Parents often think a puppy for Christmas or Hanukkah is the ultimate gift for a child. Perhaps it is—for the moment. It might be a toy the child will play with all day, unlike other purchases. Parents feel they are making a magnanimous gesture because puppies make messes and will need on-going care.

Research indicates that growing up with a dog can bestow impressive benefits on the adult a child will become. On the other hand, if the puppy isn’t treated well or is abandoned by the family, the effects on the child are not good. Besides, who is to say that research indicating the benefits of pet ownership on children isn’t because stability in the home to provide good pet care also provides good child care? Cause and effect is hard to establish in research, but when a parent gets rid of a dog and a child in the family expresses fear that if she is too much trouble her mother might get rid of her too, this points to a big problem for kids whose parents don’t handle the dog well. Today’s children tend to live in a one-parent home or a two-parent home where both parents work outside the home full-time. Is it realistic to add a dog when child care is already a challenge? Contrary to what you see on television, dogs make terrible babysitters.

Research has also shown that pets (any kind of pet, not necessarily a dog) can extend how long a senior citizen will live and reduce the number of doctor visits. It must be recognized, though, that senior citizens have been injured by dogs. In fact, senior citizens and children are the age groups killed by dogs. 

Acquiring a dog is often an emotional decision. Let’s look at it objectively, to help those who are considering it decide whether getting a dog is something they want to do, and whether the holidays is the time they want to do it.

There’s Research and There’s Research

You can do a good job of researching the right computer printer or dishwasher to buy in a few days, using the Internet and telephone and perhaps going to look at a few if you care what it will look like. Considering that most people believe any dog raised with love will turn out loving (not true, by the way), people commonly believe similar research will produce a sound decision on what dog to adopt, where to get the dog, how to train and when to bring the dog home.

A dog is a much bigger decision than a product, though, and much more complicated. There are hundreds of dog breeds, with breed exerting powerful influence on a dog’s behavior, health, and required care. People tend to think a breed they know little about will be easier to handle than the ones whose problems they know. Not so, of course. Mixes are not any easier than purebreds. With a mixed breed dog you may face more diagnostic testing at times of illness because of the lack of information about what illnesses this dog is more likely to get.

Things to learn before choosing a dog include:

1) What are the breed’s propensities toward barking, territorial guarding behavior that could endanger your visitors and neighbors, escapism, and aggression toward other dogs of the same sex?

2) What grooming will the dog require at home and how much time will it require? Every dog should be groomed at home daily, but some take 5 minutes and others a half hour even when kept in good condition.

3) What professional grooming is required and what is the cost? If you are told a breed does not shed, that will generally be a breed that requires professional grooming. Neglect of grooming is abuse, so keeping the dog properly groomed on the correct schedule is a necessity, not a luxury.

4) What training is required for this breed beyond housetraining? Large, working-type dogs require the most, a minimum of several months in weekly class with daily practice of the class lessons in a variety of locations. Failure to train a dog can cost the dog’s life and a great deal of money. Consider both the cost of training and the investment of your time and energy. The training needs to happen during the appropriate development periods. Waiting too long can cause problems.

5)  What are the medical issues to which the breed is prone—and the degree to which the breed is prone to them? Some conditions are inherent in a breed’s body structure, such as breathing and overheating problems in dogs who have “pushed-in faces.” Short legs and long backs create a high percentage of dogs with orthopedic problems, as does being giant sized. Tiny dogs go down fast with illness, because they have little body reserve.

6) How difficult is this breed to housetrain? Don’t count on litter-box training. It’s not always successful, and by the time you realize it isn’t working for that dog, you’ve missed the easiest chance to train the dog to a more reliable method.

7) How difficult is this breed to train for manners and other basic control? If you have a goal of pursuing a dog sport, what does that sport actually require from you, and does this breed have a good track record of enjoying the sport?

8) What behavior problems are most likely to occur in this breed? How would you deal with those problems?

9) If this adoption turns out not to be a good match between the dog and your home, will the breeder or other source take the dog back? If so, are you confident that the dog would receive good care?

