Thinking of getting a puppy?
By: S S
Tags: Pet Care, Dogs, Love

This is my personal experience and not tell all be all truth. Also, disclaimer, I have grown up with dogs around so I am partial to having a dog. With that out of the way let’s get started. Dogs in general are irresistible again to me (cute and fluffy). However, they are really time consuming. I am not trying to pursue anyone to not get a dog but want to make everyone aware who is thinking of getting one is aware how much more work they are then you think. Your lifestyle has to change because now you will be responsible for a living thing. SO if you are person who travels a lot you might have to think about it even more.

Raising puppy

Young puppies need to be fed three to four times a day depending on their breed and size. With the feeding comes taking them outside. We rescued our puppy when she was 2-month-old so the foster home had kind of trained her already, she would let us know she wanted to go pee and or poop(whine). You will be amazed how fast their metabolism works as my puppy would have just finished her food and already need to go. Although she was mostly trained she did have some accidents in the house and honestly it has been a year and sometimes she still has accidents. You need to be able to handle that and be patient with them. Puppies cannot hold their pee or poop for long interval of time. I was told to go by the rule, if the puppy is 2 month the max they could hold would be for 4 hours (month times 2). So, they would need to be at least 4–6 months before they can hold for 8 hours before you will need to take them out and that also means at night. You will be waking up so also consider not getting enough sleep(uninterrupted sleep) for a while.

Training puppy

Puppies by nature are very curious and their first instinct is to smell then lick or chew on things to learn what they are. My island was of wood and by then end of 6 months, they were chewed any accessible end. When they are younger, they also have a lot of energy so they act hyper, don’t listen to what you say and don’t have manners. So, to help with that you would need to walk them couple of times a day again depending on their breed and size (some have more energy than others). You might have to come by during your lunch break if you do not have anyone who can feed them, get them outside to relieve them and walk them a bit. There are services where people come do that for you but it is going to cost you. Then you would also have to spend time training them to make them behave, make them listen to you. Again, you can have someone do it for you for a price or spend time to train them.

Upkeep

You should also have to think about toys, food, treats, trash bags, bed, kennel/crate, lease and or vest for the puppies. You would also have to account for vaccinations cost, doctor checkup, animal insurance. It generally costs about $1500-$2500 a year for all the things I mentioned. That would not count the dog walker cost, or cost of when you are leaving the dog to be looked after when you are traveling. Before you get the dogs, also make sure the house is ready for something that eats everything in sight so need to change your design of the house/apartment you live in.

Lifestyle

Like i mentioned earlier, having a puppy is lifestyle change. If you are someone who parties and is out for weekend you have to think about who is taking care of them throughout the night, sleeping over at other peoples house, going on vacation for days. There is always a solution by having someone dog sit but if you do not have friends/family who can do that for you, its additional cost you would have to budget for.

If all this sounds like something you can do, then go ahead and figure out what kind of dog would you like. I would suggest if you are not sure may be try fostering dogs before getting a dog for experiment and along with doing a good deed. I would suggest adapting a dog, that is what I did nice to get one out of the street and help organization by giving them adoption fee so they can take care of other dogs that need help as well. Also forget about being able to eat in peace. Your food is their food, and you side is their preferred sleeping place may it be your bed or couch.

I cant tell you how special they make you feel though. The moment they see you they are all love. No matter how tired you are, once you see them there is a different happiness you feel. I will always say all the work is VERY WORTH IT for all the kisses, cuddles and love they have to give you.

I would love to hear your stories of new puppies in your life.