Hey everyone. So I’ve been looking at getting a dog. With quarantine and taking online classes, working at home and such my girlfriend and I have more time at home which I thought would be a good time to spend time bonding with and training a dog. We’ve always wanted to get a dog but being constantly in and out of the house, we didn’t think we could spend as much time as we should especially for the first couple weeks/months getting the new dog used to their new family/home. I currently have 2 guinea pigs and 2 hamsters as well. I’ve always believe that if you adopt a pet, the pet does not have too much of a choice in the matter, it’s yours. So it’s your responsibility to give it the best life you can. For the most part (unless you’re getting a tortoise), you will be there for all of the animal’s life whereas it will only be in a part of yours.
Anyway. So here’s the situation. My aunt’s dogs recently has a litter of six puppies (a week or so ago) and her family would have to give them up (they already have three dogs). Instead of giving them up to chance, I thought I could try to give them a good home (or at least one of them...). However, her family is not a professional breeder or anything, so they can’t guarantee anything about the puppies. The photos my cousins sent me show that they look good physically, though. They live about 2.5 hours drive from where I am (but 5 minutes from my parents’ place). Also, my dad would also want one as well (all his dogs are out of the house) but he’ll be out of the country until mid December. (1) He asks me to take care of one as well until he’s back.
My plan. (2) *In about 4-5 weeks I’ll make an appointment for 2 of the puppies at a vet close to my aunt’s house. We’ll take them checked out to see any health issues or anything and microchips and vaccines and whatnot *(3). If all is well we would then drive them back to my house (maybe the next day or a few days later). *(4) *We plan to have two separate crates/pen in two different rooms (although there’s no door in between the rooms, it’s a fair distance in between them (and a couch)).
So my questions:
1) Am I crazy getting two new puppies at once as a new owner? I know puppies are really hard work and I don’t want to compromise on the love they’re given. We do have 3 people in the house (my girlfriend, my brother, and me) and we all agree on getting a dog and will give them all we got.
2) Should I take them to a vet near where I’ll get them or one I’d be going to more often? If I take them to a vet near my aunt’s then if there’s any problems and the vet thinks the puppies should stay with their parents more or whatever then I could postpone the drive back. On the other hand, going to a vet near my house would build more relationship between the puppies and the vet (and me).
3) I did some research and getting the first round of shots and microchips and neuter/spay is around $300-$400 or so. Is that accurate? If so it seems like it’s on track with a puppy adoption from a shelter or something like that.
4) Is it necessary to separate them? They are from the same litter but I’m just afraid one of them would be more aggressive and dominate the other (even if we would be watching them like hawks the first few months, I rather not give them the opportunity). On the other hand, it could be good for them to learn how to interact with each other. Maybe when they’re a bit older?
5) What else should I consider when I adopt puppies from someone else instead of an animal shelter? Anything else in general?
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from Pets https://www.reddit.com/r/Pets/comments/i3ctpx/first_time_dog_owner/
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