This will surely make the new puppy’s life, and yours, hell...
In a time not too long ago, in fact this week...
The breeder opened her email, just 6 days after her puppy, the best she had ever raised, had arrived in a new home. Her jaw dropped when she started reading what the new puppy owner had to say! Her first reaction was "This is crazy…."
It was only then that the breeder saw what she never expected... that the new puppy owner had made the worst and craziest mistake you could ever make.
But let’s not get ahead of ourselves, we should start at the beginning!
She was a first time dog owner...
It all began with a lady, who was a first time dog owner, and who lives an aristocratic life. With no children, and with a passion for writing, she enjoyed being remote from city society.
This lady loved dogs so much she wanted to welcome a new puppy to her family. We all know that feeling of excitement of being a new puppy owner. Well, she really wanted a Greyhound... a favourite breed of the upper English classes.
But remember, loving dogs is a start, but you need more!
The breeder, being a responsible one, wanted to be sure her precious puppy would have the right owner.
So, she asked her to fill out a questionnaire with lots of info so she could see how responsible a dog owner she would be. The future dog owner spoke long and enthusiastically of what the puppy’s life would be like, how excited she was to get the puppy, and of all the luxury and pampering the puppy would have. This puppy was going to be the child that she had never had.
This puppy, you could tell, would have everything it could wish for.
I bet you can imagine that the breeder was very excited to home her new puppy with such a nice family, one that would look after a dog like their own child.
The breeder pictured - “My bouncy puppy, spoilt and loved as the centre of a happy home.”
Meanwhile.... an anxious wait ensued for the lady in Britain. A month had to pass by before her puppy’s arrival. She was on the edge of her seat, excited and eager, and was really enthusiastic and restless in her messages.
Then finally the day came
Just think how wonderful it must have been to meet your new puppy. When the Greyhound puppy arrived, the lady was beside herself that the puppy was finally there. And the breeder is thinking “Yay, all is well, and everything has worked out.”
We only wish it had! But we know craziness is coming….
It was just 6 days later when dark, depressing and disturbing news landed in the breeder’s inbox about the new puppy, from the supposedly ready and excited owner:
“I want to RETURN the dog! The last 6 days have been the most exhausting of my life.
This puppy is nothing like I had hoped or dreamed. She is making ‘a mess’ all around the house, and everywhere is filthy. She misbehaves, doesn’t listen, and is even trying to sleep in the bed with us!!!
Both myself and my husband are becoming NERVOUS WRECKS from the constant struggle with this puppy, so much so that we cannot stand it any more!”
The breeder was thinking: “They are just giving up and want to return the dog to me, as they think it is in it’s best interest. I couldn’t believe it, so shocked, and now so upset!”
She had painted a picture of a heaven for this dog, and I feel misled!
After so much work, trouble, expectation and excitement... She wanted it to end like this! And this poor dog must go back to it’s breeder so suddenly, without any effort being given by her new owner.
Unbelievable, right? But sadly tales like this do happen.
When a puppy becomes a nightmare for an unprepared new dog owner!
Clearly, this breeder didn’t make a mistake, she had done everything to ensure her puppy went to the right home. The new owner fulfilled every criteria, and answered everything right and proper.
In reality it was the new dog owner who made a big, bad, and sad mistake.
She ignored the obvious!
Dogs do poo, dogs do want to sleep with you, dogs do want to be with you all the time. And a dog needs work, energy, commitment, and preparation. And of course a dog has to be trained, and shown what it can and cannot do. Most of all, it needs to fit correctly into your life.
… and if you feel all this is too much, but you insist on having a dog, then adopt an older, calmer and already trained dog.
What new dog owners need to know
DON’T LET YOUR EMOTIONS OVERRULE EVERYTHING, and become blinded by a beautiful, happy, perfect, trouble free pooch. Puppies are hard to resist I know! But they DEPEND ON YOU.
The Best Advice for first-time dog owners
- BE PREPARED to adjust your life a little to accommodate a dog.
- You have to be ready to make SACRIFICES.
- You will need to have PATIENCE.
- You must think LOGICALLY about whether this is the right breed.
Even if we had specifically asked this lady about dog mess, she would have been so blinded by emotion that she would have ignored this, and answered “oh it will be fine.” That crazy error is why she went from enthusiastically excited to a nervous wreck!
BE A SMART NEW PUPPY OWNER AND DON’T MAKE THE SAME MISTAKE THIS LADY DID!
Once you have made an emotional connection with a breed or a dog, think logically, and think hard, before you decide to commit!
Image credits: Dogtime, Tenor, Digital Spy, 7Wallpapers