Five Questions to Ask Yourself Before Adopting a Puppy This Holiday Season

You can picture it, can’t you? The excitement in your kids’ eyes when they see a big red bow tied around an adorable, furry puppy, all snuggled up next to your Christmas tree. After all, it’s the puppy they’ve been begging you to get for months now, and you’re about to feel like “mom and dad of the year!” 

But wait. What will life look like with a puppy after the excitement of the holiday season wears off? Sure, they’re cute, but as Nathan Lowe, the American Dog Whisperer, explains, there’s more to these cute little canines than meets the eye – a lot more! Getting a puppy is a huge commitment, and you should know the commitment is real! 

Here are five somewhat difficult questions to ask yourself before adding “puppy” to your family’s Christmas wish list this year: 

Question One

Why do you want to get a puppy? As Lowe shares, “You don’t want to end up saying, ‘Man, we should have thought about this first.'” 

Ask yourself, are you getting a puppy for sentimental reasons or for a serious commitment? Do you just want something cute in the house, ‘to baby’? If so, Lowe warns things could go terribly wrong.

He explains that when you baby a puppy, and they end up becoming an authority figure in your home, they’re hard to control. So ask yourself – are you ready to make a commitment to raise them and give them a stable home and adventures? Are you ready to make this your duty? Or is this just for fun? 

Question Two

Are you willing to be routinely inconvenienced for the next 8-10 months?

Well, are you? If not, Lowe says you’re not ready for a puppy! Most of his clients experience some sort of frustration with puppies – either their behavior or chemistry issues with the family. He says, “This is real; it happens; you are bringing an animal into your home; there are going to be bumps in the road and behaviors you don’t understand.

You are going to have to be committed to being inconvenienced by a puppy in your home.” As we know, a puppy will keep you on your toes, but Lowe says you have to make that commitment and embrace inconvenience. If you’re willing to invest time and training, you can have a great dog as a result!

Question Three

Can I give a puppy what they truly need?

No, this doesn’t mean shipments of toys, Lowe explains, even though they would love that, but what do puppies REALLY NEED? Consistent, intense supervision, he shares,  especially during these early months, up to about five to six months old. “You need to supervise them, and they need to feel supervised by you,” says Lowe.

“They also need consistent productive enrichment – that means getting things like doggy flirt poles – teaching them the skills their mother would teach them and playing with your dog in such a way that they learn to move their body, to focus, to stalk, to hunt, etc.” 

Question Four

Can I give my puppy consistent rules and boundaries accompanied by canine-style enforcement?

You might be thinking, “Huh?” “What does this even mean?” Well, as Lowe explains, momma will growl, snap, and nip if she’s not being listened to.

As puppies turn three, four, and five months old, things start intensifying because momma teaches social rules – ‘you violated a social norm, you’re coming at me when I’m eating, you’re being too wild in my space, you’re climbing me, and you’re six months old, and that’s not permitted.’ Lowe says you have to be willing to give puppies boundaries, even starting at three months old, which is when he recommends enforcing the social rules that their mommas would teach them.

Question Five

Can I give a puppy consistent imprinting?

Hmm, come again? Imprinting? Yes! This means energy and response to stimuli in the environment that teach a puppy how to think and respond. Lowe says it’s really crucial for those aged three to six months. For example, You’re with your 3-month-old puppy, and someone is loading the dishwasher and dropping a pan. CRASH!!

Your puppy freaks out, he explains. How do you imprint how to react to that? Well, by reacting the way you want your puppy to react. Not reacting. So if you freak out, in a high, energetic, and excited voice, saying, “Oh, puppy, it’s okay. Are you all right?”

What you’re actually doing, Lowe explains, is imprinting fear. “We don’t want to do that,” he says. “When something like that occurs, you just ignore it and get your puppy distracted onto something else. Slap the floor with a toy. They come running, and it’s over. Imprint the right energy, the right response.”

So, now that you’ve asked yourself these questions, you may feel ready for a puppy… or not. And if not, that’s okay! If you feel you can’t provide an ideal life for a puppy at this time or during this season in the life of your family, Lowe suggests a different option – consider adopting an adult! He says you can get a great adult dog from a shelter that fits well with your family dynamics and rhythms.

Try Fostering First

If you’re worried about finding the right adult dog, Lowe strongly advises fostering to adopt first! “Always, always, always, foster to adopt,” he says. “I cannot emphasize this enough.

This will help you assess if this dog, once they get comfortable after a few days in your home, is going to fit with the rhythms of your family.” Lowe later adds that because you haven’t committed to the adoption, you’re not going to have the emotional feeling of ‘we adopted this dog, and now we’re returning this dog’; it’s a foster situation, so you’re seeing if it’s a good fit and if not, you can foster another one until you find the dog that fits your family dynamic. 

Lastly, ‘forget the optics,’ Lowe warns. Forget the dog that would look great beside your kids on your next holiday card. “I know, we all love a dog that looks like it’s off a Norman Rockwell card,” he says, “However, this is not the way to choose a puppy, or a shelter dog, for that matter.” He says to always choose a dog with your mind, knowing this is a good fit for these reasons.

“Let your mind lead the way,” he says, “and I guarantee you, your heart will follow.”

To contact or learn more about Nathan Lowe, visit his Facebook page.