How to Choose a New Pet
Where do I start a new pet for the family? What is the best pet for our family? Well you are starting well by collecting information. This is vital as a pet is for life, so if in doubt do not have one.
However there is such a wide range of potential pets to pick from, all of them can be pleasurable, but have different pluses and negatives. You can opt from a dog, cat, gerbil, rat, reptile, spider, bird and the list goes on and on.
It is important to involve everybody in the choice, it needs to be a whole household decision. Due to its significance I advise you discuss and commit to paper your objective for wanting a pet. Add to it on a large sheet of paper, with a column for the pet, some columns to rank each pet. The headings for a pet include, time (yours), cost (pets are costly), pet care, space needed, ability to fuss, interest, joint activity, any phobias, other issues.
Pets take time, some need more than others. Time hungry animals are those that require regular exercise such as dogs and horses. Dogs originated from wolves and still have many of those characteristics. They are used to regularly covering large areas every day to search for food, so most dog breeds necessitate at least one to two hours a day walking. This needs to be part of a regular schedule and done rain or shine. Others may necessitate a lot of grooming, changing water etc. A cat sitter often spends a lot of their visit to grooming long haired cats, though the cat and the sitter enjoy it. You may crave a specific animal, but do you have the time for him? Be honest with yourself and the potential pet.
Expenditure, consider all expenditure. There is the potential cost of the pet to start with, which for a pedigree pet can be costly. I would strongly advise you to think of taking a abandoned pet, there are more and more of these at the moment as families are unfortunately abandoning them to the pet homes – why not do good and help out? The other set up costs include cages, leads, grooming aids, blankets / beds. Then there are the ongoing pet costs, food, which for a large dog can be substantial. I strongly urge you to have your pet neutered, many pet experts and research have suggested that you will have less behavioural issues with a sterilized pet. There are regular vet costs such as vaccinations, however some are impossible to plan for. Because of this I strongly propose you to take out pet insurance, so you can manage with any problems that may occur. There are routine costs for flea treatment etc. These costs mount up.
Is your house large enough for the pet? Some animals can be watchable, but you may not be able to fuss them, what is the most important for you? No pet has it all. Can you handle the animal? Rats are remarkably interesting, but some people do not like the scaly tail, or the idea of one.
You should to review the summary paper, do you have the time for walking the dog during the week due to work pressures, but this may pay for a professional dog walker. Not enough space for the horse, use stables, but watch the cost.
So once you have identified a type of animal, there is often a huge variety of different types and breeds to decide on, taking hamsters there are five basic types, with very different characteristics. There is also the choice of how many, some animals are better off alone, others as a pair because they must have the company. Then there is what sex, some pets have very different behaviour between the male and female. Male rats are lazier than females and urinate more.
Final steps, I would suggest you to organise a pet test drive. Find someone with a similar pet, that you can borrow for a few days, or even be a pet sitter for them for a couple of weeks during the holidays. Discuss with the owner about the costs, the effort that is needed, and do not forget the pleasure that the pet gives. An alternative is to do some animal charity work.
Pet breeders are exceptionally knowledgeable, so visit and talk with them.
I hope this helps, go and enjoy a new pet.
