Adopting a dog

Adopting a dog from a shelter is good for single dog families. If you have more than one dog, it can cause problems. Many dogs are returned after being adopted with the comment "doesn't like resident dog". Well duh! Because I am a multi dog household, I get my dogs from responsible breeders. These are breeders who are members of a breed club, do health testing on their breeding stock and often show their dogs in conformation, obedience, field or other such trials. This provides a good foundation for the puppies. The breeders are then also more inclined to want to place their pups with the right owner to ensure as much as possible a good fit. They often have contracts which states they are to be contacted if the owner is no longer able to care for the dog. They also usually prefer the pups to be fixed and some will even have it done before the pup is sold.