Adopting An Australian Labradoodle Puppy
Some things to consider before you commit to a labradoodle puppy.
Do I Have Time To Spend With A Puppy?
A young puppy needs somebody at home.
After many years of placing puppies we have realized that the puppies who quickly become an asset to their families are the puppies who have somebody home every day during the day to look after them. It is possible to leave a puppy at home in an exercise pen or other safe area for several hours in a day. However a puppy does not thrive when left for long hours alone on a regular basis. He is a social creature who learns and grows from interaction.
A puppy will need walks when he is fully immunized and can go out in the world. He will need to attend puppy classes and meet people and other dogs to become a well socialized individual. This all takes time out of a busy life.
Can you make plans for him when the day is going to be unusually long and busy? He won’t understand a busy day that is immediately followed by ballet class and a hockey game unless of course he can come.
Can you make provision for a puppy sitter if puppy is to be left alone for a long period of time? How many places will he be allowed to go with you?
Like older children the older puppy needs his family around him. Even though he is not that vulnerable little baby any more he still needs a buddy to be with for most of the day. He also needs exercise and continuing education.
Is There A Place For My Puppy To Be?
When the puppy has to go to the bathroom he will need a safe area. No puppy should ever be loose and off leash where he can take a notion to run very fast and get into trouble. If you spend time with a very young puppy outside and call him regularly to come to you for a kibble he will learn to stay close by. Many puppies live in apartments or on land that is not fenced. These puppies need to be under close supervision or on a leash. If they run off at any age the will get in to trouble.
As puppy grows her world becomes a bigger place. Before you let her off leash at a park or in any unfenced area make absolutely sure she has one hundred percent recall.
Teach your puppy to sit and stay as soon as possible. If she does run from you across the road to the neighbours a good ‘sit stay’ could save her life until you come to get her home.
If you do have a fenced yard your puppy won’t care to be left in it while you leave the house No dog is happy left alone in the yard all day. Isolation quickly makes a dog a barker and an anxious individual most likely disliked by the neighbors.
How Much Does It Cost To Raise A Labradoodle?
Like children, puppies cost money. An Australian Labradoodle will need regular grooming and veterinary care. Good quality food is essential. Food found in the supermarket is not high quality. Most of the money these companies spend goes to advertising. We are feeding different foods to our dogs. We try to give them different protein sources. This is newer thinking as traditional thinking was always to find one food and stick with it. We have found that very high quality foods have no ill effects when one is substituted for another. We are presently feeding a combination of Acana and Orijen and Go dog foods. Sometimes we mix them together to feed.
There are many high quality foods to be found at specialty pet shops. To see what lies inside your kibble or to choose a new food go to the Dog Food Analysis Website at www.dogfoodannalysis.com.
There is also the cost of occasional boarding when you want to take a vacation without puppy. There is the cost of ongoing puppy and dog classes, which he needs to become a good canine citizen that everybody will love and admire.
Perhaps if you would like a clear idea about the costs of adding a puppy to the family, check out the average costs of things like grooming and vaccines with your local groomer and Veterinarian. We recommend considering Trupanion Pet Health insurance. General veterinary costs can be paid without going in to debt but we had a girl who fractured her legs so badly in an accident that it was $8000 before we were done over the course of two years. If we had taken out insurance with the smallest premium and $500 deductible this would not have been a problem. It is something to consider.
Although a wonderful puppy growing into a wonderful dog will give you much more than he will cost in time and money for many families these things do need to be taken into consideration.
If You Know You Are Ready To Adopt A Puppy What Happens Next?
Call Jean at Over The Moon Labradoodles
We don’t have an application form, just these ideas to consider before you bring a puppy into your home. We prefer to talk to our puppy families either on the phone or in person. By talking to each other you can get a better idea of what we do and we can get to know your needs a little better.
Learn more about pricing and the process of adopting a puppy from Over The Moon Labradoodles.
Will A Puppy Be An Asset To My Family?
According to a Pediatrics magazine article picked up by Reuters British News the answer is is yes.
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Dogs are no longer just man’s best friend: The furry family members may also protect infants against breathing problems and infections, a new study suggests. Researchers found that Finnish babies who lived with a dog or – to a lesser extent – a cat spent fewer weeks with ear infections, coughs or running noses. They were also less likely to need antibiotics than infants in pet-free homes. Dr. Eija Bergroth from Kuopio University Hospital in Finland and colleagues said one possible explanation for that finding is that dirt and allergens brought in by animals are good for babies’ immune systems. The researchers studied 397 infants who were born at their hospital between September 2002 and May 2005 for their first year. Parents filled out weekly diaries starting when the child was nine weeks old, recording information on babies’ health as well as their contact with cats and dogs. Based on those diaries and a year-end questionnaire, the researchers determined that 35 percent of the children spent the majority of their first year with a pet dog and 24 percent in a home with a cat. Despite only a third of families owning dogs and fewer owning cats, the majority of babies had at least some contact with a dog at their house during the study period and more than one-third were exposed to a cat. Before their first birthday, 285 of the babies had at least one fever, 157 had an ear infection, 335 had a cough, 128 wheezed, 384 got stuffy or runny noses and 189 needed to take antibiotics at some point, parents reported. The researchers found that contact with dogs, more than cats, was tied to fewer weeks of sickness for babies.
For example, infants with no dog contact at home were healthy for 65 percent of parents’ weekly diary reports. That compared to between 72 and 76 percent for those who had a dog at home. Babies in dog-owning families were also 44 percent less likely to get inner ear infections and 29 percent less likely to need antibiotics. The researchers said infants who spent more than zero but less than six hours per day at home with a dog were the least likely to get sick. “A possible explanation for this interesting finding might be that the amount of dirt brought inside the home by dogs could be higher in these families because (the dog) spent more time outdoors,” the researchers wrote Monday in the journal Pediatrics. Bergroth told Reuters Health in an email that the dirt and germs a dog brings into the house may cause a child’s immune system to mature faster, which makes it better at defending against the viruses and bacteria that cause respiratory problems. That theory is commonly referred to as the “hygiene hypothesis.”
“In many ways, (the study is) saying, if you’re exposed to a natural environment… your immune system recognizes that you don’t fight the normal allergens,” said Dr. T. Bernard Kinane, the chief of the pediatric pulmonary unit at MassGeneral Hospital for Children in Boston. Kinane, who was not involved with the new study, told Reuters Health not all research agrees that exposure to dogs and cats helps protect against kids’ breathing problems. But he said there is an overall trend in that direction. The researchers also can’t rule out the possibility that people who own dogs are less likely to get sick for another reason, and not due to protection offered by pets, Bergroth noted.
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/L9suBT
Pediatrics, online July 9, 2012.
