Your daughter will be cutting a cake for her 6th birthday next week and you are thinking of giving her a special gift! But what could it be?

Your beautiful child loves animals and all of your neighbors have pets, so how about a cute little puppy? That is a wonderful gift for your darling daughter. You probably couldn’t make her happier any other way. But wait a moment, if you are buying a pet for the first time, there are a few things that you need to know before you actually set out to buy it.

1) You need to give it time: Keeping a puppy is like having a small baby in your house. It needs tender loving care and constant observation until it grows a little older. And yes, you also need to play and entertain them all day. If you can’t, you may choose to get two puppies to entertain each other or use the services of day care centers for your pup.

2) Dogs need training: In order to train dogs and puppies, you first need to train yourself on how to train them! Unlike cats, which can be left on their own, dogs are dependent on you. You have to interact with them and give them proper behavioral training.

Once you have learned the techniques of training your dog, you may also train your kids on how to interact with the pet and train them. After all, your kids are the ones who will spend most of the time with them, walking the dog every evening and playing with it in the backyard.

3) Be prepared to spend money: Relax a little: it’s not that much money. But yes, you need to see if that little puppy fits into your budget. You may have several expenses, especially when you get the puppy home. It will need a dog house if you plan on leaving him outdoors for extended periods, toys, registration, vet fees and shots, expenses for training it, and maybe even clothes!

Dog can be among the costliest pets and can cost you nearly as much as any other family member would. So don’t get into the dog buying business without considering the cost factor.

4) Your little puppy will grow into an adult dog. You already knew that? Great! But it is also important to know that keeping a dog into it’s adulthood may be a lot different than keeping it as a puppy. Your dog will grow fast and, depending on the breed, may soon outweigh your 6 year old child. Your cute little puppy will soon need a lot more food that it needs now!

5) Puppies need exercise: Puppies need exercise in the form of play. They can amuse themselves for short periods, but require interaction with people or other animals. Apart from toys, they also need another puppy or a person to play with them. Your children can’t be with them always, so if the idea of running with the pack, so to speak, doesn’t thrill you, you may opt for buying a breed that is less active.

If your dog is larger in size, it will need more exercise and you will have to take it for walk every evening when you come home after an exhausting day at work. So make sure that you include this activity in your schedule.

A dog is a wonderful animal and the most faithful of all pets. Having one in your house would definitely be a great experience, but only if you are prepared to take care of it, spend a little extra time and money and treat it like one of your family members. If you are willing to do these things, then you will have a loyal, loving companion for life.

By: Steve Searls

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