Mike's Doghouse

I think we’ve crossed over a hurdle. There are two reasons why.

Mike’s been on antibiotics for a (possible) infection. Today was his last dose. He went from making multiple small puddles to making single big ones. And today is the second day in a row we’ve not had any (major) accidents. We are still keeping the water up but once we have a few more days in a row accident free, I’ll start putting the water back within reach again. I think the infection has cleared up and Mike is now more capable of understanding what his body is telling him.

The second reason is we think Mike just wants to go out into the dog lot like everyone else. I don’t think he liked going out front, alone, while everyone else got to be off the leash and running around. A few days ago, I took him out the front door. Then, after he’d urinated, we came back in, went through the house to the back door, and went outside with everyone else. Almost every time, he and Sam would go charging across the dog lot and after a minute or less, Mike would stop, wander around for a few seconds, and poop. During the day, he and I still go out the front door except for the first time in the morning, we all go out the back. He gets to burn off energy (after being in his crate for several hours) which prompts him to do his business outside. Then, after dinner, Lorna takes them all out the back again.

We were supposed to see an animal behaviorist Friday but there was a scheduling error. We need to reschedule but we’re debating about whether we need to or not. We probably will, just to get some more input into how to best handle Mike’s late-blooming potty manners.

Regardless, we need to finish repairs on the back dog-ramp so that I feel safer going out there. The top part is safe enough but the second part is steeper and quite “interesting” to use. It kills my knees which is why I only go out there once with him. We decided to not use the front gate because we want to keep separate the “this is for play” and “this is for doing your business”. Mike has to be supervised outside not only to reinforce the behavior we want (doing his business outside) but also because the little snot eats sticks, wood, and mushrooms.

Not much to say this time. Mike and I didn’t go. Lorna was home sick with a cold and the cold weather had me in a lot of pain. The thought of going to class was just too much so we stayed home. The instructor, the wonderful Gail, sent me an email with the homework and handouts attached.

We’ve only got one more class left and we’re to work on some sort of trick. Heck, I just want Mike to tell me he has to go outside! DOWN would be nice, too. But we will work on a trick. Not sure what, yet. Any ideas?

Joella likes to lay on her back so we tagged it with “Dead Bug”. When we tell her “Dead Bug” she (sometimes) will roll over onto her back.

From time to time, I will discuss various products that I have either tried or know enough about to give an opinion. We’ve had so many dogs go through this house and have tried so many different products. Some were complete busts. Some were great. All cost money which is why before I purchase something, I research it. Reviews are also a bonus but I have to remember that often reviews are given by those who disliked the product the most.

Usually, in doing an online search, if you enter in a product name followed by REVIEW, you will find some good links. For example, today I entered in “dog seatbelt reviews” (without the quotes). I found what I needed quickly. I prefer Google’s search engine.

Joella once had a website where I had a lot of reviews up. Due to some software crashes, most of that is gone but I am looking for a backup I may have saved.

If I do a review and someone has an opposing opinion, feel free to say so! Opinions are as widely varied as the people who have them. Just remember, say what you want about my opinion, just leave my genealogy, brain cell capacity, and common sense level out of it please.

We had another good class. This time, the big pups were in the back with the smaller pups up front. This gave me a chance to see them. A couple of Dachshunds, a Poodle, some little mop things, Duke the Aussie Blue Heeler, and one or two others. I don’t see the fascination with the wee dogs. My mom has a tiny Yorkie pup now. I’ve not met it yet but have seen a few pictures. I’d be afraid I’d break the pup!

I digress. We worked on some loose leash walking some more. Mike’s good at this as long as I have the treat in my hand. In the restricted environ of the indoor dog class, there’s not much to distract him from the fact I have food. If we were somewhere else, he’d judge the other stuff more important. I didn’t get up and walk with him much as that’s a painful thing for me to do. We worked on attention stuff within our little space. Like Joella, Mike likes to watch whatever is going on around him. But, again, I had food so was deemed slightly more important.

