Reasons Why Dogs Are Not Christmas Gifts

Reasons Why Dogs Are Not Christmas Gifts

It's sounds like a very romantic idea, a puppy with floppy ears wearing a red bow tie and presented in a Christmas box. A true gift to show love for your beloved one and your puppy. Unfortunately, the truth is that many dogs end up in shelters as the owners misunderstood the responsibility, time and money dogs actually costs. Besides the lifetime commitment of at least 10 years. We want to create awareness of why dogs are not Christmas gifts.

 

Photo Credits: @berg_photo

 

Having a dog is a lifetime commitment

Dogs have an average lifespan between 10-18 years. That is almost two decades. This means you have to think about the impact of having a dog as an addition to your (or others) future family situation. Are you (or they) planning to expand the family? What happens with the dog when during a break up of a relationship? If you think about this carefully there are always solution, but it may have a huge impact on the innocent dog that still has no voice and is dependent on you. 

 

They are very expensive.

Think about it, regular and unexpected vet costs, monthly insurance fees (yes always insure your dog!), food, toys, training, day care, dog walker, accessoires etc etc. When you gift a dog, you automatically give lots of costs. Can you afford or are you willing to pay this for your dog? A proper research of budgeting is very important before you saddle up your beloved one and yourself with huge amounts of costs.

 

They need lots of love and attention.

Yes, dogs give you lots of love and that means they need a lot love and attention in return. Every dog is different, but we can easily say that all dogs need at least 1-2 hours of walk, love and attention. Dogs really like to work and get trained for that engagement with their handler. When dogs don't get the attention they need, they will be bored and may break the house down and starting to show behavioral issues. 

Dogs are not like a new bracelet or necklace.

They are the best (according to us) lively species and extremely dependent on humans. Although dogs can be super intelligent, they will be never able to feed them selves or walk themselves. 

No, dogs don't belong in clubs or busy crowded places. Obviously you can buy your dogs tons of accessories like collars, toys and sweaters. Also, they have to be trained to be alone at home. Unfortunately, many dogs are having separation anxiety that causes dogs behavioral problems. Especially pandemic puppy's are having this problem.

 

Snowdog Karsten116Photo Credits: @Karsten116

 

Don't get me wrong, a dog as an added family member or buddy is really the best decision we have are made in our lives so far and we are very grateful we are able to give Fritz zo much love and attention he needs. It took us a year to decide whether a dog fits into our lifestyle. There are many options to explore whether a dog fits in to your lifestyle or not, for example fostering or taking take of somebody else dog while they are on vacation. You also may considering rescuing a senior dog, which is a slightly different and maybe less intense than raising a young dog.

All dogs deserve the best and warm homes, and we don't want them to end up (back) in shelters.

Happy Holidays!

 

 

Photo Credits: @Karsten116

 

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