The cost of owning a dog
While the cost of owning a dog may vary depending on the breed, age, health and lifestyle of you and your pet, there are a number of things that you will need to consider for its long term health and wellbeing.
There are a lot of questions that will impact not only whether you get a dog or puppy but what type of dog you get and whether you choose to go to a rescue centre or a breeder. Chief amongst all of them however, is to ask yourself whether your current lifestyle will allow for a dog and, if there are any changes to make, are you prepared to make them?
One of the most important questions to ask yourself is whether you have the time to look after and train a puppy. Puppies require a lot of care and attention to make sure they don’t hurt themselves, to train them and to help them become well adjusted dogs.
For example:
There’s no one type of environment that’s right for a dog. You may have children or existing pets to consider. You may live in a city, countryside, an apartment or a house. Whatever the environment, the important thing is that it’s safe for your pet.
Puppies in particular are very receptive to their environment, and negative experiences will have a lasting effect. Today’s habitat is often urban and with city life come numerous, frequent and often intense visual and auditory stimuli. It is extremely important that your puppy does not associate its living environment with a fright or any unpleasant sensations.
City life can be very stimulating but for a puppy this can easily be overwhelming. You should take the time to gradually familiarise him or her with their surroundings as well as with the multiple situations they will have to face: cars, escalators, elevators, trains, trams or buses to name only a few.
The puppy must also learn to stay alone in the home sometimes for increasingly longer periods without being frightened or becoming destructive or noisy.
Things to consider include:
Getting a dog can be a rewarding and long term relationship, and making sure that your home and lifestyle can meet the health and safety needs of your new dog will go a long way to ensuring a successful and happy life together.