Ask yourself
How much research are you prepared to do?
Are you willing to wait? Looking for the right puppy takes time.
Are you the researching kind of person? Many long hours online, the phone and talking to people is required.
Not every dog is the dog for you, are you willing to pass on really cute puppies because they aren’t a good match for your family?
Many mistakes can be avoided by time spent on research, are you going to do your research? Many people skip this part of the dog search, so it goes bad right from the start.
Not only do you need to research to decide if you want a purebred or mix; you also need to research breeders, rescue groups and weed out the bad.
Are you willing to put in the hours needed to find the right dog for you?
How about food and products?
If you’ve never had a dog before, you will need to do a whopping load of research just on food, toys and other products. Will you have enough interest to do this research?
You need to research enough to make an educated choice on all things that will be fed, used or given to your dog.
Everyone will offer their opinion on everything concerning your dog. If you haven’t researched enough then it can be very overwhelming.
Dogs are not furry humans.
It is really mind boggling how humans just go out, get a dog and have no idea about how to raise a canine. Imagine if someone handed you a koala bear and said “good luck.” You’d be off running to your computer to google Koala Bears. But we bring home another species, into our homes and call it good.
The most essential thing I can recommend that anyone do is read. Read, read, read and read some more. How can you even start to decide what food to feed, leash or toys to buy, or how to train?
What about vaccines, flea/tick products, shampoo, supplements and other products that you may or may not be okay with. You won’t know unless you do some research.
Training
Did you know that there a lot of different ways to train a dog. Some are harsh while others revolve around the way that dogs learn. Do you know the difference? Of course you don’t, you’ve never had a dog. But, if you’ve researched, you will have learned about training methods and you will have an educated opinion on the subject. When if comes to your dog, you should know.
Will you research online, buy books, take courses? Training starts the moment you bring your new dog or puppy home. Does this all sound overwhelming or are you up for the challenge?