Posted on 04/18/2009 5:16:40 PM PDT by Onelifetogive
Take someone emotionally uninvolved with you to see the puppy.
Take someone who has no stake in the decision with you to see the puppy. Take a sibling, a parent or a friend. Give them veto power. If they say no to your buying that puppy, back away from the purchase. Take them aside and listen to why they are uncomfortable. Making a good decision to buy a puppy means putting aside emotions and looking at facts. Someone uninvolved can be a great help in doing just that.
I have seen many people who are otherwise very rational become very irrational when the holding a cute, loveable little fur-ball. You will be living with this puppy for more than a decade if things work out well. Saying NO to a few puppies before you say YES to one is a great idea.
The opposite of taking someone emotionally uninvolved with you is taking kids with you. The puppy could have three legs (all in the front) and the head installed backward and the kids would still fall in immediate and permanent love with it. Show the kids the puppy AFTER it passes your test. If possible, show it to them AFTER it passes the Vet Check. Why get them emotionally attached only to find that it has a heart condition, or a kennel-disease? (You should avoid getting emotionally attached, too.) At this point, it is just a candidate. There are hundreds more out there just like it and more are being made everyday.
I know it sounds cold, but buying a puppy has to be an unemotional business decision. Once the deal is done and the puppy passes the vet check, then you are REQUIRED to fall head-over-heals in love with it, but not a minute before.
Didn’t you post this already a few hours ago?
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2232338/posts
Research, research, research.
Also pick one that is the right size...for grilling.
You are right....this is very cold....
Sure do some research on the “right breed” but when you meet these little cutie pies it's all about chemistry.
You dog grills for you? Man, mine only fetches beer out of the machine.
And he steals the change.
On a related subject, after our oldest doberman passed away, we looked online for any doberman rescues. We found many and one was in our state. We adoped an 18 month old doberman whose only problem was his first owners got a divorce. The woman who got him in the divorce settlement could not handle a big dog in her little apartment. We got a great dog for 100 bucks. A doberman puppy is at least 350, and up to 750. Over the years we have purchased 3 dobermans as puppies and the one as a rescue. The last time we needed a second doberman, the rescues were so busy we could not find one to adopt and we found a local woman who had a litter, and was not a mill, she was having her bitch spayed after that litter. We had a bad experience with a breeder once, and got rooked out of 200 bucks. We are very wary of puppy breeders. We prefer to rescue. A cousin of mine wanted a dachshund, and looked for a rescue online, and found a year old wonderful dachshund. He’s the first litle dog I ever liked! Very sweet. So, if you have a favorite breed and need a doggie, you might give a rescue a try. They do ask you to fill out paperwork and a rep. will visit to see your home to see if it suits the breed etc.
Excellent advice. Dog owners are well-advised to pay heed. Until the pup passes vet check it must only be a Candidate.
Nope, I got a side of beef arriving tomorrow.
“Oh, Happpy Dayyyy....”
“You dog grills for you? Man, mine only fetches beer out of the machine.
And he steals the change.”
I had to get rid of mine. He left the seat up. Wife kept falling in.
...and you got rid of the dog?
I’d just drag a rabbit hide past them, a good puppy will know what to do!
Getting emotionally attached wasn't really an issue. We couldn't bear to take her to the pound knowing how overcrowded they are already.
Another reason not to take the kids, it weakens your bargaining position. I overpaid for a Rat-Terrier/Chihuahua mix because the kids fell in love with the dog, and I won’t dicker unless I mean it, and couldn’t risk the owner saying no.
She turned out to be a good dog, and long term, she has been worth it.
Unfortunately yes. He also refused to drive the kids to school.
LOL - let them walk.
actually you would be better off buying a “used” dog who is already housetrained.
Lots of them at your local shelter.
Forgive me, but I can’t let that go unanswered.
The local shelter will happily give you an animal that is a known killer - after all, it saves the dog, right? - and they really don’t care what problems it might cause to the humans involved.
They are entirely motivated by “good purpose”, and blind to reality.
No, thanks. Been there, done that, paid for ten grand in slaughtered livestock.
The shelter can KMA.
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