Check with your local humane societies for a PET SOUP KITCHEN.
I printed this off for our director at the ASPCA and she LOVED it. I told her I get the idea is to get as many adopted as possible - but people adopt and then -
***** about potty training - okay folks it eats - it's gonna poop and it's gonna poop anywhere you allow it to be. It takes months to get a puppy trained properly -
Skip on things like - heartguard and flea treatment - then ***** about the cost. OR complain about fleas. You have a mammal? You will have fleas and you can't treat just once.....the eggs WILL hatch in about 3 weeks and you'll be treating again. Best way to avoid this is with Frontline.
They skip on annual check ups - for booster vaccines, and fecal checks for harmful parasites. Did you know your dog may NEVER leave your yard and get hookworms from squirrel poop? Hookworms kill and you can't see them in poop and the dog won't necessarily do the itchy butt drag thing to let you know. They just get sick, and die.
Play time - originally yes - OH JOY a puppy.....we play.....we make time. Then the puppy gets fleas, worms, and poops all over the place and you forget how cute it was when you could cuddle it like a newborn. So you figure well, he's 11 months old, he's a year old, he's 4 years old - and now he's HYPER because all dogs should have at the VERY LEAST 30 minutes of play every day to get rid of the hyperness. But now you don't like him like you did when he was a puppy.
And then there are emergency visits. Who plans for this? THere is dog insurance if you can find a good one. Can you pay for those premiums? Life happens - accidents happen.
ANd hair - omg it sheds - and all of a sudden your kids are embarrassed when friends come because your furniture has hair on it. I had hair on my butt one morning and my boss said "YOu have dog hair on your pants." I said "Yup......I have dogs!" but how about washing that dog once a month? Then it goes outside to potty - or finally STAYS outside because it is a better way to potty train (huge groan) = you know just leave him outside. And then you have to wonder - if you do NOT have a fenced in yard.....and he's chained up all day long - and barks, annoys the neighbors and isn't being played with - WHY did you get it in the first place.
Not to mention all the poop stains that are now in your carpet until you scrub the carpets with expensive anti-dog odor shampoo and then there is no guarantee they won't return deposit. Know what I mean???
Or my favorite - leave it in a cage all day long and then wonder why when you get home after being gone 10 hours it's a hyper, barking, pp, pooping, shedding, drooling mess on your work clothes.
And eventually a return drop off in the middle of the day or night to your local ANIMAL shelter or a pathetic ad on Craigslist begging someone to take this dog - while you write an ad that says : We just dont' have time to take care of her any more or....My son "developed" allergies (gosh after 2 years huh?) and my all time favorite - putting a picture of your dog with the ad and writing - TO GOOD HOME ONLY- Great dog...can't be around, cats, other dogs or small children NOT TO A FIGHTING HOME
. Why don't you write what you really mean......I got this dog as a puppy - I taught him nothing, I spent no time with him, he poops, he digs, he chases cats, he has no manners, he's not potty trained, he jumps the fence and looks for females because I never spent the money to get him neutered, he won't chase a ball or a frisbee, but runs like crazy when he gets out and now my wife said we have to get rid of him because he's not getting along with her NEW puppy.
Yeah - wait until you have your own home, and time to invest with a baby fur child BEFORE you bring another disposable dog home. Makes me wonder when people continually do this - do you think it's going to be different with THIS puppy - I mean WHAT are you going to do different?
Blargh.......off my soap box.
DOGS ARE NOT A DISPOSABLE COMMODITY -
DOGS ARE A LIFETIME OF COMMITTMENT (8-=15 years for most breeds)
and while we're talking about BREEDS......
READ UP about the breed that you get. BEFORE you try to make a Great Dane an outdoor guard dog or expect a Jack Russell Terrier to be laid back like a SHih-tzu. And to all the back yard breeders that are breeding the most hideous crosses I've ever seen? KNOCK IT THE HECK OFF......there is a reason people took the time to make a pure breed dog a pure breed. If you aren't breeding to improve the breed - GET YOUR DOG FIXED.
Maybe - you should tell your children the back end first -Not every dog will be as lucky to go to a phenominal home if you rehome it. MOST DOGS THAT ARE NOT TRAINED and NOT TAKEN TIME WITH are USUALLY put to death by a needle that stops their breathing. Some aren't that lucky and there are still gas chambers where a heard of dogs are ushered into a small hideous dark box, they flip a switch, gas comes on, you hear them cry, scratch, they're alone, scared and they KNOW what is happening to them at a shelter and their bodies are put into a huge walk in freezer, then once a week they are either creamated or taken to a rendering plant then boiled to make cheap pet food - INCLUDING some dog foods. Of course most kids will tell you - I'd NEVER do that to my dog.
Okay - really off my soap box now. I won't apologize for telling the truth. It happens too much every day because people turn a blind eye to what will happen IF they don't take proper time and care with a pet that could end up being your best friend in the whole world.