We also played a cool game called “Pass the Puppy”. We sat in a circle (I remained in my chair while the others sat on the floor) and the pups were passed to the left until our pup had gone all the way around the circle. Mike was a hit and didn’t seem concerned about who was holding him. He stole a toy, though. Mike is probably the smallest “big” dog there. There’s Jessie the Akita, Sammy and another (Sarge?) German Shepherd, Max and Lexi the Rottweilers, and Clint the Lab. The idea behind the game was to get the dog used to being handled by other folks. New experiences for pups are always a good thing as they form a base of what is Good (happy, safe, fun, pleasurable, etc) and what is Not Good (fearful, painful, frightening, etc).

And we started the process of teaching DOWN. Oy, what a mess Mike is! He loves to SIT. But he’s not grasping the concept of DOWN. I may have to get him up on the bed and work there since bending over so long is not easy for me. Have I mentioned that Mike’s new name is PITA?

Mike and a few other big pups got a new harness. It is the Easy Walking Harness from Premier. It is different in that the leash attaches at the front, not on the top. This helps to control the pup and make it clear to them where their attention needs to be. It is remarkably easy to pull a dog back with this harness. And it is much easier on the neck and throat. Mike hurled (vomited) during class. It could have been from him lunging on the leash to get at Max (who sat on one side of us). I am not a fan of the Gentle Leader (also made by Premier) because it looks so much like a muzzle. When one is walking a Rottweiler, one doesn’t want to have others think the dog is wearing a muzzle.

We have some new homework and Mike and I will work on it starting tomorrow. It’s been a crazy few days and hopefully it will calm down now and he and I can get to work.

I also want to take the time to sing the praises of the teacher of this class. She’s good! Her name is Gail Hubbard and she is one of the owners of A Good Dog’s Life. She gives good advice, knows the different breeds, and has been very helpful with me and my physical situation. Mike and I will be going to the next level of classes (Basic Manners I) all the way through to getting Mike his Canine Good Citizen certificate. Finding a good dog trainer is just as important as finding a good dog. A Good Dog’s Life is a member of the Association of Pet Dog Trainers. If you are looking for a trainer, go to the APDT site and do a search.

Mike and I had our second class last night. We did good! Mike was a demo dog for one of the segments and I was so proud of him! It was on teaching a prolonged SIT and the beginnings of STAY. He did well for the demo, even got up twice so she could demonstrate how to respond. Nice of him, wasn’t it? She demonstrated the way to physically put the pup in a sit, but that didn’t work well with Mike since that’s not what I do (I can’t get down there). She must have realized this and did the lure (hold a treat and raise it up over the dog’s head so that he must sit in order to still reach and see it) instead which got him into a sit much faster and easier.

The class was divided into two open areas this time. The larger pups were in the front and the smaller ones were in the back. They were given the chance to play twice, which was fun. Mike is used to playing with the much larger Sam and wound up on top most of the time. He was gently disengaged and redirected elsewhere.

The Akita pup (Jessie) was there, which was cool. Akita’s are naturally dominant and when he and Mike met, the instructor said they would make excellent playmates since Mike isn’t too willing to be knocked down. There was no fighting between any of the pups which was great.

The difficult part of the brief play times were that there are a lot of pups there with black backs! Two Rottie pups (Max and Lexi), two German Shepherds, and Mike. When they were in a pile, it was difficult to figure out quickly which pup was which!

We worked on maintaining our pup’s attention before and after each playtime (yeah, Jessie is cool but I have the treats, Mike!). We also worked on prolonging the SIT and introducing STAY and we did some loose leash walking. Well, everyone else did walking while Mike and I kinda stuck to our little area.

When we arrived, there were various stuff around the edges of the room. There were raised boards, some short standing tables, a knot of hoola-hoops, and some PVC pipe. The idea is to introduce the pups to it to get them used to strange things and surfaces. Mike did all of it rather well. He wasn’t phased by the hoops at all. He didn’t like the wobble table but that’s understandable.

