How do I select my dog?
When finally you decide that you are going to have a dog it is time to decide whether your will be male or female and what breed will suit your requirement.
There is no straight forward answer to these two questions. Before deciding anything you need to consider certain facts which will help you to make your mind up.
Male or Female dog?
Male dogs are more independent and aggressive in nature; they are generally bigger in size compared to the females of the same breed. Female dogs are more docile and obedient by nature.
It is often said that ultimately the dog’s nature and personality depends on the type of training it receives but at the same time it should be kept in mind that genetic predisposition is not something that can be easily altered.
So if you are a peace-loving person or if there are small children in your family female dog may be suitable for your home.
Which breed?
Next question what breed would be suitable for you. Selection of breed depends mainly on your purpose of getting the dog. If you have a specific purpose in mind you have to the breed that is suitable for the function.
If you do not have any specific purpose in mind other than having a loyal canine friend then other selection criteria become important.
In that case you must ask the following questions.
Size of the mature dog.
The bigger the dog the more space it will need, consider the breed with large size only if your house has got lot of extra space.
Whether long haired or short haired.
Long haired breed needs extra care for the long hairs and as a result maintenance cost of long haired breed is higher compared to their short haired counter part.
Purebred or crossbreed/mongrel.
Selecting a crossbreed dog is comparatively tough task as predicting size and nature of crossbreed dog is more difficult than the purebred ones. So if you decide to get a crossbreed dog you must find as much information as possible about the puppy’s parents, that will give you an indication regarding the future nature and size of the puppy.