What you need to know when adopting dogs
Love them or do not get them, it’s that simple.
– Anonymous

People who are passionate about having a canine always prefer centers to adopt dogs. You cannot buy love, but you can adopt it from an animal shelter. As the number of euthanized dogs is drastically getting higher, people could start adopting them instead of buying.

Why should you adopt dogs?

• Not only do they give you unconditional love, but they also develop an emotional and psychological bond with their companions.
• When you adopt dogs, you are saving their life by making them part of your family.
• Shelter dogs are so affectionate, but they end up in the shelter due to human problems and not because of their problems.
• Most shelter dogs are house trained and are used to living with families.
• Pets give you a lot of satisfaction and fulfillment, and you do not face loneliness in life.
• When you adopt dogs, you can be proud of helping animals in need.

Where can you adopt dogs from?
There are numerous pet adoption centers all over the country:

• The Best Friends Pet Adoption Center
• National Mill Dog Rescue
• Adopt-A-Dog Inc
• Hope for Paws

How can you choose your pet dog?

• Make sure that you can keep your pet at home. If you live in a rented house, check your lease to ensure that you are allowed to have a dog.
• Have basic knowledge of the dogs you want to adopt. At shelters, you rarely find abandoned pure breeds; you mostly get crossbred or country dogs.
• Consider your housemate’s opinion. Think about other pets, if you have family members who are allergic to pets, or simply do not want to have one at home; if so, this problem needs to be solved first.
• Ask yourself how much time and energy you can devote to the dogs you adopt. Simply do not treat them as a guard dog; you are their priority over everything else. If dogs do not get enough attention and love from you, they become destructive and very unhappy.
• Once you are done with your initial research and have decided on getting a dog, you need to decide what size is best for you. If your house has less space, you should probably get a small sized dog.

How can you adopt dogs?

• Find the best shelter you want to adopt dogs from.
• You can go to the place and see the pet.
• If you can feel any connection with the dog, ask at the shelter desk, and their volunteer will help take the dog out and you can meet them.
• You may have to submit a copy of your ID proof at the center to adopt dogs.
• Some of the shelters may charge you adoption fees, with an average of $25 to $150, but some centers receive funds from organizations, so you can adopt your canine for free.
• Make sure that you get copies of the sterilization certificate and pet vaccination records so that you can get the dogs you adopt licensed.

Why not buy store puppies?

• Since dogs at the store are normally supplied by puppy mills, they are not a result of healthy breeding, so they are not given proper care before getting them to stores.
• As breeding at puppy mills is done without proper care, these dogs have traits of behavioral issues. Also, the staff at the pet stores are not likely to have received former training to deal with behavioral problems.
• Puppies separated from their mothers and siblings at the earliest stage, like before 8 weeks, do not develop canine skills and will not grow stronger and healthy.
• Since puppies have spent their short lives in cages, they do not get the opportunity of developing canine instincts, so they will have a problem when you try to house-train them.
• If you find a Labrador pup at the store, the situation is not necessarily what it seems to be. The store might trick you with certification and charge hundreds of dollars in the name of the pure breed, while it actually might not be a purebred Labrador. There is no guarantee of getting a purebred dog if that is what you are looking for.
• So, staying away from store puppies is probably a wise thing to do if you are seriously looking to adopt dogs.