Dogs

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Choice of Breed

It is extremely important to choose a breed of dog that will suit you and your lifestyle. Imagine a St Bernard in a one bedroom flat. Some breeds need a lot of attention as well as exercise, some just want someone to be around all the time, while other dogs cope better if you have to be away from the house for extended periods of time. The contact the dog will have with children must be taken into account. If the dog is going into a family with small children extra care must be taken when selecting the breed.

When selecting a dog ask yourself these questions:

• What size dog do I want? Remember that larger dogs need more room, more food and vet bills will be higher. Larger dogs also need more exercise than smaller dogs.
• Do I want the dog for a purpose such as guarding or obedience training?
• Do I want a lap dog or a more outside dog?
• How much time do I want to spend walking my dog and interacting with it?
• Do I want to spend a lot of time grooming my dog? Longhaired dogs such as some terriers, samoyeds, border collies and malamutes need regular grooming.
• How much time will the dog be alone each day? Dogs need companionship to remain healthy and to stop them being destructive, if your dog will be alone for large periods of time it is often better to get twos dogs, or none at all.
• Will the dog have much to do with children under five? Dogs can see children as a threat; this is especially the case with larger breeds where the child's eyes are the same distance from the ground as the dog's eyes. Always be extremely careful when purchasing a dog that will be around children.
• How much room does the dog have to run around in? It is completely unsuitable to contain a dog in a small area such as a courtyard or flat, for long periods of time.

Armed with these answers you may wish to look at photographs at the local library or go to dog shows. There is also the option of contacting the Petcare Advisory Service here in Melbourne and filling in a questionnaire. This service, called SELECTAPET, will try to match the most suitable breeds for you. Waltham (the parent company for Pal and Whiskas) has a similar service at their web site but is English based and doesn't have some of the common Australian breeds. Talk to breeders but do remember we are all blind to the faults of the things we love.

There are over 150 breeds of dogs in Australia . It may be a help to break them down into their categories. Please note this list is not complete but only the very common breeds we see at Lort Smith.

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