Advice on Buying A Dog
By Jim Zola
jim.zola@ci.high-point.nc.us

This weekend my family became one member greater. We adopted a 9 month old stray dog, a female with some black lab and something else undetermined. She weighs about 40 pounds, has white paws and is wonderful with the little ones. When we called and told my Mom that we had taken in a dog, her reaction was "are you crazy?"

Maybe we are. But there is something about being a kid and having a dog. Perhaps my opinion on this matter stems from the fact that I was deprived of dog ownership as a child (calling all dime store psychoanalysts). My father was allergic to dogs and cats. Somehow the substitute hamsters, mice and endless flow of tropical fish never seemed to fill the canine vacuum. So now, after many years of trying to convince my son that the newts, snails and fleeting fish that seldom live long enough to grow into a name are cool, I have broken down and turned this wagless household into a dogged one.

I would not recommend a dog for just any family. There are dog families and there are cat families and certainly there are families that should remain petless. But if you are bound and determined to get a pet, or simply pestered into submission, I recommend you do some research and some soul-searching. You can use the resources available from your school or public library, from the Internet, contact your local Veterinarian, or contact a local club that specializes in people who have raised and cared far a specific pet. Talking to experts can give you one side of the story, but talking to non-experts who have hands on experience can give you "the rest of the story".

So you decide that a dog is what you want. Well the research is far from through. Now you need to decide on what type of dog is right for you. Again, turn to the resources I mentioned above. Some of the considerations you should think about when choosing a breed are: daily coat care, training, exercise, size, potential health problems, behavior, temperament and attitude. Should you choose a pure bred or a mutt? Should you choose a puppy or a mature dog? And where should you look for a dog? I would not recommend a pet store. Try the newspaper, kennel clubs, the Humane Society or animal rescue groups.

So finally you have finished your research and decided a Rhodesian Ridgeback is the ideal dog for you (we went the way of a mutt and decided the puppy route was not for us). Now comes the biggest decision of all -- naming the dog. I remember the toil and torment we went through naming our three children. People have a tendency to name a pet whatever name first pops into their heads. Take into consideration that this name may be heard around your house 15 to 50 times a day, and probably will be shouted through the neighborhood on some occasions. We finally decided to name our dog Bela, a name taken from the jazz/bluegrass banjo player, Bela Fleck. Our three-year-old daughter wanted to use either Pepper (the name of her stuffed animal dog), or Goldie (the name of the dog she becomes every other day for the past 6 months when she wakes up and declares "today I am a doggie named Goldie"). Bela was a happy compromise.

So now we have a dog that suites our lifestyle, and that dog has a name that suites her personality. Now all that is left is the training. She still likes to chew (so far a pair of sandals and a few toys forgotten on the floor at night) and she gets up on the furniture. I will report to you in the months to come how Bela's training is progressing. If anyone out there has advice or comments, they are very welcome.
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