It got me thinking

So I had dinner last night with a few friends from my old work. It was really nice to see them all. After dinner a couple of them wanted to go say hi to Huddy. While we were admiring how beautiful and how great he is one of my friends said that this is the dog for her and she wants this dog. She has never owned a pet before, so it got me to thinking.

I have a strong feeling that many people dont know what they are getting into when they want a dog. Its easy to look at a picture of a puppy and say, I want that. I grew up having a dog and so did Zac so I felt like we were semi prepared when we decided to get a puppy. So heres how it went:

1) What kind of dog do we want to get? A big one, a little one? What type of breed? We both knew we wanted to get big dog. We were leaning towards a German Shepard but there was something that kept pulling me towards a Siberian Huskey. After doing some research I came across the Alaskan Malamute and it was love at first sight.

2) Does this dog fit our lifestyle? Do we have time for a dog? Do we have the house for a dog? I think we have one of the best schedules when it comes down to it. I do have to work 4 days a week but my dear hubby has a 2x4 schedule, which mean he works for 48 hours and than has 96 hours off. That would mean that our dog would only be by himself for two days a week. Plus we worked out the schedule so that when we first got him Zac had a whole week or two off so that we could focus on the dog. Remember potty training!?

3) Can we even afford to own a dog? Think about all the details of owning a dog. He or she needs food for the rest of their lives! There are vet bills and I can tell you they are not cheap! Right off the bat you'll be getting them all their different vaccinations. In our case Hudson has snorted two fox tails up his nose and that can get pricey, I believe one of the vet bills was $300. Do you have an extra $300 lying around for when your dog does something stupid? Are you interested in having the dog trained? What about taking them to get cleaned? How about if you ever wanted to take a vacation without the dog? Doggy day care?

So many different factors that come in to owning a pet besides "I want a puppy". Now dont get me wrong I am not nay saying this idea at all because I love my dog so much and I wouldn't trade him for the world but hearing my friend saying she wants a malamute I feel like I need to give the heads up. If you are the kind of person who likes to be active and hike and bike and camp then your poochy will love it! If you like to go out to eat all the time and want to go see movies and hang out with friends you have to think...what are you going to do with that dog of yours?

Anyways, you will find the right animal for your family if thats what your looking for. I just strongly recommend doing research before jumping in. I hate when people get a puppy because its cute and then realize they can't handle it and take it to the pound, it breaks my heart. 

I know this was a weird post, but like I said, it got me to thinking.

And please talk to me if any of you are ever thinking about getting a Malamute :)