Selecting the best addition to your family (Part 1)

 
Brown Dog Foundation volunteer and blogger, Pamela, has made the commitment to help out with writing blog posts for us! How awesome is that? Here's an excellent series to help you select the "right" pet for your family.

So you have decided to welcome a new member of the family into your home in the form of a four legged family member. It’s exciting and can bring a world full of new experiences and possibilities. Animals have the uncanny ability to spark laughter, joy and days filled with endless smiles.

But, not so fast!

Before bringing an animal into your home, it’s important that you do your research when it comes to lifestyle and compatibility. Just like people, animals have their own unique personalities and lifestyle needs. The quality of life of the animal you adopt will depend on you once you decide to bring him or her into your life.

Unfortunately, we live in a nation where too many people think of animals as being disposable creatures that they can get rid of for any reason if having the animal becomes inconvenient to them. Be a responsible and ethical pet owner by doing your research and taking the time to examine whether you can provide what the animal needs in order to give him a high quality of life. You owe it to yourself and the animal.

7 Things to Consider
#1: How active are you? Do you get up every morning and take a jog or walk to start your day? Or, do you come home from work in the afternoon and immediately relax on the couch to catch up on television for a few hours? Regardless of your activity level, there is a dog breed for you! But, it is important to realize that dogs of all sizes and breeds will need some amount of exercise during the day... even if it’s not a five mile run.

You will have to make compromises in your life, especially when it comes to adopting a dog. Large breed, working and sporting dogs typically need more exercise than smaller and toy breed dogs. It would be irresponsible to adopt, for example, a Golden Retriever, and never take him on long walks or play with him and encourage him to run.

Next up... considerations #2, #3 and #4.