{"id":3627,"date":"2021-01-19T09:46:47","date_gmt":"2021-01-19T09:46:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/companyofanimals.co.uk\/?p=3627"},"modified":"2023-10-17T09:10:19","modified_gmt":"2023-10-17T09:10:19","slug":"choosing-the-right-puppy-for-you","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/companyofanimals.com\/uk\/choosing-the-right-puppy-for-you\/","title":{"rendered":"Choosing the right puppy for you"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><strong>Choosing the right puppy for you<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Deciding to get a puppy is not a decision to make lightly; <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">remember when choosing a puppy that<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> your new friend is likely to be with you for the next 15 years so it\u2019s important to be confident that you are ready for that level of commitment both in terms of your lifestyle &amp; financially. Will a dog still fit into your plans in 5 or 10 years\u2019 time? If the answer is no, then do not get a puppy! You may of course consider getting an older dog that will still allow you the benefits of dog ownership without such a long term commitment.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Draw up a list; <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Before you choose a breed or type of dog, have a think about what you would want from your new pet and what you can offer them. For example;<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Size once fully grown<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Exercise requirements<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Level of grooming required to keep healthy<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ease of training<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">dog breeds<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> temperament<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Common health issues<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Once you have your list, start to research <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">dog<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> breeds that fit your requirements. Even if you don\u2019t particularly want a pedigree dog, this is still a useful exercise to determine what \u2018kind\u2019 of dog may suit your family e.g. small Terrier type or lively, working type etc.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">You can then start to look for a breeder or contact rescue centres with a good idea of the kind of dog that is going to suit you best.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Do your research<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">; Ask trusted sources such as vets, groomers, and trainers to see if they know of a good breeder or look on the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thekennelclub.org.uk\/search\/find-an-assured-breeder\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Kennel Club website<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for a list of their assured breeders. If you have a friend with a nice dog, then ask where they got their dog from.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Be prepared to wait<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">; Most good breeders will have waiting lists for their puppies and may only breed one or two litters a year (less in some cases). Rescue centres will often take your name and details and contact you if they get a suitable candidate <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">to<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> come into their care.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Be very careful<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> of <\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">choosing a puppy<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> off free ad sites on the internet, no matter how cute the photos or how genuine the advert sounds. Unfortunately, puppy farming is still rife &amp; free ad sites are the main source of sales for puppy farmers, often disguised as family breeders.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Choosing the right puppy for you Deciding to get a puppy is not a decision to make lightly; remember when choosing a puppy that your new friend is likely to be with you for the next 15 years so it\u2019s important to be confident that you are ready for that level of commitment both in [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6051,"featured_media":3629,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-3627","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","family-puppy","content-puppy-training","behaviour-puppy-training","content-entity"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/companyofanimals.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3627","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/companyofanimals.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/companyofanimals.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/companyofanimals.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6051"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/companyofanimals.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3627"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/companyofanimals.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3627\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19305,"href":"https:\/\/companyofanimals.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3627\/revisions\/19305"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/companyofanimals.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3629"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/companyofanimals.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3627"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}