Buying a Puppy For Christmas

You have decided you are going to be buying a puppy for Christmas. Bringing a puppy into your family can be a great idea. They can bring love and joy into the household. They make wonderful companions for you and your family and buying a puppy is easy as they can be found in pet stores, shelters, and a multitude of breeders. But wait, there are some things you should know about before making that purchase.

You should first ask yourself if you are ready for the commitment required when owning a dog. They must be cared for at all times. You can no longer just pick and go somewhere for the weekend without making arrangements for your pet. They must be cared for with regular visits to the vet and they must be trained which will take time and effort.

Ok, so you have decided that you can handle the above then your next decision, which you may have already made, is what breed to get. Different breeds have different characteristics and you should be aware of them before buying a puppy. For example, the Labrador is one of the most popular breeds today. I am not going to go into all the good things about Labs that is not my point. Labs are very intelligent and very active. Labs require three hours or more of exercise per day. Because they are intelligent if they are not trained properly and lack exercise they will find a multitude of ways to get in trouble. My point is know the good and the bad of the breed you wish to purchase.

Now you have decided on the breed where are you going to purchase your puppy? I recommend a dog breeder but not all breeders are the same. Do a little research before purchasing and when you go there to make the purchase look around at how they keep their dogs. If it looks first rate it probably is. I do not recommend pet stores for two reasons. Some of them are just puppy mills and you do not know how the puppies have been treated. Also, a puppy needs to be with it's mother and siblings at least eight weeks. This is where they learn some basic social skills such as not biting too hard.

Another place to look is the animal shelter. If you have owned dogs before and know how to train them this is an excellent choice. If you are a first time dog owner or lack training skills I would not get my dog there as they may have social problems you can not see.

For more training tips visit Dog Training Tips Also there are some very good dog training courses on the internet. You should get one. They will guide you through the training of your new or old dog and help you with any behavioral problems you might encounter.

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