☆☆ WARNING CUTENESS OVERLOAD!! WARNING CUTENESS OVERLOAD!! WARNING CUTENESS OVERLOAD!! WARNING CUTENESS OVERLOAD!! WARNING CUTENESS OVERLOAD!! ☆☆
I have been having a serious case of Puppy Fever lately & it went to an all time high after seeing this little beauty. There was no description but I think it's a King Charles Cavalier Spaniel. So so cute! Since it's my 21st birthday next week, my parents have been trying to get me a birthday present (although I keep insisting they don't have to since they chipped in for my car). And because I've been obsessively looking at pictures of dogs for a while now, they seemed pretty serious about getting me a dog. My mom was actually prepared to get me this one but when we went to the store again, it was gone :-( However, there were a few new furry additions.
A cute but a sort of big Toy Poodle & a whole group of tiny little Moodles (Maltese x Poodle). I am so, so tempted to bring one of these beauties home, but when I posted the picture of the Cavalier on my Instagram, I got a lot of comments warning me not to get puppies from pet shops since they come from puppy mills. I would love for you to give me some advice about this & where is the best place to get puppies.
I've been researching & researching, looking for ads and found the cutest little Toy Cavoodle (Cavalier x Toy Poodle). I checked to make sure she came from safe, registered breeders and not puppy mills. She's perfect. I want her so, so bad. But she's a little steep... :-( That's the one thing stopping me at the moment.
Also, I know they're absolutely adorable to look at, but I'm worried about how much work they'll be & how much I'll have to look after them - not to mention quite expensive. I'm more than willing to do the dirty work, but when I go back to uni, I'll be worried about leaving him/her alone at home for long periods of time... And to be completely honest, I'm a little OCD and am a little worried about the dog peeing all over the place & even more worried about what will happen if it accidentally chews on something dangerous or knocks something over and gets hurt...
I feel like a mom going crazy with baby fever. Is this how everyone else with dogs feel? I would looove for you to give me any kind of advice on puppy training, potty training, how often to feed them, walk them, wash them, all that stuff... I've been doing my research but more advice is always welcome. Ahh! So much to think about! And on top of that, I need the perfect name! I really like the name Teddy...or Stewie (huuuuuge Family Guy fan here :D)
Any & all help would be much appreciated, thank you ♡♡
Love Always,
Anna Banana ♡
p.s. I don't even have the dog yet, or even know if we're even going to get one, but I've been planning it's room (we have 2 spare bedrooms so why not give them their own room? :D) & online shopping like crazy. Not buying yet of course, just planning everything down to the last detail... It's ridiculous because I might not even get one, which means I'm going to be even more devastated :-( Sad times people, sad times...
Definitely don't buy a dog from a shop! I won't write about puppy mills here, if anyone wants to be horrified they only need to google it. Or search on youtube. I would recommend either a dog from a reputable breeder (the ones that ask the most questions to the prospective owner, usually - they want to make sure the puppy will be in good hands) or a shelter dog. A friend of mine got a puppy from a shelter, he's now 1 year old and a great dog!
ReplyDeleteA very good resourse for new puppy owner is the free book "Before You Get Your Puppy" by Ian Dunbar. You can find it here: http://www.dogstardaily.com/free-downloads ("After you get your puppy" is not free, though). The author sometimes exaggerates a bit, but his ideas are very good - he probably wants to scare away people who are not ready for all the work involved in having a dog. And it is a lot of work! I have a dog who is now 18 months and very well behaved, but for the first 2-3 weeks a was at home (on holidays) and basically my whole day revolved around doggy schedules (like walking him every 30 minutes - a 2 month old puppy has a veeery small bladder). Even at night, me and my family took turns walking him 2-3 times *in the middle of the night* so he learned quickly to only pee outside (he did learn, and he had very few accidents). Some people opt to adopt adult dogs because of all the work: http://www.dogster.com/lifestyle/dog-behavior-care-tips-never-have-a-puppy
And yes, it's like being a mommy.
If you really do end up getting a puppy here some very good books (not free, unfortunately) are "Life Skills for Puppies" by Helen Zulch and "Perfect Puppy in 7 Days" by Sophia Yin. And please, please avoid anything that has to do with Cesar Millan. He does do some good things, but for someone who doesn't already know a good deal about dog training it's almost impossible to sort the good from the bad.
DeleteThank you for your amazing advice. I'll keep all of it in mind as I keep research. Thanks again xx
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