If you are in the market to bring a new pup into your home, chances are, you have spent plenty of time surfing the web, trying to determine the major differences between breeds and which is right for you, if any. You may have also wandered through shelters, peering into kennels filled with sad-looking eyes.
I consider myself an animal rights advocate, so of course, my first instinct is to urge everyone to whisk a shelter dog away from its confines and bring it into a new forever home. But the more I have learned about dogs, the more I have realized that this is not possible for every situation.
Naturally, every shelter dog needs a loving home. But the trouble with many of these dogs is that they are mixed breeds--which is not necessarily a bad thing in and of itself, but you should be aware that dogs are specifically bred to have different temperaments.
For instance, German shepherd dogs, Doberman pinschers, and American pit bull terriers (more commonly referred to as "pit bulls") are generally effective guard dogs and can be trained to get along well with older children and adults. But if they are not socialized correctly, they can become dangerous dogs.
That being said, if your seemingly sweet mutt has traces of those breeds (or others with similar traits) in their bloodline, then some of the less desirable qualities of them might come out at the wrong moments, like when your little kids want to play a little too rough. That means you need to do some investigation on what sort of breeds will be acceptable for your situation.
This isn't just about potential danger, either. If you are an older and/or single person with a busy lifestyle that would rather have a low-maintenance dog that isn't high energy like a golden retriever or Labrador retriever, then you should conversely find dogs that have naturally calm dispositions.
If you don't want to pay the several hundred dollars required to adopt a purebred dog from a reputable breeder, you might want to find one or several breeds that fit into the qualities you are looking for in a pet and then research local breed-specific rescue groups.
If you are still set on adopting from your neighborhood shelter, I can definitely respect that. But did you know that dog DNA testing is available?
This may seem extreme, but trust me, it will provide valuable information to you by telling you what breeds are in your mutt's bloodline. This will be very important as you are learning to train and respond to your dog. Take the time to learn about the traits of each breed, whether there are two or ten. It will explain much of your dog's behavior and make things much easier!
Author Resource:-
Aquarian Renovation LLC (http://www.dnabreedid.com/) offer services to identify the breeds present in your mixed bred dog with dog DNA testing. Art Gib is a freelance writer.
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