Is it okay to get another dog when you have had a dog for as many years as I’ve lived with my family? And for some of you, is it a good idea to bring a pet into the home at all?
My owner was looking at the animals that are in our local animal shelter, which she has “liked” on Facebook, and found that they have a little young Yorkie that needs a home. We are such cute dogs, that we tend to get adopted easily, and she was tempted to consider adopting another dog, so she asked a few questions.
I’m not sure what it would be like to have another dog come into our home after being the “top dog” around here for almost 13 years. It may be fun, it may not. It is a nice thing to do for a homeless dog, but people have to take time to think about how they are going to add this new family member to their homes. Some things to consider:
How does the dog you have act around other dogs or when other dogs are brought into the home to visit? Try it if you haven’t.
Are you going to be home to help the new dog transition into the home, watching to see how the dogs respond to one another and react accordingly?
What kind of personality does the dog have that you are bringing into the home, and how well will it match with the dog that you already have?
What kind of background did the dog have…in it’s previous home were there children or other pets?
How was the dog treated in it’s former home? Was it abused?
Has it had all of it’s shots and what is it’s health history?
How much time do you have to give to a dog? They need companionship from you or another pet if you work all day.
What size dog would best suit where you are living?
Do you have time to train a dog?
All of the above applies to other types of animals as well.
Take your time when you are considering bringing a pet into your home. Yes, do adopt a dog from a shelter if you can, but be wise in your decision…it would be very sad to have to return it to the shelter if things don’t work out.
Consider all of the above when purchasing a dog as well, or the poor thing may end up in a shelter if you are not satisfied. Pets should be considered part of the family, they should not be dispensable…please, please, please be careful when you are considering bringing a new pet into the home. At the same time, do consider adopting one from a shelter if your home and lifestyle permit it…there are so many pets that need good LOVING homes.
The Weather Channel is full of stories of Tornadoes causing historic damage, and as I update this, Hurricane Irene is coming up the coast. There have been earthquakes, flooding and other natural disasters that are hard to imagine.
For rescue workers, people are on the top of the list to be rescued, and this is important. But people who are rescued or who survive but have terribly damaged homes will tell you how important their pets are to them…they are like members of the family.
We don’t live in an area that has many hurricanes [but as I update this on 8/26/11, that is changing], dangerous flooding or tornadoes, but we have been looking around online for information about protecting your pet as well as sites that help pets after a disaster has happened.
Here are some thoughts for you to consider, as well as links that we hope you will find helpful:
Do you have an emergency plan? Your plan will depend upon what type of natural disaster is most likely to happen where you live, be it hurricane, tornado, brush or forest fire, flooding, earthquake…you know best what can happen in your area.
Here is a FEMA link with information for pet owners in the event of a natural disaster. There is a lot of information there, they emphasize that you DO NOT leave your pets behind when you evacuate your home. Evacuate, yes, don’t stay behind because of a pet…this is where advance planning comes in. Have a plan!
I ask you again, do you have a plan? Do you know what you’ll do if there is a flood, fire, earthquake, tornado, hurricane…you fill in the blank, and PLEASE, even though you may feel helpless in a natural disaster, pets are even more helpless and dependent upon you in natural disasters
One of my neighbors has a Chow-Chow, a beautiful fluffy dog that you want to run to and pet because it looks so soft and love-able. However, when my owner attempted to do so, she was warned by the owner that her Chow-Chow was very protective and would attack if we were to get near, so, we have had to enjoy the only Chow-Chow we know from a distance.
This doesn’t mean that all Chow-Chows have bad temperaments, in fact, if we search for information on the temperament of a Chow-Chow, we find results that span from saying they are wonderful with children, to being aggressive, especially when protecting their home and family. I will leave it to the reader to do further research on that, and choose their pet wisely.
We tend to think, and hope that it is true, that a pet will be only as good as the owner that raised it…if you are kind and gentle yet disciplined in raising your dog from a puppy, then your dog will grow up to be the same. If you do not raise your dog from a puppy, but acquire it from a shelter, then you should go to a shelter where they take time to learn the personality of the dog before placing it in a home, or bring it into your home only if there is no risk of harming home or members of the family. These are things that seem obvious, but sometimes one is taken in by the cuteness (just look at the puppy below…so cute!) of the beautiful Chow Chow dog or puppy, and they don’t think about how the dogs personality and habits might affect the home.
This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Woodstream. All opinions are 100% mine.
We have a lot of wild animals around here, just today my owners and I were out on the deck watching a pair of beavers as they seem to be starting to build a den off our property in the lake. It’s interesting to watch, the very first time in 26 years of living here that my owners have seen beavers in our lake.
Then there are the raccoons. They are having their babies now, and are very noisy at night when the babies are being raised. There are also bears around here now, so my owners have to be careful about letting me out at night.
The raccoons like to knock over our garbage cans, so do the bears, and sometimes it’s tempting to want to trap the raccoons, but I think you’d be surprised to hear what animals are giving us the most trouble right now….they are Ferrel cats. There are at least 6 of them hanging around. Our animal control in Town makes us catch them and then they will take them, so we need to use a Havahart Easy Set Large Animal Trap to capture them, if they will go into the trap. The only other animals that are sometimes a problem, especially when we start to hear them chewing on the wood of our house like they are trying to get in, are the squirrels, this is when a Havahart Easy Set Small Animal Trap is a handy thing to have around.
We hope we won’t have to use any traps, but if we need to find information and help in knowing what to do, we can visit Animal Trapping Tips and read their helpful ideas.
We love animals, and don’t want them to be harmed, even if they are a pain sometimes…and I sure do love barking at them, and chasing squirrels whenever I get the chance.
We are not happy to hear about all that the people and animals of Haiti are going through right now, but are happy to hear about how many people and animals are going to Haiti to do their part to help. We found this video about Search and Rescue dogs from New York who will be going to Haiti to help.
We also found the American Rescue Dog Association. They don’t say much about Haiti there yet, but it is the central organization in the US for dogs that do a great work to help people.
here.
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