For many of us, finding the ideal dog is a complicated undertaking.\u00a0 How active?\u00a0 Good with children?\u00a0 Good watch dog?\u00a0 Professionally bred, or rescued from a shelter?<\/p>\n
But there are other, less tangible aspects of the selection process that, while equally important, are rarely discussed.\u00a0 Here are some tips that will enable you to make the best decision possible for yourself and your family.<\/p>\n
1.\u00a0 Choose a dog that’s good.\u00a0 While there’s something appealing about being able to shout “Bad dog!” and the occaional “Medium dog!”, the novelty quickly wears off.\u00a0 Trust me, long term, you’re better off with good.\u00a0 If you cannot find a good dog, try to get one that’s special.\u00a0 If you’re fortunate enough to locate good and special in the very same animal–bingo.\u00a0 Avoid regular at all costs, and steer clear of icky.<\/p>\n
2.\u00a0 Make sure the dog can read a contract.\u00a0 Our miniature poodle, a rescue, turned out to have trouble with fine print, and quickly wound up in breach of the no-vomit clause.\u00a0 By the time we discovered the evidence, he’d lawyered up, and we had zero recourse.<\/p>\n
3.\u00a0 If faced with a choice between inspiring and useless, choose inspiring.\u00a0 Our dog, for example, has a serious case of Disappearing Elbow Condition, an affliction that causes his front legs to jut out horizontally in front of him whenever he’s lifted by the armpits, giving him an alarming resemblance to Frankenstein’s monster or a sleepwalker in a cartoon.\u00a0 And yet, despite his DEC, this poodle has managed to live a full and productive life, serving as a beacon of hope for many.\u00a0 Truly, we couldn’t be more proud.<\/p>\n
4.\u00a0 Choose a dog that’s physically unable to roll its eyes.\u00a0 This will come in handy whenever you exclaim, “You’re so cute today!\u00a0 How’d you get so cute?”\u00a0 You do not want an animal that will respond to a rhetorical question with a reproach, such as “If I’m so cute, why the wholly inadequate supply of treats around here?”<\/p>\n
5.\u00a0 And finally, since your pet’s temperament will affect your outlook on life, get a dog that’s an optimist.\u00a0 If a guest at the dinner table drops her earring, you want the kind of animal that will lunge for it, saying to himself, “You never know when a lovely piece of jewelry should happen to be made out of chicken.”<\/p>\n
Happy searching!<\/p>\n
Published in the Piedmont Post<\/em> September 2, 2009<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" For many of us, finding the ideal dog is a complicated undertaking.\u00a0 How active?\u00a0 Good with children?\u00a0 Good watch dog?\u00a0 Professionally bred, or rescued from a shelter? But there are other, less tangible aspects of the selection process that, while equally important, are rarely discussed.\u00a0 Here are some tips that will enable you to make…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[55],"yoast_head":"\n