10) Will your homeowner’s insurance continue to insure you if you acquire a dog of this breed? Does getting this dog meet all the rules to which you are subject by your local laws and/or landlord?

11) Do you have the physical facilities this breed requires? If you do not have a fenced yard, are you physically able to get out with the dog several times a day for elimination? Will doing this put you at risk of becoming a crime victim?

12) Are you home enough to take care of the dog’s elimination needs, or can you arrange for someone else to do it in your absence?

13) Does every adult in the household agree on acquiring this dog? If a previous dog has died, has everyone in the family had the time to work through their grief to the point of being ready for another dog? Do all the adults in the household agree on where the dog will be kept, and is it a humane and responsible management plan for a dog?

14) Is it reasonable for you to believe you can take care of this dog for the rest of a 10 to 15-year life? This is longer than most people have a car, only a few years short of the length of time a child will live at home, and longer than some marriages. It’s a long-term commitment indeed.

A period of a few days isn’t enough time to gather all this information and make the related decisions. This is a major reason it’s usually not successful to pull together a dog adoption on schedule for Christmas or Hanukkah. Read on for other reasons you may choose not to make this life-changing decision as a holiday gift.

Timing: What Happens When?

Quite a lot needs to happen with a new dog in the first days, weeks, and months. Let’s look at the schedule and see if this will fit into your holiday plans:

1)  In the first one to two days with you, a new puppy or dog needs a veterinary visit. Take along a blank journal book that you will be able to carry to all the dog’s future veterinary visits, and use it to note the questions you want to ask as well as the veterinarian’s answers and other instructions. Note vaccinations and names of medications, too.

2) Keep the puppy or dog at home for about two weeks in order to limit emotional stress as well as the risk of spreading disease. If the dog does come down with something, continue the home time until the veterinarian says it’s okay to be out and about. Illnesses such as kennel cough can keep a dog home for several weeks, as can skin illnesses common in shelter dogs soon after adoption. You’ll need to be prepared to provide nursing care in the event the dog does get sick. You could also have stiff veterinary expenses, and these will need to be paid promptly unless you use a credit card.

3)  The veterinarian will instruct you about how much of the outside world your new puppy can handle. Certain breeds, ages, and body conditions will require that you not take the puppy outdoors or not to certain settings until the age of 16 weeks when vaccinations are complete. This and the fact that the puppy won’t be housetrained will complicate holiday visits with relatives.

4)  Housetraining requires that you go outside with the puppy or dog many times a day until all the behavior is solid, even if you have a fenced yard the dog will be able to go to without you later. Is it cold in January where you live? Since you’ll be trudging around out there repeating “go potty,” “go potty,” “go potty,” you’ll need to keep the poop picked up so you won’t step in it. Does it snow in your area? Cleaning up poop from ice is difficult.

Be sure to do thorough research on housetraining and have the whole process planned. Housetraining is a very big deal, and a leading cause of dogs failing in their homes. The dog needs to have the right handling from the first moment on entering the home for best housetraining results.

5) Experts agree that no child under school age should ever be left alone with any dog for even one second. Does this fit your holiday arrangements? What about after the holidays?

6) Puppy or adult, the new adoptee will need to go into training class once the veterinarian gives the go-ahead on health, and the sooner the safer. A new puppy will probably be mouthy, and an adult dog’s true temperament will not show for at least two weeks, often longer. The puppy’s temperament can be permanently damaged by bad experiences at this impressionable age. The adult dog may surprise you by giving someone in your family a bad experience, as the dog starts to settle into the home and loosen up. Will this fit into your holiday activities?

7)  Outings with an untrained dog are dog training, whether intentionally or not. Taking the dog along to a relative’s house can cause family vendettas that last for years. Boarding the dog can damage housetraining and trigger separation anxiety. Leaving a dog home alone loose in the house before the dog is ready for that responsibility is always risky, and more so around holiday food and decorations. Loose or crated, a new dog left home alone may make noise that disturbs apartment or condo neighbors.

