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So....originally the plan was to adopt a dog between about 10 months and 2.5 years, and train them as a service dog. (this will be next year at the soonest, probably 2 or 3 or more years from now)
But now it's totally up in the air. I'm thinking a breeder might be the best way to go, I'm also thinking about getting a much younger (3-4 month) puppy to start training.
So my options are:
Get an adult dog from a breeder
Rescue an adult dog
Adopt a puppy
Buy a puppy
The pros of getting an adult dog from the breeder is I'll know more or less 100% what I'm getting...health test, personality, family personality, etc. and the dog will be basically trained.
The pros of rescuing an adult dog is I'll know the dogs personality (I would probably get one who has been in a foster home) and well, it's rescue.
The pros of buying a puppy are that I get to start training the way I want from the very beginning, I know the health history, I can have some idea of temperament from the parents, etc.
Adopting a puppy: Well, it's kind of iffy and a big chance it won't work out. I won't know the parents history and if the dog is likely to develop something like d/a in a couple of months, especially if it's a pittie or rottie pup. I won't know if the dog will get sick. I don't know if it will have the temperament for this kind of work.
But, I could start the training the way I want early, once again, and if it doesn't work out, I could keep this dog as a pet or treat it as a foster and try to rehome it, since he would likely be in a shelter/rescue otherwise.
I didn't really want another puppy, but this might be different...first I'd be away from my family's stupid, secondly I'd spend so much time training and taking the puppy places it would probably be less of a handful during chill-out time.
If I got a puppy I would stick to basic training for a little while, probably not bring the puppy to class until it was 7 or 8 months or even later if it's an older pup (like 5 or 6 months) that I get. We'd work on socialization, ignoring distractions, focusing, and basic obedience, and start guide work, tasks, and reading cues later.
People would be more accepting of a cute, teensy puppy making mistakes in training than an untrained 80 lb dog.
Those of you who have a service dog, how old were they when you got them. (especially if you didn't go through an association)
But now it's totally up in the air. I'm thinking a breeder might be the best way to go, I'm also thinking about getting a much younger (3-4 month) puppy to start training.
So my options are:
Get an adult dog from a breeder
Rescue an adult dog
Adopt a puppy
Buy a puppy
The pros of getting an adult dog from the breeder is I'll know more or less 100% what I'm getting...health test, personality, family personality, etc. and the dog will be basically trained.
The pros of rescuing an adult dog is I'll know the dogs personality (I would probably get one who has been in a foster home) and well, it's rescue.
The pros of buying a puppy are that I get to start training the way I want from the very beginning, I know the health history, I can have some idea of temperament from the parents, etc.
Adopting a puppy: Well, it's kind of iffy and a big chance it won't work out. I won't know the parents history and if the dog is likely to develop something like d/a in a couple of months, especially if it's a pittie or rottie pup. I won't know if the dog will get sick. I don't know if it will have the temperament for this kind of work.
But, I could start the training the way I want early, once again, and if it doesn't work out, I could keep this dog as a pet or treat it as a foster and try to rehome it, since he would likely be in a shelter/rescue otherwise.
I didn't really want another puppy, but this might be different...first I'd be away from my family's stupid, secondly I'd spend so much time training and taking the puppy places it would probably be less of a handful during chill-out time.
If I got a puppy I would stick to basic training for a little while, probably not bring the puppy to class until it was 7 or 8 months or even later if it's an older pup (like 5 or 6 months) that I get. We'd work on socialization, ignoring distractions, focusing, and basic obedience, and start guide work, tasks, and reading cues later.
People would be more accepting of a cute, teensy puppy making mistakes in training than an untrained 80 lb dog.
Those of you who have a service dog, how old were they when you got them. (especially if you didn't go through an association)