I’ve not read the homework but I think it is more on the SIT, STAY, and loose leash walking with some other stuff tossed in such as doing training sessions in different locations. We may take Mike to Lowes or Home Depot this weekend. As a Service Dog in Training, I can legally take Mike with me anywhere I go but because of his urinary problem, I won’t be doing it to that degree just yet. Instead, we’ll go to places that accept all dogs.

Yesterday, Mike returned to the vet’s as we try to figure out if his urine function is normal. The problem is Mike pees a lot. An awful lot. House training has been difficult. We’re now keeping the water on the other side of the gate where Mike can’t get to it. He gets all he wants 3 times a day and still he pees far too frequently. When he first went to our vet shortly after we got him, his urine was very diluted and had white blood cells. Meaning he was not concentrating his urine and he had an infection somewhere. He was on an antibiotic for a while. We took in another sample and this time the urine was properly concentrated and the white blood cells were gone. But the problem has persisted.

Mike is an interesting boy, medically. He got a rough start in life but recovered nicely. However, he can’t help but be effected by that, even though he was just a few weeks old when rescued. We humans can only try to understand just how that will manifest, if it will at all. This basically is polite talk for “it’s in his head”, or as the vet put it, is psychogenic. Mike may not have a grasp on what his body is trying to tell him (like when he needs to pee or poop).

The vet called today with some more ideas and thoughts based on her research and the input from others. Aside from the psychogenic, there are several possible scenarios. The good news is that the urine is concentrated and that rules out several diseases. Diabetes insipidus was topmost on our minds because we had a dog with it and their behaviors are very similar. But that was ruled out, thank the doggess! Strangely enough, the topmost possibility is E. coli. I found this in an Google search:

Bladder infections most commonly involve bacteria that are already normal
residents on (or in) the dog or cat. The most common infectious agent is
Escherichia coli (E. coli) which is present in almost half of urinary
tract infections in dogs and cats. This bacteria is a normal inhabitant of
the gastrointestinal tract but it does not belong in the urinary tract. It
is very good at invading the urinary tract if given any opportunity at all,
though. So any fecal contamination of the vulva or prepuce can lead to an
infection. Due to anatomy, this is more common in females than in males
(infection occurs more often).

It is very hard to clear up a bacterial infection when there are persistent
crystals or stones in the bladder, since these serve as a place for
bacteria to hide, as well as irritating the bladder and urethra, making it
easier for the bacteria to invade tissues.

(source)

The interesting thing about this is that there were crystals in the urine sample we took in yesterday.

The second possibility is Leptospirosis. Prevention of this type of bacterial infection is now included in vaccines so it is unlikely to be the culprit. However, because of the way it effects the kidneys, it is on the list. The website quoted above also has a section on Leptospirosis.

Treatment for both of these bacterial infections would be the same – a high dose of an antibiotic. The vet and I decided this is what we would do: we would start him on the antibiotic for a week starting tomorrow (we can’t get there to pick it up until morning) and continue withholding the water for a few more days. We will reintroduce the water and see how his peeing goes. If it improves even the slightest bit, we will continue the antibiotic for another 3 weeks.

We could take in another sample and have a culture grown to see what type of bacteria it is. However, almost any type of bacteria we would find would be treated with the same antibiotic unless it is a weird one or one that responds better with another type of antibiotic. We are opting to not do this basically because of time. We can’t get it to them until tomorrow and it would take 72hrs to get a proper growth. So that would be Tuesday or perhaps Wednesday before we’d get any answers. Meanwhile, if we start the antibiotic tomorrow, we’ll know by Tuesday, Wednesday at the latest, if it is making any difference.

Mike is a smart boy. Too smart to not have learned house training already. He knows the ring the bells to go out (“out” also includes going out to eat sticks and leaves). He has learned a lot from both the Puppy Class (we had our second one last night) and from our regular training here at home. So he’s not a stupid dog. It is this ability to learn that contradicts the urinary problem and makes it more of a physical thing than a mental one.

