If you are looking to adopt a family dog, but are still unsure whether you should get a pup or an adult pooch, by all means do read on.
Pups Are High-Maintenance But Totally Worth It
Much like human babies, puppies need constant attention, they need to be kept occupied and require a lot of training to help them grow up properly and turn into stable and well-behaved adult doggos.
Should you decide to adopt a young pup, you will need to have at least 2 or 3 hours of free time EACH DAY and use this time to train and socialize your new canine youngster.
Socializing within the first 16 weeks of his/her life can be crucial for normal social development of your future adult dog.
(RELATED: Can I Have A Dog If I’m Allergic To Canines?)
As we wrote in one of our previous articles: “Typically the optimal socialization period starts at 3 weeks of age and ends at 12 weeks of age. This is usually the problem for dog owners who adopt a puppy that is for example 10 weeks old, as they have mere days to expose their furry friend to other animals, people, places, noises and activities that affect canine socialization. If you miss this time frame, it can be rather tricky.”
However, the polishing and maintenance of social skills and training should be continued intensively through the first 12 months of a young dog’s life.
Adopting a young pup can be a lot of work, but we promise the journey will be worth it!
Getting An Adult Dog
If you live alone and don’t have much free time on your hands, you might want to consider adopting an experienced adult dog that is already trained and is gets along well with other dogs.
(RELATED: How To Entertain Your Dog When You’re Not At Home)
Visit your local shelter and you will see that there are numerous cute, well-trained and socialized canines in dog shelters that have, for one reason or another, ended up there and now desperately need home and a loving owner.
“If you ask the operator for a dog good with children, most will have been temperament tested and you can ensure a good match for your family and lifestyle,” say folks over at Love That Pet.
“Shelters are full of pure-breeds if you have your heart set on a certain breed and there are specialist rescue organizations for many breeds. You may also want to consider fostering a dog to ensure dog ownership is all you imagined and that those promises the kids make to help with the dog are kept beyond the first honeymoon period of a week!”
(ALSO READ: 7 Surprising Dog Breeds That Are Dangerous To Kids)