The right dog for you

Finding the right dog for you is like finding Mr. or Ms. Right.  It's different for everyone.

I often feels guilty that I always tend to favour the female dog more than the male dog.  So far,  everytime we have dogs,  we first adopt a male dog and then subsequently we adopt a female dog.  We always felt that one dog by itself is sorta lonely.  I don't know why we get the male first, it just happened that way.

As I'm used to having two dogs at a time,  it's easy to tell between the two which one is right for me.   The choice is even easier when you can clearly see that your dog likes another family member more than you.

With that said though, I'm sure if I only had one dog at a time,  he/she would feel right because they would not be competing for my attention or comparing my treatments of them.

With Okee and Q, one of them had behavioural issues while on leash and the other had behavioural issues during car rides but they always wanted to go on walks together.  Both would whine the entire time at home,  if you take only one out at a time.  Just think about the dilemma I have to go through every time I want to take them out for a walk.  More on the dilemmas of walking two dogs later.  Maybe tomorrow if I don't know what to write about.

I guess it's a lot easier if it's only you and one dog.  The dog would be like this is my person and the person would be like this is my dog.  So shame on you for abandoning your dog because you obviously didn't think it through.  Don't take it personally if your dog runs away, it happens.  Remember to thank your neighbours profusely when they return your dog.   Who knows how far your dog could've traveled.  Don't be too embarrased to drive around the neighbourhood in pajamas screaming your dog's name (especially if you just got he/she recently, he/she should have a tag too. The tag helps a lot).

Anyways,  if you really, really have to choose the "right" dog for you,  here are a few things to consider:

1. Dog size relative to your size
2. Your place of residence.
3. Your schedule
4. Your monthly budget
5. What you intend to do with your dog.   Don't be too ambitious now!

Remember,  you don't know your dog until you lived with it for a while.   Some breeds are easier to train than others though.  I can say this because I had the privilege of having dogs for almost all of my life.  I've spend time with at least three mongrels, a sheep dog (think lassie but a size smaller or the the dogs in babe but not black and white) and a Siberian Husky.  They are all very different from each other but all of them are very loving.