Oh! Almost forgot to tell you his weight! Mike is now 31.8 lbs! Double what he was a month ago! Big boy!

Mike is one tricky pup.

House training is still on going with some great progress and still very little progress.

I purchased an elastic dog collar that has 4 huge bells on it. The pet supply store had them on sale from leftover Xmas stuff. I can’t imagine putting this on a dog as the noise is way loud. Anyway, I was going to take off the bells and hang one or two on the door but they make enough noise as a group that I can’t miss it. I even hear it all the way in the kitchen!

When we go out, we shake the bells and say something along the lines of “do you need to go outside?” “ready to go outside?”. The idea is that when he needs to go, he will ring the bells. He can’t reach them without standing with his front paws on the door. He’s managed to take it off the doorknob twice but usually just nudges it with his nose. He has already learned that ringing the bells and/or whining gets him outside. Big step considering we’ve not worked on “touch it” yet!

However (with Mike, it seems there’s always a “however”), what he wants is to go outside and eat sticks, walnut shells, pecan shells, leaves, dirt, bark, packing peanuts (long story), and almost anything else he can find. He loves to hunt down and carry huge floppy gross mushrooms, too.

We’ve stopped the long walks and instead stand in one place with him limited to with about 5-8′ of that spot. He must do his business there or back inside we go. If I know he needs to do his business but he’s too interested in the other stuff, we go back inside and he goes into his crate. 20 minutes later, we go back outside. Eventually, he will either do his business outside or I get impatient and we go back in where he promptly poops in the living room.

As with any dog training, most mistakes are the handler’s fault. Mike doesn’t have accidents, I do.

And while we are on the subject of Mike’s weirdness, here’s another for you. Mike will chew on anything made of any material. He will even chew on my chair. He’s pulled out some cosmetic tubing ends, roughed up an adjustment knob, and he has left his mark on the metal frame. The below image is the frame above the rear wheel. That’s tooth marks on the metal.

link to bigger image

There are several websites that offer a huge array of information regarding dogs. They include not only information about the species, but resources such as articles about selecting a dog, where to go for more specific information, etc etc.

Dr. P’s Dog Library is perhaps the first place to start. The best thing about the site is that it is huge. It is also the worst thing about the site. The Library is a huge collection of links. Lots and lots of links. And with the flexible, ever-changing Internet, addresses change or disappear. Keeping up with such a huge collection is daunting. In other words, be prepared for dead links. You can easily get lost in the collection, going from one place to another, realizing there is more to this or that and oh, wait, there’s also this part and…. You get the idea.

The Dog Owner’s Guide is the next place to check out. The main difference here is that the vast majority of the articles are hosted there so there is little to no dead links. The problem, though, is that the articles can be short (not quite enough info) or huge (far too much info). A lot of articles are written by the same people so the same biases (for good or evil) continually appear. But by golly if you are looking for info on almost anything dog related, you’ll find it there. Click on the Topics link at the top of the page and get a good “sitemap” of sorts to help guide you to the articles. The actual sitemap is the Index link. Oh, and since they host the articles, they also own them. If you want to use the articles (print them out, post on a site, etc) you MUST read the Copyright and Reprint Policy first. Standard procedure for any online articles anywhere on the Internet.

Working Dogs Cyberzine is another good resource. It is quite commercial but still offers a huge selection of articles. Click the Articles link in the sidebar or on the top menu bar to get to the articles (duh). The sidebar will change to list the topics. As evident from their name, this site is geared toward working dogs (service dogs, search and rescue dogs, police dogs, etc) but the articles and gear work for almost any companion/pet dog.

Dog Breed Info Center is a good place to look for breed specific information as well as a plethora of dog related stuff. Probably their best section is the “Find the Perfect Dog” and its search categories. Live in an apartment? Clicking the Apartment Life link takes you to information about dogs in apartments and a list of apartment loving dogs. Want a canine version of a couch potato? Scroll down and select the Low Exercise Demand link.

