Are you planning to expand your family? Is a furry companion already on your list? First of all, you have made the right choice. Dogs have been considered as human’s best friends for ages. And why not? Nothing can be better than adding a little cuteness, accompanied by fierce loyalty, to your life. Now that you are on your way to bringing a furball to your home, why not adopt a dog from a local shelter instead of buying one from a breeder? Adopting a shelter dog has its own set of advantages for would-be pet parents.
Here are some of the good reasons why you should adopt and bring a shelter dog to your home:
You are a savior
Every year, hundreds of thousands of animals are euthanized in shelter homes due to lack of space. When you adopt a shelter dog, you are saving that pet’s life and also emptying a space in the shelter home for another animal, which can save their lives.
Best for first-time pet parents
Adopted dogs have been around people before and would be more relaxed and calm compared to their younger counterparts. If you are going to have a pooch for the first time, a calm and composed dog is better than a reactive and new-to-the-world puppy. Besides, when you are bringing an adult shelter dog home, you need not worry about problems related to puppy teething, pet mood swings or destructive puppy behavior.
Spare yourself the training trouble
A shelter dog is usually trained with basic commands from their previous human parents and does not have to start from scratch. When you adopt a dog from the shelter home, you do not have to start all over and can save yourself from the trouble of house training your dog.
Support & assistance from volunteers
Shelter home volunteers know the dogs they take care of and can help you adjust with your new furry buddy. Many local shelter homes have sessions where they counsel you about taking care of the dog you are adopting, especially if you are parenting a pet for the first time. They are there to assist you even after adoption in maintaining your pooch’s health.
Improved mental and physical health
Imagine a home where you find a pooch with a wagging tail and twinkles in their eyes waiting for you at the door every evening when you return from work. It’s amazing right? Results of various studies have shown time and again that having a dog as your companion makes you more happy and relaxed. Also, dogs need regular physical exercise. When you take them out on walks and for games, it also makes your lifestyle more regular and active.
Take a stand against puppy mills
By not buying a dog from a ‘puppy mill’, where female dogs are forced to breed frequently under unhealthy conditions and puppies are treated as a commodity, you are contributing to a noble cause. In these breeding facilities, female dogs are killed once they are unable to reproduce. When you do not buy a dog from these puppy factories, you are doing your bit to discourage such cruel practices.
Give them another chance
A dog would end up in a shelter home due to various reasons. It could be because of the death of their human parent, or the shifting of home by their human family, or maybe their human parents cannot afford to have them anymore. When you adopt this lovely furry bundle of joy, abandoned for no fault of theirs, you are giving them one more chance to live a happy and safe life.
More breeds to select from
A pet store or a breeder may have dogs from only one or two breeds. Whereas, a shelter home has dogs of different breeds, belonging to different age groups. Going for the adoption of a rescued dog from a local shelter home gives you more options to select from.
Set an example
Your friends, family and neighborhood pals would definitely see your new furry buddy and would want to know your story. This is your chance to spread the positive word about adopting a shelter dog rather than buying one from a puppy mill that gets bred in filthy conditions.
You can save money
As compared to the dogs available at pet stores; dogs, even the purebreds, in a shelter home are available for adoption at nominal fees. To add to it, most of the shelter dogs are already vaccinated, spayed/neutered and microchipped. So when you adopt a shelter dog, you can save a lot of money that you might have to spend on purchase, vaccination and ID microchipping of your new dog.
Read More – Microchip Your Pet Month: Gift a Permanent Identification to Your Pet
In the end
A four-legged furry companion in the house completes a family. When you plan to bring a dog to your home, go for adopting one from a shelter home instead of buying one from a breeder. This way, give an innocent animal another chance to live a safe life and add to your health and happiness too.