion with a three-acre spread; not at all. A dog needs human companionship more than he needs material assets. But you must be practical. If you live in a flat, fine, but do you have somewhere to exercise the dog? Can you really face carrying puppy up and down six flights of steps, ten times a day for him to be a ‘busy dog‘ on the grassy bit outside? Many blocks of flats do not even have a piece of ground available for your puppy to relieve himself. You must consider this. It would be very unfair to take on the responsibility of dog ownership, and then realise there is nowhere to exercise him. I feel very strongly that people who live in cities and flats should be entitled to dog ownership just like everyone else.

We are not all lucky enough to own a house with a garden, and I spent many years in flats in the middle of a city with a dog. But it does mean extra hard work. You must be sure there is somewhere your puppy can relieve himself regularly—not on the public pavement. I am very sorry that there are people who allow their dogs to foul the footpaths, because these people get all dog owners a bad name. With a little extra effort the city owner can be just as conscientious a dog owner as anyone else. Be sure there is somewhere nearby to exercise the dog off the lead—a park, woods, fields, but definitely not a children’s play area. Imagine a cold November night, pouring down with rain, and that your allotted dog exercise area is half an hour’s walk away. Will you really be prepared to drag yourself away from the television and the central heating to give your dog the exercise he needs and deserves?

Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)
Dog Test: Are you Fit to Own a Dog? / Are you ready to Have a Puppy around?

• Pet Ownership Testing: be responsible for Animals (Puppy), be honest with yourself
• Fast Downs and Send-Aways
• Car Training
• The Six-month Summary
• Lovely Pet and Perfect Owner, a Comfortable Match: Choosing the Right Puppy
• Car Training continue...
• Fast Downs and Send-Aways continue...
• A word about the Dog collar
• Pet Lover: Feeding Puppy
• Naughty Pet, not again? So Training them around the house

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 3rd, 2008 at 5:31 am and is filed under Dogs, Puppies. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.