Also, keep an eye on the growing list of links in the sidebar to the right. Once it gets big enough, I’ll move them to their own page.

If anyone has others to share, let me know!

Mike and I went to our first Puppy Class last night. We both came home exhausted! It is a large class, I think around 13-14 puppies. There’s two German Shepherds, two Rotties, a Poodle, a Lab, two little fluffy somethings (Lhasa Apso maybe?), a smooth coat Dachshund, a wire haired Dachshund, a little collie of some sort, a Cattle Dog, and Mike. I think I’m missing a dog or two. Anyway, a huge difference in sizes and in ages. One puppy, an Akita, couldn’t make it so the group playtime was postponed until next week.

The room was divided into little sections by these PVC expanding fences. A cool thing, by the way, these fences. Each pup had its own section to be in. Mike did fairly well in seeing the boundaries, although he liked to stick his nose/head through. He was a big distraction to Max, the male Rottie pup who was on one side of us. Mike was not the biggest and he was not the smartest but he was one of the quietest. There was a lot of whining and barking scattered about. Him being the quietest was odd since here at the house, he is quite mouthy! He barks, growls, yaps, etc as he plays with his toys, especially his fave toy, Sam. We call him Mr. Squeaky because of the noises he makes in the morning when he is in his crate and trying to wake me up.

When we first went in, we went to a table where Gail Hubbard, the instructor, sat. We showed the vet record with the dates of Mike’s vaccines and were handed a stack of paper and a clicker. We have TEN pages of stuff to read today, including a page full of homework. TEN pages! In the class, we worked on name recognition, getting their attention, and the basics of clicker training. A lot of it was stuff I already knew, although it was cool to hear it vs reading about it. We also worked on the basics for SIT, which Mike and I have already been working on. Here is the thing I learned that I didn’t know about: dogs move in the direction the touch/pressure is coming from. Meaning, if you push on a dog’s butt to make him sit, he’s only going to push upwards, against that pressure, vs willingly go down. Instead, Gail demonstrated with the Lab pup how to get a dog into a sitting position. She tucked the tail down, and lifted up, not push down. The dog sat on her hand. It was not a fight of wills and the dog got praised for doing what comes naturally.

The main problem with the class is my own abilities. We had to do a lot of “get up and walk around” exercises. Since the truck is still out of commission, and since my powerchair doesn’t fit in Lorna’s Subaru, I had my crutch. And since I needed both hands, I didn’t use it. By the time I was done, both knees were burning and my lower back was pissed as heck. The lower back is better today but my knees are not happy. As soon as I finish some internet stuff, I’m going to transfer to the recliner and pack both knees in ice for a while. I’m not sure what I am going to do to get around this for the class. I can’t spend the next day (or two) in such pain. I will just have to do everything sitting down and hope Mike figures it out anyway. We do all the training at home with me either in my wheelchair or in a chair in the kitchen. I will send an email to the instructor and ask her to help me come up with ways to do the various training methods from a sitting position. And, while I am sitting in the recliner, I’ll re-read the Teamwork books.

Linkages:
A Good Dog’s Life – where Mike and I go for class
Clicker training and Karen Pryor’s website (the “inventor” of clicker training)
Cool PVC fences – not exactly what they had, but close
Teamwork I (training your dog as a person with a disability) and Teamwork II (training your own service dog) dog books

I’ve decided to back up a bit and explain how I decided that Mike would make a good working dog.

There’s a lot of advice out there on how to evaluate a puppy. Like any advice, take and use what feels comfortable to you. Some folk are believers of the Alpha Leader and Pack theories. Others lean more toward the Operant Conditioning theories. Some advice is given by folks who know what they are talking about. Others are compilations.

