Question Before the Purchase – Part II
Posted by admin in Dog Supplies Tips, tags: buy dog, dog care, dog guide, dog suppliesQuestion Before the Purchase – Part II
The Big Question:
Anyone involved with dogs has a picture of the dog of one’s dreams. Often, however, the breed of this dog doesn’t fit the realities of one’s life-perhaps it is too large, too expensive, too difficult to keep. You simply have to accept your limitations. You should not experiment with a questionable choice. It is of course wonderful if your dream dog does fit in with your life. Happily, there is much to choose from: There are over 300 different breeds.
Purebred dogs result from breeding only members of a recognized breed of unmixed ancestry. Appearance and certain traits therefore remain constant from generation to generation.
The registration papers of a purebred dog are proof that the dog is in fact purebred.
The purity of the breed is maintained through strict supervision of breeding according to rules. The dogs themselves are not the least bit concerned with these rules, which is why the world is full of mongrels.
The breed character is the sum of a breed’s distinguishing qualities and traits.
But beyond the qualities of its breed, each dog has its own unique personality that matters more than anything else when you live with a dog. Personality is more important than physical beauty or the most impressive pedigree.
To sum up: Make a conscientious effort to find a breed that truly matches your desires and situation. In the section on the different breeds you will discover their various needs and qualities.
Dog and Cat?
Cats and dogs can get along, as I found from my own experience, as long as
– there is room for the animals to avoid each other if they wish;
– the dog belongs to a breed that is not aggressive and the cat is friendly.
The best way is to get a young kitten if you have a grown dog or to let a puppy and a kitten grow up together. It is harder to introduce a dog into a household that has previously included cats only.
Following its natural inclinations, a dog will regard other pets like hamsters guinea pigs, or rabbits as legitimate prey. You either have to keep the two types of animals strictly segregated, or do without one or the other. The fact that unlikely friendships do sometimes develop between vastly different animals is the proverbial exception to the rule. Since birds are usually kept in cages and are not the natural prey of most dogs, dogs and birds don’t usually bother each other.
A Second Dog
The prerequisite for getting a second dog is that there be enough space-preferably a yard and several rooms-for each dog to have a retreat when it wants peace and quiet. If the second dog is a puppy, the adjustment is usually smooth. If the newcomer is already fully grown, you have to proceed with more caution and, above all: Don’t try to force anything.
An ideal combination is a male and a spayed female.
Trickier are two bitches, because they often don’t get along.
Difficult: Two males, because sooner or later there will be fights to establish dominance. Once the rank order has been established, coexistence presents no further complications. It is important, however, that the dogs be treated with absolute evenhandedness.
What cannot be foreseen is whether both dogs will fit into the family harmoniously or whether they will form a pack of their own within the human family.
An Eight-legged Friendship
This is a personal story. When our basset hound Henry was eight years old we got a second basset, five-month-old David. At first things looked anything but rosy. For six months Henry treated David as though he didn’t exist. Invitations to play were met at best with ill-humored growls. We were on the point of accepting our failure; we would have to live with two dogs that refused to speak to each other.
Luckily our house and yard are large enough that everyone could have managed. Then one day, I don’t know why or how, the two were running circles together in the yard. The young dog was trying to catch the old one, and the old one let himself be chased. From that moment on the two were the best of friends, and our sedate Henry acted years younger and livelier under the influence of his new playmate. When David was three years old, he tried several times to challenge Henry’s rank and to become boss himself. We didn’t have the heart to let them fight it out, and so rank based on age continued. We were disappointed only in one respect: When the two were left alone, they refused to be consoled by each other’s company; instead they bemoaned their misery together, setting up a communal, very loud chorus of howls.
Dog and Baby – Can It Work?
If the dog is already part of the family when the baby arrives, it will accept the new member as part of the pack. Not only that; it will regard the baby as a new puppy that has to be put up with and protected. Unhappy experiences are very rare (they occur only with highly neurotic dogs), and stories recounting them are usually distorted. If you don’t neglect the dog on account of the baby and don’t give it any reason to become jealous, everyone will get along. If the dog bites a stranger who is picking up the baby, it is acting out of its instinct to protect the young of the pack.
Growing up together is a wonderful experience for both the child and the dog: Both profit and learn from each other.
When a baby is on the way, you should have your dog examined by the veterinarian and tell your own doctor that you have a dog. You should also be especially careful about hygiene. Once the baby is born, the dog is not a source of infection for the child. Recent medical findings have established that when humans and animals live together, their bacterial flora become similar. What this means is that children develop an immunity to many pathogens. All the same, make sure that small children and dogs
– don’t eat out of the same dishes;
– don’t lick each other;
– don’t sleep in the same bed.
If you teach a dog ahead of time not to enter the room that will be the baby’s, it will keep out of it later on.
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