Tips for First Time Dog Owners

Host: What advice do you give to first time dog owners?

Michelle Otis: My first piece of advice would be do your research. Look into breeds, carefully fit and evaluate what kind of lifestyle that you have and what kind of dog is going to fit in to that lifestyle. So, definitely do breed research because eventhough shelters have a lot of mixed breeds, they also have lots of pure breeds as well. So, you want to know a little bit about what you’re looking for first and then plan ahead, make sure that you have research pet care options in your neighborhood or in your community. Make sure that you know which bath about you’re going to be using and things of that nature so that you already have the support system or an idea of what your support system is going to be when you bring your dog home.

Also you know, be open minded. When you go into the shelter you never know what dogs are going to be there and most shelters have dogs coming on a daily basis on going. So, never feel like if you don’t find your dog on your first visit to the shelter that you know, that’s it for you. You can always come back and take you time and make sure that you visit frequently if you need to until you find the right match. But really what’s important is evaluating your lifestyle and evaluating how you want a dog to fit in with that lifestyle and then going from there.

Host: Very good.


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