Raising a puppy requires an even higher level of commitment.

Puppies need to be fed three to four times a day. They need to be taken outside immediately after eating or drinking so they can eliminate appropriately and become house trained. Failure to do so will result in in home accidents. Puppies will have many of these accidents in the house while they are still being house-trained. That can mean a lot of clean up. Lots of patience is needed!

Puppies tend to wake you up several times during the night. It might be because the puppy needs to go outside and do their business or simply because the puppy has become bored.

A young puppy cannot be left alone for more than a few hours at a time. Please keep your puppy in a travel kennel when you leave them alone. While at first this may sound cruel, it will help in the puppy’s house training and definitely keep the puppy from chewing up everything in your house. Please keep in mind, that after a few hours, a puppy can’t hold its bladder (and sometimes bowels too), so by keeping them in the travel kennel during those few hours, you reduce potential unwanted damage to your surroundings.

Puppies can be destructive. They want to explore, chew, lick and even try to eat things they find in their general surroundings. They have no learned manners and may act unruly or hyperactive. All puppies need to be trained and socialized. Puppies also need a lot of exercise to help vent the young energy that is building within. These things take a lot of time. A lot of your time!

Do you have what it takes? Are you prepared to come home from work midday to care for your new puppy? Can you handle being woken up in the middle of the night, night after night? Are you able to spend several hours a week working on the puppy’s training and socialization? What about any other pets or people in your home? Will a puppy be too disruptive for them and their routine?

If you get a young puppy, you need to be prepared to spend a lot of extra time with them, especially for the first 6 months. If this sounds like too much, but you still want a dog, you would be better off considering the adoption an adult dog.