OH! Magazine - Australian Version June 2014 (Australian Version) | Page 26

( Focus on Family )

CHOOSING A
FOUR-LEGGED
FAMILY MEMBER
If you’re looking to add a furry member
to your family, then heed these wise words
from Anthony Melman from Big Dog Rescue.
Choosing the right dog

So, you are thinking about buying
yourself a new puppy? For some
people, their new puppy is the perfect
new family member and everything is
wonderful from the moment they bring
their new addition home, to the time they
say farewell, some 10 to 15 years later.
For others, buying a puppy can feel
like a nightmare after months of toilet
training, sleepless nights and after the
initial puppy cuddles dry up! In some
cases, it can all prove too much and,
sadly, your once loved new puppy joins
the tragic statistics of juvenile dogs being
handed into your local pound.
So, how can you be sure that the
puppy that you adopt is going to fit into
your family and not drive you insane?
Dogs are living creatures so don’t just fall
into cut and dried rules. However, there
are some steps you can take to give
yourself and your new addition the best
chance to get along – for life.

W

26

JUNE 2014 ( OH! MAGAZINE )

Firstly, think about your own lifestyle.
Are you an active person or more of a
couch potato? Do you have a lot of spare
time or are you always busy? Do you
travel a lot? Do you work from home? Do
you prefer to wear a business suit or a
tracksuit? Believe it or not, these and
other questions are important when
choosing the right dog. For example, a
couch potato who works from home and
is not overly concerned with appearances
is more likely to be successful when
adopting a bull mastiff (or some other
breed that tends to drool) than a person
who is going to be worried about that
same drool on a new suit when they are
on their way to a business meeting.
Clichéd I know, but it’s the sort of thing
you need to consider.
It is worth researching different breeds
to decide which ones are most likely to
suit you. There may be certain physical
traits of one breed that may suit your
lifestyle better than others. If you suffer
from allergies, maybe consider a poodle.
If you don’t have a large yard, consider a
small dog breed. If you don’t have a
decent fence, don’t even think about a
staffy. If you live a sedate life in a typical
suburban home, a cattle dog or some
other working dog breed may find living
with you to be less than stimulating and
develop some neurotic behaviour.
Of course, you should also consider
personality when selecting your new
family member. In any given litter you
can expect to see many different

personalities. It goes without saying that
choosing a puppy from behind a cage in
a pet shop does not allow you a great deal
of scope to assess the personality of your
potential puppy.
It’s worth considering the alternatives
to a pet shop, which include: council-run
pound or companion animal shelters
(available in most areas); animal welfare
organisations, such as the RSPCA and
the AWL (Animal Welfare League); or
charity-run and privately funded rescue
organisations – some of which are breedspecific while others specialise in specific
sizes or ages. You can contact these
organisations to find a puppy, but it’s
also worth thinking about adopting an
adult dog.

Why adopt an adult dog?
The cute and cuddly puppy phase of a
dog’s life generally only lasts a few
months, so if are willing to forgo that
short span of humorous diversions and
the subsequent period of frustrating
juvenile delinquency that many puppy
owners get to experience, then you should