Puppy Diary – What kind of dog do I want?

It’s a Kelpie! In October I bought a beautiful 12-week-old Kelpie puppy who I have named Cody.

I had been considering purchasing a puppy for a for a few months and in that time I looked at a number of breeds that I would like to live with, having grown up with German Shepherds which I love as a breed (and currently have Kane who is 10 now)!!! I decided that I wanted to get a puppy other than a GSD and provide me with some different challenges and experiences. I also decided that I wanted to buy a puppy from a personally selected breeder as oppose to adopt one for various reasons.  Although I feel that if you do not have this criteria, adopting is a great idea and you will no doubt find a fantastic puppy (as a couple of people have rightly pointed out, you can also find breed rescues if you are looking for a specific breed of dog).

During my search I had an idea of what various breeds of dogs have been bred to do and what requirements that would roughly have. However I think it’s a great idea to speak to people who currently own a dog of the breed you are interested in.  Ask them about what they have found a challenge and what they have enjoyed. It’s always nice to hear how much fun people are having with their dog but unfortunately there are lots of people who find out the hard way that a particular breed or type of dog is not for them.

A really upset client once told me how they had spent ages on the Internet looking up information about the breed and history of the type of dog they were interested in and they found lots of information that told them how great the breed was… However once she got her puppy she starting experiencing a clash between her lifestyle and keeping up with the dogs needs. She went on the internet again and typed in a search looking for problems people are having with this breed of dog & the problems she was having only to be astonished to find that there were lot of other people who were asking for help on the same things with the same type of dogs. She said to me how she really wished she had done this search before she bought the puppy when she was reading all the good stuff. This was a great point and something I now suggest to all my clients, do a internet search about the problems owners experience with 1. Puppies and dogs in general and then 2. with the particular breed they are interested in.

You would be surprised how many owners ring me up shocked that their puppy mouths or poos???

Its only human to have a belief or desire in our head / heart then only see evidence / information to support those beliefs or desires.  Try and look for the stuff you don’t want to believe or see as well, it might help in the long term.

Also I think is very useful to think about what different types of dogs have been bred to do will provide you with certain hints; if they are bred to work in groups and often housed in large groups like some hound breeds they may not be the best dog if you intend on leaving them alone for long periods (and its not what “long” means to you but the dog, he may have a completely different idea to “long period” than you do). Also while I am talking about hounds if the type of dog that you want heavily uses their very well developed sense of smell then don’t be surprised to find that your puppy is always sniffing the ground and goes off on little scent trails. Owners often complain that their puppy is always distracted, stubborn, and disobedient… when in fact it is probably none of these! The dog is probably only doing what it has been designed to do!!! In order to succeed in living with him and teaching him with ease you need to look at the world from his point of view a little. A trainer is also often a good person to speak to before you get a puppy they can provide some very useful information.

So I did exactly this when I decided that I was going to get a Kelpie. After being happy that this was the kind of dog I defiantly wanted and I could meet the needs of a very active (mentally and physically) working dog I went to meet some puppies.

To be continued …