How Do You Know Which Puppy is Right for You?

By Anna Lee

Your kids have been driving you crazy begging for a puppy. You and your spouse have discussed it and have finally agreed that the children are old enough to take some of the responsibility. Or perhaps it is just you and your husband at home and you feel it is time to become dog owners. You’ve done your homework and you know what breed you want. You have made arrangements to visit several breeders in your area. Now you are getting a little worried that you might pick the wrong dog. How do you know which puppy is right for you? I will tell you how my husband and I picked our dog – we didn’t; she picked us when she stole our hearts.

We went puppy shopping at a reputable location friends had recommended. We knew they had a reputation for selling healthy puppies. We originally wanted a black lab pup, but after we looked around we realized they did not have any out of the 50 or so puppies available. Then we spotted a large fenced area that contained four yellow lab puppies. We watched them for a while but they did not show any interest in coming over to us. They were playing with each other and totally engrossed. We decided to continue looking and go back to them later in the visit. That didn’t happen.

We saw one yellow lab puppy in a fenced area with one other smaller puppy. The second puppy was asleep but the lab was wide awake and ready to rock-n-roll. We asked if we could play with her and the worker took us and the puppy to a large room where we could get to know her. I sat down on the floor and she proceeded to chew my shoe strings and nibble on my fingers. She piddled on the floor, ran in circles and acted silly. She was very amusing and put on what we affectionately named “The Abby Show.” She then kissed our faces with great enthusiasm. She had such an outgoing personality that she stole our hearts within the first few minutes.

After a half hour we put her back in the enclosure, thanked the workers and left. On the ride home I cried the whole way. All I could think of was that little face looking at me as if to say, “Wasn’t I good enough?” My husband asked if I wanted to go look anywhere else and I told him no. When we got home he called the location and told them we would get her the next day – we did and that was 11 years ago. She hasn’t left our sides since.

She didn’t hold back, she came at us with every cute trick in the book. She stole our hearts that day in April; she was our Easter gift. When you pick out a puppy you want one that responds to you, one that interacts with you and steals your heart. She did all of that and more, and continues to do so daily. Her personality will draw you in whether you are a dog lover or not. She still puts on “The Abby Show” daily. She makes us laugh and you can’t ask more than that from a dog!

There will come a time in the future when we will be looking to get a new puppy. I hope that the decision process goes as well as the last one. Instead of us picking the puppy we will know the right one – when she picks us.