Getting a pet is one of the great joys of life for many people out there. As a matter of fact, getting a dog can easily be a major life highlight. After all, dogs are hugely amazing pets to have if you’re a person who loves them, as they easily love back and can be incredibly loyal indeed. Of course, it is not for no reason that dogs are so widely popular all throughout the United States, with more than 45% of all households having at least one (and some having even more than that) and very nearly 80 million dogs owned throughout the United States in its entirety. Dogs are great, to say the very least – but there are still a number of considerations that you should make before getting one.

For one thing, there are many different types of dog out there and all of these breeds have different temperaments and sometimes even physical needs. For instance, getting your dog enough exercise is crucial but while a smaller dog might require just a mere half of an hour of daily exercise, a larger breed will need more, sometimes as many as two full hours of it. So if you live in a smaller home, you will likely want to stick to a smaller breed of dog. But if you’ve got kids that love to rough house, on the other hand, a gentle larger dog might present a more ideal fit, to say the very least.

You’ll also want to consider the age of the dog. Older dogs can seem ideal because you don’t have to go through the destructive and hard to handle puppy stage, but older dogs are not always ideal for the fact that they come with an already ingrained set of habits and personality traits. Therefore, working through any of these issues is likely to be quite difficult indeed, and sometimes impossible.

For this reason, many people will end up getting a puppy. Fortunately, puppies will be relatively easy to train, though you should enroll them in dog training classes as soon as you are able to do so. Dog training classes can be perfect for puppy training, as dog training classes will provide you with the know how and tools needed to fully train your dog from a young age. Dog obedience training is likely going to go much more smoothly with the aid of dog training classes and a dog obedience trainer than if you try to do it on your own, to say the very least on the subject matter.

Aside from dog training classes to prepare your puppy for adulthood (after they turn one), you will also need to attend to a number of other factors in relation to your puppy’s health. Making sure that they sleep enough is hugely important, as puppies are going through quite the intense period of growth, to say the least. They are much like human newborns in this way, especially when you consider the fact that a puppy can sleep for as many as 20 total hours of the day. They need this sleep in order to develop well and so it is important that you are able to facilitate it for them. Feeding them enough will also play a role here, as puppies eat more than your average adult dog of any breed will. Ideally, this will mean feeding your puppy about four times throughout the day, though you will want to base this off of the recommendations of your vet.

At the end of the day, welcoming a dog into your family can be a truly wonderful thing. After all, there is nothing truly quite like the love of a dog. However, there are many other things that must be considered before this can happen, such as how you will care for this dog and even what type of dog it is that you will get. Ultimately, making such considerations is a hugely important thing to do, as it will help to ensure that everything works out in your favor and in the favor of your new dog in the long run.