There has been a running debate in our house these last couple of months about when is the right time to welcome a new dog into our lives. Personally, I have always lived with animals. This past year, however, has been one of big transition and therefore we have not welcomed any animal friends into our new space.
Finally it has come down to looking for the right dog. This time I want to do it right. I have welcomed dogs into our lives in the past without acknowledging their past or the characteristics of their breed. We had a puppy who was a lab mix and I tried and tried to train her and work with her but she kept escaping and she would knock over my boys (not the lab in her). In order to try and tame her down a bit we added Hannah, our amazing Boxer. She required no extra training and gave kisses to the kids instead of bowling them over.
We still miss Hannah. But when we moved to Washington it was only fair to let her stay with the family she adopted (yes, she adopted them...left the sitter we hired to watch her and found a new family with a dog and kids who loved her instantly). We have also made two mistakes in adult dogs who we thought might work out. The first turned out to be extremely food aggressive (not good around kids), and the second was the weirdest Basset hound you ever saw. He would jump up on everything and had endless energy (what happened to the Basset just sitting by the fire huh?).
This time I want to do it right. I want to get a puppy. I'm struggling between buying a puppy from a reputable breeder and adopting one. I would rather adopt. But the problem is not knowing the mix when you adopt!
So here's my plan and I sincerely hope it works!
I will post an add in the pet section of craigslist. Looking for a puppy to welcome into our family. Mixed breed great but must be a family mix: lab, Aussie, golden, standard poodle,... No guard dog breeds: Pit bull, German shepherd, rottweiler, wolf mixes.
This way I can explain my concern about finding the right puppy for our family but avoid accidentally supporting a bad breeder. I don't need to pay $400 for a dog when there are so many puppies out there with no homes!
Wish me luck!
from a writing standpoint this is quite nice. a few rough paragraphs. in general it shows that sometimes we write our best when we do not try too hard.
ReplyDeletefrom a dog perspective, I like your reasoning.