The National Humane Education Society -Spay and Neuter…What’s this all about??>:Adopt A Pet Scenario

After seeing her photo on a local animal shelter’s website, you would just love to adopt Petunia, an energetic, Labrador-mix puppy! You have a fenced-in backyard, ample room for her sleeping area, and necessities in your home. You’ve promised mom and dad that you’ll help them take care of Petunia every day—including cleaning up her poop and providing her clean water and nutritional food 2 to 3 times a day! The idea of adopting Petunia from the local animal rescue is thrilling, but you have just a few more things to consider….

. . . You’ve read about the natural behavior of puppies and Labradors, and you’ve talked to your veterinarian. You now know you can expect or anticipate that Petunia will enjoy a home where she can spend lots of time chewing on her toys, investigating everything in the house, and snoozing with her best friend—YOU!

The dilemma is: Will mom and dad mind the mess Petunia is surely going to create as she learns and grows? And will you mind too? Even with the best of care and supervision, Petunia will surely have a bathroom accident in the house or knock the lamp off the table or even investigate the garbage can!

Next, you visit the local animal adoption center where Petunia is available for adoption. You spend plenty of time with her—petting, feeding, and even playing around! Now you have a general idea of what puppies are like, and for sure, they love to playfully bite—it’s a part of how they learn to play with other dogs, but you’re not a dog.

From your research, you know that allowing Petunia to playfully bite as a puppy could become a painful problem if she playfully bites as an adult dog. And, it would be just awful to adopt her and later give her up if you or other family members are unwilling to tolerate the biting. So, everyone in the family must decide together what is most important before Petunia comes home. You’ll need to decide if you and your family are interested in taking the time and effort to train her properly as a puppy and show her acceptable playing, or just allowing Petunia to do whatever she wants?

If you decide to adopt Petunia, you will need to accommodate her natural instinct to bite and chew by teaching her what is acceptable and unacceptable for her to chew on and how to suitably play with humans. Also, you will need to give her proper obedience training so that she is well behaved!

Of course, that’s not all you will need to consider: canines are pack animals, which means they need to live with their family members in order to be healthy, happy animals. When you research what the means for living with Petunia, you learn that chaining or kenneling her outdoors is not cool; in fact, it’s cruel. She’d be lonely and scared outside by herself all the time. And even if you went out to visit her during the day, she just wouldn’t be very happy. Instead, Petunia needs to live in the house with her human family where she can be a true family member.

Indoor life for puppies is exciting, but it’s important to anticipate the amount of work you will have to do! You will have to “puppy proof” the whole house, or, pick up everything off floor level that Petunia might try to chew on. This is important for training and her safety. Also, she will need a very patient owner while she learns housetraining. Until she knows how to hold her bladder and let you know that she has to go to the bathroom outside, Petunia is going to have many bathroom accidents! Will it be OK if she poops on the expensive rug? What if she pees all over the kitchen floor? And, are you ready to help clean it up and teach her how to go outside?

Adopting Petunia is a very exciting idea and you are overjoyed at the thought of making her a part of the family. Yet, you also know that bringing home any new companion animal is a huge responsibility and Petunia is counting on you to take good care of her, for her entire life.

Ultimately, whatever you decide, the most important thing is to make a decision that is kind and fair to Petunia, and that all of you can happily live with!

During your research, you learn that most puppies are happiest if they can live with another puppy or dog. Do you have the proper housing and yard, and enough time and money to adopt two dogs? Is adopting two puppies at the same time a good idea?