Raising a dog is like raising a baby. The only thing that differs is that you can choose which dog you’ll raise and love, something that doesn’t happen with babies because when you decide you’ll have a baby, you don’t know if you’ll raise a boy or a girl, and you don’t know how he or she’ll look. In contrast with babies, picking a dog has a lot of variables in it. So, if the question “which dog should I buy?” pops up a lot in your mind, keep reading, and by the end of this article, you’ll know what dog you should buy and more importantly if you are ready to buy a dog.
First things first, are you ready to be a pet owner? Raising a dog is a challenging task and it’ll probably change a lot of things about your lifestyle and the way you live. So it’s good to do a quick analysis and consideration, and see how your finances are, what your lifestyle is, whether your current job allows you to dedicate enough, and what sacrifices you’ll have to make to raise your little friend.
This is not meant to discourage you from buying a dog, but as mentioned before, raising a dog is like raising a baby. You need to be prepared and to help you get prepared, below is a list of the things you are going to need before you consider which dog you’ll get.
You’ll need to…
1. Be financially ready
Before you start asking yourself which dog should you buy, let’s see what the yearly cost is without calculating how much the actual dog costs because that varies based on the dog’s breed and many other factors.
- Leash → $25+ (yearly)
- Bed → $50+ (yearly)
- House → $100+ (one time purchase)
- Toys → $25+ (yearly)
- Bowls → $20+ (yearly)
- Grooming → $100+ (yearly)
- Food → $250+ (yearly)
- Vet → $700+ (yearly)
Total → $1270+
The total here is the minimum budget that you need to make sure you are ready for a dog. Listed above are only the expenses that are vital for your dog’s well-being. Make sure that you can afford this amount of money and still live without giving up other more important things.
2. Consider your family members (if you have a family)
If you are living alone then this one does not concern you, but if you have a family then you ought to ask for their permission. You need to make sure that they will put in the work to raise the dog, that they’ll be responsible, but most importantly confirm that everyone agrees with that decision to create a more happy environment for the new member of the family. If they are okay with it, then you can discuss together which dog you should buy.
3.Check your working hours
If you work a 9-5 then with good planning, you can provide for your dog what he needs. However, if your work requires traveling away for a long period, then getting a dog is not a good idea, unless you have a family who can take care of him.
These are the most important factors you need to take into consideration before purchasing a dog. If you feel like there are more problems, you need to deal with than the ones mentioned above then analyze too. Take your time and decide what’s best, but whatever your situation is, it’s good to keep reading and find out what you need to think about when choosing a dog.
Choose a dog
1. What do you need/like?
If you’ve decided that you want to have a dog then you must have something in mind already. If you don’t, then you need to think of all the dogs you saw and choose which one you’d prefer. You don’t necessarily need to be a thoroughbred dog. Non-thoroughbred dogs are cheaper and based on studies they live longer than other dogs.
However, you need to choose a dog that you like, so if you like small dogs then consider dogs like Pomeranian, Rat Terrier, English Cocker Spaniel, Maltese, Bichon Frise, or Cocker Spaniel. You can see a whole list of small dogs here and choose one.
If you prefer a bigger dog then you can see a list here with all the big dog breeds like Golden Retriever, German Shepherd, Dalmatian, Vizsla, or Boxer.
Maybe the ultimate answer to the question “which dog should I buy” is a dog that you like.
2. Do you want a protector?
If you want a protector, then you need to make sure that you can afford a personal dog trainer if you are not one yourself. If you want to buy a dog from a small age and train him then it’ll be cheaper, but if you want to buy an already trained dog then it’s going to cost more.
A dog for protection needs to be big and strong, so we’ll leave out any small dog breeds. Getting a dog from a small age is better because it will help you build a strong connection with your dog and lower the chances of him attacking you.
Anyway, if you are looking for a protector then you should pick one from the list below:
All the dogs listed above, if they trained correctly,could maybe even save your life one day.
3. Do you need a friend?
If you need a friend, then deciding which dog you should buy is not difficult at all because literally, any dog you choose will be a good choice. There’s no right or wrong here, you just need a dog to keep you company and this can be achieved with every dog. Here you just pick a dog that you like and you make sure that you’ll make yours and his life better and happier.
Conclusion
All in all, dogs are maybe one of the best investments you can make for yourself. You may need to spend a lot of money, or a lot of time and be responsible for them but the one thing that they will give you is happiness and joy which is something that money can’t achieve.
Make sure you have the capacity and the ability to buy a dog before actually buying a dog because it’ll be difficult to be a good pet owner when things get messy. Hope the article was helpful and remember, if you are going to buy a dog then treat him or her like you’d treat a baby.