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Adding a puppy to your family or your life can be a fun addition to any household, bringing joy, boundless energy and lots of fun, but before you start looking for local breeders, why not consider a rescue puppy?
While you might find a cute puppy in a pet store or from someone selling them online, you don’t know much about the background of the dog and there are many reasons why rescuing a puppy is a much better option.
1. You are giving it a brand new forever home
Your rescue puppy may not have had the best start in life and might have been through some bad times. By taking it home from a rescue centre you are ensuring it will have the best possible future in its new forever home and you can’t put a price on that.
2. It will have been trained
One of the issues people face when taking home a new puppy is all the behaviour and toilet-training required, and the problems and damage to furniture which might occur during the training process. Most animal rescue shelters will have the time to train the dogs they look after so you won’t have to deal with that.
3. You know it’s a healthy dog
While a rescue puppy may have been through some hard times, you know that once it was taken in to the shelter it will have been looked after properly by vets. You know that the puppy you take home will have had its vaccinations and will have been wormed and treated for fleas. It will have also already been neutered and given a clean bill of health before handing it over to you.
If the dog does have any medical conditions, they will be known about and under control, and you will take the dog away fully aware of everything. If you buy a puppy from someone, you have no guarantee of its medical history.
4. They will be with you for a long time
While an older dog will cause less chaos in your home, rescuing a puppy means they will be with you for a much longer time and will grow up with your family. I you don’t want to face a difficult conversation with young children, then rescuing a puppy who will grow up as they do, makes for a nice family set up.
5. You will know the dog’s history
When you buy a new puppy from a pet store, you have no idea of its background at all, but with an animal shelter you will know a bit about what happened to it and what kind of behaviours to expect in the future. It’s less of an unknown risk as you will know its history already.
6. The puppy will already be microchipped
Most animal shelters microchip the dogs they take in as routine, so you will already have a microchipped animal. This puts your mind at rest if your puppy were to wander off in the future, and saves a vet bill for you to pick up as well.
7. You will get support
Taking on a new puppy might feel a bit daunting but by choosing one from a rescue centre you will get some extra support. These centres want the dog and owner to be a good match so they will spend time with you to make sure you get the right animal that fits in with your lifestyle and requirements. You don’t get that from a pet store. They also often provide adoption packs giving you the things you need to settle your puppy in at their new home.
8. They are an asset to your home
Bringing a rescue puppy into your home will bring an unmatched level of energy and joy to your home that nothing else could do. Children love playing with puppies and watching them grow up together is all part of an amazing family life. Bonding with dogs can help to calm children and reduce anxiety.
9. You can teach them fun tricks
By taking on a puppy you can have great fun teaching them new tricks to do and getting them to recognise your commands and obey your requests. Training a new puppy can be amazing fun for all the family. You can reward them with dog gifts and make it all a fun experience for your new family member.
10. You can take them to puppy class
If you are daunted at the idea of teaching and training your rescue puppy by yourself, of if it has behavioural issues due to past bad treatment you can take it to puppy classes to learn differently. A puppy still has time to learn good behaviour and won’t be set in its ways like an older dog might be.
11. You are providing a puppy with the best start in life
By taking home a rescue puppy you are giving a dog the chance for a new start in life, and a good start in life. Your love and care for a rescue puppy will help to restore its belief in people and could turn an ill-treated scared dog into a happy and loving animal that goes on to live a long, healthy life with your family.
Conclusion
Bringing a new puppy into your life is a big decision but choosing where to get it from is one of the most important aspects to think about. Breeders aren’t always reputable and you need to make sure it’s not some kind of puppy farm.
About the Author: Elaine is the founder of In Your Dog House Gifts, the UK’s leading marketplace for British designers of quality dog-themed products. IYDHG are dedicated to supporting small independent designers and have collected a fantastic variety of their unique and stylish gifts which can be found in one place, ultimately creating a seamless shopping experience for dog lovers.