As I’ve mentioned before, I went to King, NC to meet with the folks of Foxdale Independent Rescue. They had a 4-5mos old pup named Happy that I was interested in meeting. Before I went, I did a lot of research. I Googled: temperament test, puppy temperament, and puppy assessment. I settled on a modified version of the Volhard Puppy Aptitude test (links below). Keep in mind as you search that there actually is a Temperament Test (a big step above the Canine Good Citizen test). You may want to read some about that, but for puppy evaluation, you want to look for puppy specific temperament stuff.

There was too much for me to write down, so I took screen shots. This also allowed me to view the information off-line in the car on the way there. There were a few basic things I would check for first then move on or stop based on the results.

Social Attraction: call the puppy to you by clapping, making happy noises, etc. It should come to you with joy and glee. But watch for biting and/or chewing on your hands. Watch for tail being down (it should be up).
Elevation Dominance: bend over the puppy, put your hands under its belly and lift it so the back feet are off the floor. This test is to see how the puppy reacts to something where it has no control on the situation. You want the pup to wiggle a little (perfectly normal to want control!) but then settle down and wait for you to do something else.
Social Dominance: sit or crouch next to the puppy. Stroke from head to almost the butt slowly several times. What you are doing, in essence, is telling the pup (in dog language) that you are socially dominant than it is. You want that pup to react calmly, either by playing with you or by leaning into the petting. Licking is fine. Growling or biting is not.
Roll Over/Restraint: get the pup to lay down and put your hand on it so it cannot get up. This is akin to the Elevation Dominance test but is more in the dog language. Wiggling is fine, but you want the dog to settle down and accept the situation. While you are keeping it there, you can talk to it, pet him, etc. Note: this is NOT the “dominance roll”. This is just keeping the dog in one place, laying down, for 30 seconds.

Happy, the pup we went to see, did not pass the Elevation test and probably did not pass the Social Dominance Test. I couldn’t get him into the Restraint position. He was middling to the Social Attraction test. But Mike and Pokey (Mike’s sibling) did great. Pokey was slower, seemed less concerned about everything. Later he was more active. I think he was either just waking up or needed a nap. From what I understood of what I was looking for, Happy would not have made a good working dog. As a pet, he would be good for someone who understood the potential problems and was strong enough to take him on. It is quite possible that outside that environment (he’d been with them a while), he may settle down and be less domineering. In our house, with the critters we have, a domineering pup would not have worked.

After realizing this, I decided to continue the testing on Mike and Pokey.

Retrieving: take a crumpled up bit of paper and toss it several feet away from the pup. A “natural retriever” will chase after it and pick it up. For a pet dog, this isn’t as important unless you want a dog to play fetch with you. If tossing a slobbery tennis ball is not something you are interested in, then this test isn’t as important for a pet dog although some folks believe it is an indicator of training interest.
Touch Sensitivity: pinch the skin/webbing between two of the pup’s toes. Start out light and slowly increase the pressure until you get a reaction. This tests how the pup responds to uncomfortable touching. Licking your hand is fine as is whining. But you do not want a pup who bites, yelps, or doesn’t react at all.
Sound Sensitivity: while the pup is looking in the opposite direction, make a loud noise such as clapping, dropping something, etc. This is also a basic test for deafness. The pup should react to the noise, certainly, but how it reacts is important. Bark aggressively? Bark in response? Jumps 15 feet in the opposite direction?

Mike and Pokey both chased and picked up anything I threw. Both mouthed and carried metal objects. Both were appropriate with the Touch and Sound sensitivity tests.

Now came the harder part. Observing the pups while they interacted with each other and the various stuff going on around them. How were they with the bigger dogs? The smaller ones? Do they share toys or hoard them? Do they play with each other or by themselves? When something new happens, how do they react? This is where Mike began to stand out from the others. When a noise from the other room startled everyone and started them barking, all but Mike charged the door. He sat back and watched first, then joined in. Happy chewed through the doorbell cord and the husband of the woman came in to cut it and put it away. All the others ran to him and got in his way while Mike sat back for a while, watching, then went to steal a bit of the wire. For me, it was this watchfulness, this observing his surroundings, that made me decide to adopt him. Others might have seen his behavior as being afraid or overly cautious, perhaps even too independent. That’s not how I saw it, though, because it’s a trait Mike and I share. Someone who was more active and go-get-em might have liked Happy or Pokey (once he woke up) better.