Why a Dog?

Does getting a dog actually make sense for the purpose you have in mind? If it’s for the look on a child’s face on Christmas morning, what about two weeks later when the new has worn off? Children often wind up afraid of their own puppies, as the normal wild puppy behaviors develop and then progress to adolescence.

A child can help with a dog’s care, but cannot do it all. A child can’t make the decisions, drive the car to the veterinarian and training class, or pay the on-going costs of having a dog. All dogs get sick and hurt from time to time. Between those crises, dogs need flea, tick and heartworm prevention. The cost of a puppy and the cost of dog food are only a fraction of the real costs of having a dog.

Taking the dog out to potty, cleaning up messes, grooming and even feeding a dog will suffer if left entirely up to a child. Parents must make sure these tasks get performed. Parents are likely to also have to do the training, certainly if the child is young, and often even if the live-at-home “child” is grown! There is also liability for the dog’s actions to consider.

If the dog is a gift for an adult, does the person want a dog—and does the person want THIS dog? Is the person physically and financially able to properly care for a dog? If the dog is likely to outlive the person, is there someone absolutely committed to care for the rest of the dog’s life?

Everyone needs the chance to choose whether or not to have a dog in the home and what kind of dog to have. Ten to 15 years of the work and cost of caring for a dog the person didn’t want in the first place is an unthinkable burden to put on anyone.

There’s a recognized pattern of behavior called animal hoarding, in which people continue to collect pets until they have more pets than they can provide with good care. The situation then becomes abusive to the pets. Adding a new dog because you expect it to make you feel better can lead to this pattern. Ask yourself if the dog you’re planning to get for the holidays is an attempt to relieve your stress. Particularly if you already have multiple other dogs, look around for alternatives on the stress relief. It will be healthier for you and could spare all your dogs from winding up in a bad situation.

What is Your Best Option for Starting Out with a New Canine Family Member?

A quiet vacation at home or other calm time in the household is ideal for adding a dog to the family. For some people, the holidays may be like this. For most it’s probably better to wait until after the holidays. Because so many people make impulse decisions to adopt dogs at Christmas or Hanukkah, there are many homeless dogs of all ages a bit later. It’s one of the peak times of year to have a wide range of choices among adoptable dogs.

Some breeders refuse to adopt out puppies for Christmas because they’ve had so many puppies suffer for it. These breeders will be more interested in placing a puppy in your home than in the home of someone who wants it for a Christmas morning surprise. These are often the top breeders with the best puppies.

If you’ve never had a dog or your dog experience is limited, be especially careful in making the choice. A good breeder or rescue or shelter will be happy to have you come out to learn, to volunteer, and in some cases to foster a dog in your home. Doing this for a few weeks will help you find out more about that breed and about your own reactions to living with a dog.

A wonderful way to get a great education in dog care is to foster a puppy or dog for an assistance-dog training organization or for U.S. customs and border patrol. You could also dog-sit for a military person deployed overseas or for someone with a serious illness. All of these experiences would make you much more able to choose the dog that fits you well.

One of the major concerns about people getting dogs for Christmas or Hanukkah is that the deadline tends to cause people to make a lot of poor choices. Another is that the other activities going on make it a bad time for a dog to enter a new home. Sometimes the holiday becomes an occasion to persuade a reluctant family member to allow a dog into the family. Before using this tactic, ask yourself whether it’s a good idea to bring a dog into the home if it takes this much arm-twisting.

If everyone agrees they want a dog, the dog has a much better chance of receiving full family support at the time of a difficult or expensive illness or other problem. If not, in some extreme cases the dog might even wind up being abused by the person who didn’t want a dog in the first place. No one should be forced to take on the responsibility of a dog. The dog will suffer if that is done.

When adding a dog to your family, take time to make the best decision you possibly can. An adage that applies to marriage also applies to dog adoption: “Marry in haste, repent at leisure.” Taking time will lead to gathering better information and to being offered the opportunity to adopt a better dog. It’s worth the wait.