Do you have any advice for a soon-to-be dog owner?

Look in to health insurance (not always a good option) or start a savings account for routine and emergency medical care.

Plan on signing up for obedience classes at the minimum. It will help you develop a language to understand each other with, as well as provide you with a lifetime of a well behaved pet.

Find a veterinarian that you like and that takes time to answer any and all questions that you may have.

Don’t believe everything that you read on the internet, and don’t believe everything that you hear from well-meaning individuals. Lots of folks have had pets, and most of them consider themselves experts. We all pee, but that doesn’t make us urologists.

From a favorite bumper sticker: “Getting veterinary advice from a breeder is like getting gynecological advice form a pimp.”

Bark collars are a gawd send.

If walking in the park with a large dog, use a harness and soft muzzle.

Buy the plastic frame that holds potty pads for your balcony if you’ve got one so your dog will have an emergency place to go between walkies if it suddenly doesn’t feel good. Dogs like to barf.

Research someone who can clean teeth without using anesthesia, you’ll save hundreds of dollars every year and your dog will be a lot safer.

Teach it specific words/actions such as “off” instead of “down” so you can use “down” to specify a degree of sitting/laying.

Looking into the health insurance is a good idea. If you get really attached to the dog you’ll do whatever it takes to keep them healthy and some of the vet work they can do is amazing, and expensive. Also learn pack behavior.

I too recently got my first puppy ever and my first dog in over 20 years and I learned a lot from the “Dog Whisperer”. The first thing you will have to decide is do you want a trained disciplined dog or a cute companion in a coat of fur. Dogs are just that dogs and act and behave the way dogs do. If you deprive a dog of dog behaviors you will end up with a non-dog like companion and nothing wrong with that…just personal choice and you will see this distinction out on walks when you observe the different temperaments of trained and not so trained dogs and by who is walking who.

As far as training I had the most success and rapid success with treat based training and something as simple as a Cheerio or one Kix works as good doggie treats. Lastly do the research that will match up a breed with an urban dwelling as it’s home that you will be providing. I would also go out on the street and ask the local dog-walkers which vet they use so you can get a strong recommendation on where to take your new puppy.

Also I second the puppy insurance as ours already paid for emergency room stitches our puppy got the second week we had her!

Good luck.

Love him to death. Kiss him goodnight, every night. Kiss him goodmorning, every morning. Then fill in a thousand kisses in between!

I forgot somethings important because I didn’t do them and wish I had!

Crate train- it’s not cruel.

Attend the dog discipline/training classes available at some pet stores.

I’m planning to read a couple of books on training in the next month, but will definitely look into classes as well. @Neizvestnaya, I love the idea of the balcony potty pad. I have hardwood floors, and am not unaccustomed to cleaning up kitty barf, but it would be good to have a place for him/her to reach if in desperate need.

Do you think it’s possible that you will want kids in the next ten years? Even if you don’t feel that you will, will you be around small children? If so, you’ll need to consider obedience classes and or a personal trainer that will address dogs and small children to make sure the dog is not a threat. Some dogs – if not exposed to little crawling kids – do not automatically treat them kindly.
I had this experience. I also know of another couple who’s sweet dog was just not cool around crawling babies and early toddlers. Bigger kids were fine.

@dappled_leaves Dogs aren’t too crazy about hardwood floors. If they’re not used to them they can’t get good traction on them.

Shit bags & lots of em!

@tom_g Nope, kids are not part of the plan. But I agree that it’s important to socialize the dog so he knows how to act around them. I do have friends with kids, so he will get some exposure. I want to start with a puppy, so hopefully I can cultivate good behaviour as we go along. Same goes for the floors… I expect it will be easier for a pup to adapt.

@ucme LOL. Jeez, do people buy these now? I used to have an abundance of plastic bags from shopping for kitty litter, but who uses plastic bags anymore?

@dappled_leaves The blue bags for poo decompose with the poo in the landfill ;)

@dappled_leaves Yeah, exactly, up until recently our local library gave them out for free. Now we use nappy/diaper bags, at least they smell nice…...at first!

Like others mention, shit bags are a must. The only other advice I can give is to follow leash laws and be respectful of others property. If you are out walking on a trail, and the trail is marked that dogs must be on a leash, don’t be that guy that says, “I know my dog. He’s fine. He won’t bother anyone.” Just follow the law. Also, if you are out walking your dog and you constantly let your dog poo on someone’s front lawn, even if you bag it, there is often still residue there. This might not mean anything to some people, but if it’s happening on a lawn where toddlers and other kids are rolling around, it might not be cool. And finally, if you plan on leaving your dog in the apartment, be prepared for drastic action if the dog barks when you are gone. You might have to choose between the dog and the apartment. Just don’t blame your neighbors.
Good luck!

@ucme I’m pretty sure there must be a green option available here – lots of hippie dog owners around. I’ll look into it.

@tom_g I totally agree! There are on- and off-leash parks near me – last thing I need to do is piss off the neighbours. I’ve been pissed off myself at enough inconsiderate dog owners… karmic retribution would probably be swift. I chose a dog-friendly building on purpose, so I’m hoping folks will be civil about noise.

Not sure how I feel about bark collars..

@Jude- I wasn’t either and put off even researching them for years. We have them for two of our 3 dogs and the current gives a shock that’s more a strong vibration (we’ve tried them on ourselves) than if you or I stuck our finger in a light socket quickly. It keeps them from wanting to bark needlessly like at floating dust, shadows, birds, the noises on TV but if someone comes to the door, they bark their real barks which are more forceful than the vibrating collars. It’s not the kind of thing that knocks them to the ground… I’d buy one for people if it did!

If you are getting a large dog, especially in a small and/or crowded place, you must get the dog (and yourself) proper training.

Plan of starting the dog in puppy classes at a few months old.

Any dog, but especially a large dog will need at least 45 minutes of exercise daily. It is preferable if you can let him run off-leash at least once a week.

Do not expect your puppy to be able to hold it for the entire 9 hours you are away at work. Check out the housebreaking age for his breed and do not expect continence before that.
Consider getting a dog walker to come in mid-day.

Look up the mandatory shots it will need. Bleach your house, kill the parvo disease, it’s been rampant this year. My pup survived it! (Intestinal Version) But he’s ten months with a strong immune system. Change your mindset to a patient one. A mature dog is capable of being as smart as a 4 year old human toddler. A dog views humans as part of its own pack, thats why they become very territorial and bark at unfamiliar people in their space (at home, backyard etc) Once the shots are achieved, go to a park with a leash on it of course and get it comfortable around other people with dogs. A walk course in the park would be perfect.

Subscribe to a daily newspaper, and don’t throw them out.

Get a fenced in back yard so you can let the pooch out at 2 AM to do his business without losing too much sleep.

Think about clicker training for most wanted behaviours.

Great Danes are perfect for apartment living as they don’t need a ton of exercise unlike most big dogs.

The Super Puppy Book makes it short, sweet and too the point. There are as many opinions about starting a dog as there are people, this booklet keeps it easy to understand.