Throughout my life, my little sister has brought a variety of animals into our house, ending up not lasting with us for a long time either because she is not capable of taking care of them or because they have escaped. Fortunately we are lucky that our dog is a great match with our lifestyle and has been with us for already 7 years and hopefully for a 100 more years as he is very dear to us.
I decided to write this post to maybe be able to educate and help readers to decide and choose the ideal pet for them.
Before we got our dog, we did a lot of research on his breed and after finding a reputable breeder we finally got him. Unfortunately our breeder wasn't the reputable, she had neutered the dog without telling us and gave him to us within less than a month after his birth and we didn't know that he was that young and could have easily died, if we hadn't taken great care of him. So my first advice would be check the breeder well and also if possible talk to previous customers as well as they would be your best source.
However, before choosing a reputable breeder choose the breed well to see if it matches your lifestyle well. I suggest websites such as wikipedia which maybe helpful, however as many know wikipedia isn't t your best source as users can go and change entries whenever they want. Therefore wrong information may be found.
Also recently I have been watching a program on the Animal Planet Channel, called Dogs 101 and it has another one called Cats 101 and Pets 101. Both shows talk about almost every breed out there of cats and dogs and other pet varieties and point out the features of such animals, such as their temper, the best environment for such breeds to live in, their health problems and so on; which is very helpful and it is correct as it practically nailed every pro and con of my dog's breed. So how can you find these videos? You don't need to have the channel, if you google or just go on youtube and type Cats 101 or Dogs 101 or Pets 101 (depending on what you are looking for) and also the specific breed you have in mind and you can easily find a video from the program of the breed you searched for.
The series makes out a valid statement in every program they air, i.e. that not all dogs or cats from a certain breed will follow the points they mention on such breed throughout the program, there are always exceptions to the rule. This doesn't mean it is a bad thing, if for e.g. breed X normally lives up to 10 years, it doesn't mean your dog won't live for up to 20 years if it is given the correct diet. The same reasoning can be applied to other aspects such as temperament. However, in regards to the grooming criteria I feel there cannot be exceptions to this rule.
And one final point, don't be deterred from what people say about certain breeds, such as pitbulls or bulldogs. It is people who make such breeds behave like monsters, in reality they aren't monsters. If you treat such animals well and train them and don't provoke them, then they won't harm you and others. This video shows clearly my point;
Hope you found my post helpful in deciding in what pet you are going to get. It is a great pity that people get pets and end up abandoning them or harming them because they are not capable of taking care of them.
