You don't like sleep, right?

Lisa Milton, Squish's Mom, @summitLisa, lisa.miltonwork

Depending on where you get your next animal from, you may or may not have a choice of whether or not to spay or neuter your animal. Squish wasn't spayed when I got her and for a while I really struggled with that decision.

In my first few years working for PetLynx I spent a lot of time working directly with the Calgary Humane Society. Educational is the way I describe it now, it's amazing how much I didn't know about animals. My family had cats and dogs as I grew up and by that time I was actually living on a farm raising cows and horses, I had every opportunity to be more educated.

What I didn't have the opportunity to understand until then was how many animals have unintended litters and how overwhelming that can be for a pet owner. Imagine your cat or dog starts to get a little chubby, you think "Chubby can be cute, but maybe a few less treats and a little more exercise." Eight weeks later, out pop six kittens or puppies! Your pet is a first time mom so she's not very good at it and you spend the next eight weeks hand-feeding six little runts first every two hours, then four hours then six hours ect.... Eventually you're exhausted and stuck with six animals you somehow struggled to get to an appropriate age and now you have to find them new homes. You post an ad online and have a multitude of people you don't know tramping through your house for the next few weeks until hopefully you get them all into a new home. While you've been busy homing her last litter your lovely little lady has gone and gotten herself knocked up again.

Ok admittedly that last part might be a stretch, and I stress might, but either way, just writing that left me feeling exhausted. It's no wonder that so many animals end up in inappropriate homes or surrendered to shelters. Imagine if that whole story happened to you and to top it off you had a brand new baby or a sick parent you were caring for or even a hospital stay! My time at CHS really helped me to understand how easy it is to become completely overwhelmed as a pet owner and wind up in a place you never intended to be.

It's true there are a number of studies that attest to the medical reasons why spaying or neutering is a good idea but for me they weren't nearly as convincing as the scenario above. Squish was, and still is, the cutest dog in the whole wide world (ok I'm a little biased) and that legitimately made me consider breeding her at least once or at waiting until she got a little older to make the decision but the second I thought of the care, process and stress involved in the aftermath of that decision there was NO way I was going to risk it. The truth is there are lots of intentional sources of animals out there who do a much better job than I ever would. Just think of all the sleep I gained from that one tiny decision!

I got a puppy!

About ten months ago a friend of mine told me her dogs were pregnant and if I wanted a new dog (mine had died about a year earlier) I was welcome to have the first pick of the litter. She was breeding (intentionally) both Rat Terriers and Boxers and I could choose either one.  I thought about it for a long time, I had always had shelter dogs and in my job I see too many animals at shelters all the time. My shelter dogs were the best dogs ever, true love! I knew there would be a lot of judgment from outside sources if I didn't get a shelter dog again. On the other hand, I had the opportunity to know who the parents were and what they were like as adults, where the dog was coming from and the home environment it would be raised in (three kids under seven!), and most importantly for me, I would get to be there from day one.

I did a little research and decided I would get the little dog I had always wanted, I chose a Rat Terrier. The day came and both sets of puppies were born and I went to meet them all. Good Heavens they were cute, I fell in love with all of them and would have happily been a hoarder with nine new puppies if my landlord and wallet had allowed it. Thankfully they didn't. I couldn't choose right away and the more time I spent with them the more I knew I was making the wrong choice.  Rat Terriers have lots of energy and need to run, while my yard is big, it's not a farm like they would grow up on. I did more research. I started online and when wikipedia had completely scared me away from Rat Terriers AND Boxers I decided to talk to actual people that I knew and trusted.

I'm lucky, in my job I know lots of people who know a lot about pets but the two people I trusted the most were people I was friends with as well. One of them works for a pet insurance company and to be honest he scared me even further away from Boxers, they don't always have a great health record. The other was my vet, with 22 years of experience, he was able to educate me even further and point out that for sure a Rat Terrier wasn't best for me.

Now I knew four things:

1. I wanted a puppy, they were cute and I was in love.
2. Rat Terriers weren't for me.
3. Boxers might be for me.
4. If I got a Boxer I'd better make sure I had pet insurance!

The next time I went to visit I chose the cutest female there was. I instructed my Breeder's kids on how I wanted them to help me train my puppy by gently pulling her tail, ears and feet. This puppy was going to be really used to kids! And then I started gathering all the puppy things you need, most importantly a matching pink collar and leash! Finally, I chose a name for her, don't ask me why but I named her Squish, and because I was there at the beginning she already knew her name by the time I brought her home.

Six months ago I brought home my rambunctious bouncing bundle of puppy. We've spent most days together since then, and I can say firmly I made the right choice for me. More than that I can say absolutely that the education I searched for before I made that choice, set me up to have the best pet experience I possibly could. If there is any one thing I could say to someone looking for a new pet it's "Ask questions!" You need answers, a lot of them before you get a pet. You might not know as many pet industry folks as I do but you have lots of options. Any vet clinic, breeder, pet store, humane society, pet insurance company or anyone else who deals with animals would happily answer your questions. They won't all say the same thing but you will get a good sense of what questions to ask and what's best for you.

Finally when you have your questions answered and you know what you want, go find it...and get ready to fall in love.

Lisa Milton, Squish's Mom, @summitLisa, lisa.miltonwork

Puppy Buyers Be Aware! Puppy scams thrive on-line

As more and more people turn to the Web to find the pet of their dreams, scams have skyrocketed as criminals seek to take advantage of unsuspecting pet parents. According to the US-based Internet Crime Complaint Center, hundreds of complaints are filed each year by victims who were conned when attempting to buy a dog online.

One potential pet parent, Diane, was hoping to add a Yorkshire Terrier puppy to her family when she spotted a classified ad in her local paper. “It was over my morning coffee that I saw the perfect ad for a Yorkie named Nancy,” says Diane, who lives near Cleveland, Ohio. She sent an email to the address listed, and immediately received a response—Diane could have the puppy if she promised her a loving home and sent $500 to cover the shipping fees.

“I corresponded for an entire week with this man who claimed to be a missionary,” Diane explains. Diane sent the requested payment via Western Union, but once she sent the code for the money transfer, she never heard from the “pastor” again.

Like many trusting animal lovers, Diane fell victim to one of many “free to good home” scams currently circulating the Internet and classified sections of newspapers. So how do you avoid persuasive cons and still get the dog of your dreams? The ASPCA recommends never buying a dog you haven’t met in person and always check references. Please help others avoid being cheated by emailing your puppy scam story to dogstory@aspca.org.

Canadian puppy buyers are urged to find a reputable breeder through Canada's most reputable source: the Canadian Kennel Club.

Posted by Terri Perrin, Online Communications Editor