And this is why the Thirty Day Trial Period is important. That watchful pup might get home and turn into a charging demon. Or that go-get-em pup might slow down and decide chewing on the bedpost is more fun than chasing a ball. A good example of this is my Mom’s dog, Andee (who recently crossed the Rainbow Bridge). When they went to the pet store, the other pups were up at the wire, barking, jumping, hyper. Mom held several different pups and they were all wiggly, licking monsters. But over in the corner of the pen was Andee, sleeping with his back to the ruckus. Mom asked to hold him and he lay in her arms, ever so quiet and calm. She was able to put him on his back and he just laid there. Now fast forward. Andee grew up to be a practically non-stop maniac. Hyper, jumping, scratching legs – a complete opposite of what he was that day. (note: I’d not ever get a dog that was that quiet anyway since such behavior also indicates possible illness) By implementing the Thirty Day Trial Period, you acknowledge that things are going to change. Behaviors that were cute at the shelter or on adoption day may grow to be obnoxious habits. The pup becomes comfortable with itself and its new family. It also wants to push the boundaries (what child/teen doesn’t?).

Mike’s 30 days ended on Dec. 30th. I thought long and hard about how he had changed, how he had progressed, and how he stood on the potential to be a working dog. I looked at my notes from the day I first met him and remembered how he was that day. I compared that pup to the pup he is now. Mike will be a great Service Dog. He likes picking things up, carrying them around. He is responding well to clicker training. He is fitting in well with our pack.

No matter what method you use, research like mad before you even go see the first pup.

Research the breed(s) you are interested in. Know what you are getting yourself into. Is the breed suited for your lifestyle? Even if a mixed breed, some of the genetic ancestry will show through so research each breed that went into your potential new friend.

Then there’s the cost. Go to a pet supply store, take a pad of paper and a pen. Go around the store and write down the price of everything you and your pup would need. Crate, pad for the crate, leash, collar and/or harness, food bowl, water bowl, food (read the side of the bags to determine how much food your pup will eat), treats, toys, dog gate, brush, nail clippers, etc. Call the vet you will be using and ask for their prices on Wellness checks, spay/neuter, microchipping (usually around $50), puppy vaccines, etc. What about grooming? When I looked into getting a Standard Poodle, I found out that the regular grooming they require can cost as much as $60 every other month. Now take a look at that price list. Can you afford this pup? Can you afford to feed it as it grows?

Where will you get it? Breeder? Be prepared for high prices and, in some cases, snobbery. Rescue group? Be prepared for the Inquisition. In both cases, you will have to sign a contract. Know what the breeder or rescue group has in their contract before you even go look.

Looking for a Service Dog? Figure out what you want the dog to do. Do you need a large dog for brace work? Or will a smaller dog do? Is retrieving high on your list or do you need one to alert you to sounds? Can you clean up after a pup or do you need to get an adult?

Looking for a pet? Why do you want a dog? Why do you want a puppy? Is your lifestyle adaptable to the needs of a poop and pee machine? Is your house puppy proof? (sometimes I think no house can ever be 100% puppy proof)

Think about it. You’re considering bringing home something that could potentially live 16 or more years (our Casey is 15 and still going strong). Something that will need care, love, attention every day, several times a day. Pets are not disposable like electronics and treadmills. You can’t put it out on the curb for trash pick-up. You can’t (or shouldn’t) sell it in a yard sale.

**
Below are the main sources I used:
Assessing Shelter Dogs and Temperament Testing
Volhard Puppy Aptitude Test
Temperament Testing Puppies
American Temperament Test Society
International Association of Assistance Dog Partners – “Finding Mr. Right” articles
Dr. P’s Library – Puppies