We've all been there before now—either held captive by a fluffy, tail wagger of a pup just begging to come home with us, or spending just a few minutes with a fully-grown dog anxious for a home and ready and willing to please. Since getting a dog is a commitment that can last fifteen years or more, it is as important to find the correct dog to meet your needs as it is to judge your ability to meet the strict requirements of the dog.

Take time to consider whether you are ready for responsibility of dog ownership, and in particular, whether a puppy, adolescent, or adult dog is the correct fit for you. The following points below should help you decide if you are ready to add a four-legged friend to the family.

Are you ready for a dog?

The following questions can help you gauge your readiness for a dog:

• Is my life stable enough for what could be at least a ten-year commitment?
• Do I have the lifestyle, time, personality, and money for a pooch?
• Does everyone in the family want, support and desire a dog?
• Do we have realistic expectations about dog ownership?
• Do we have a healthy, clean and safe environment?
• Are you willing to wake up during the night to please the puppy?
  

What age dog is right for you?

Is a puppy the right dog for you, or should you consider an older dog? Are you up to the task of the all-important house training phase, as well as the longer-term behavior training required for you to teach youre puppy? Adequate training takes time, patience, and discipline. For the correct person, the demands of dog training are part of the vision and desire in the vast adventure of dog ownership.

If you don't have the time or the temperament to administer a lengthy training process, but love dogs and long to have one all the same, you might consider purchasing or adopting an older dog that has already received some training. You will still need to consistently discipline your dog, but you will not have to undergo the rigors and frustrations of having to training it from the beginning.



Being a responsible dog owner


Beyond providing food and shelter, responsible dog ownership necessitates caring for a dog in many of the same ways you would provide for a human family member:

• Nutritious, healthy diet
• Quality health care coverage
  
• Regular grooming and hygiene
  
• Adequate exercise and socialization
  
• Proper and consistent training
• And, of course, lots of direct love

Learn how to become a hero to your dog and share your thoughts about what it means to be a responsible owner.

Choosing the right dog

Puppy or adult? Pure breed or mixed breed? Lap dog or large pooch? There is a dog out there for everyone. Narrowing the choice comes down to making a few key choices as discussed here on this page.

Where to find your dog

From shelters and rescues, to breeders and dog clubs, learn why the place you get your actual dog can have as much of a lasting major impact on your ownership experience as the very dog itself.

Beware of Puppymills

The worst of breeders breed dogs for sale in pet stores. Pet store puppies are shipped to stores across America from mass breeding facilities in Pennsylvania, Missouri and Kansas. Each mother dog spends her sad loveless life in a tiny cage, never released to eat, play, or even defecate. When spent, she is put down or sold to a vivisection laboratory. The photo on the right, of such a breeding facility, comes from the website Stop Puppy Mills - http://www.StopPuppyMills.com, a superb resource on the issue. NBC's Dateline did a terrific expose, in 2000, on the link between pet stores and puppy mills. They traced puppies from high end stores, which assured buyers that their dogs came from the very best breeders, back to horrendous mass breeding facilities.

New owners

This section is intended to help you navigate your way through the process of adding a furry poochie friend to the household.