Choose a pet to suit your lifestyle.

Veterinary doctor Goutam Mukherjee helps you choose an animal that is best suited to your lifestyle.

Your relationship with your pet depends largely on whether you have chosen your companion properly. For a healthy and nurturing relationship, you should choose an animal whose needs are most compatible with your own lifestyle.

It is easy to fall in love with a cute puppy or kitten when you see one, but before you buy it you should think of whether you can take responsibility for it for over 10 years. Your pet must not become a burden on you.

Make the right choice:

If you stay home for long hours or feel lonely, you can spend your time playing with a puppy, small dog, cat or rabbit, or watching fish in an aquarium.

If you are a highly active person and like outdoor games and go on morning walks or jogs, a dog is a good choice. You can run, walk or play with it.

For small children and elderly people, a small breed of dog or cat or a rabbit is advisable.

If you live in a small flat don’t buy a big dog like a Great Dane or Mastiff.

If you are allergic to animal fur and want to keep your room clean, don’t buy a dog or cat. Keep fish, turtles or birds.

If you want to keep pets for security or you have a large house or a garden, keep a Doberman or a German Shepherd.

If you don’t have children or stay alone, you can keep a Pug, Pomeranian, Golden Retriever or Labrador. These breeds always stay with you, understand human words and play like children.

If you also want to make money through your pets, breed dogs or birds. Choose a popular breed as you will always have a customer. For breeds such as Spitz, German Shepherd, Pug, Labrador or Golden Retriever, if you have a pure breed and have registration papers from Kennel Club of India you can expect a good price for the puppies.

If you really love animals but don’t have the time to look after one, don’t get a pet. Give food to stray dogs or work with an NGO that looks after strays.

If you have chosen to get yourself a dog, here are the characteristics of some common breeds. Match them with your lifestyle and personality before you get one for yourself:

Pomeranian, Spitz, Pug: They always want your company, need little exercise, and can be carried from one place to another easily. They love children and are very intelligent.

German Shepherd, Doberman: These are working dogs. They are very intelligent and easy to train. They also act as good guard dogs and look majestic.

Golden Retriever, Labrador: They love food and children. They like to swim and retrieve things. They have a good sense of smell, so they are very good at finding hidden objects. They are the best house dogs.

Dachshund: Very intelligent, hardy, playful, good watchdog.

The next thing you must consider is where to get your puppy. You can either go to a good breeder or a pet shop. A breeder will also be able to tell you about the pup’s pedigree and its nature. But you will have to pay a premium for this. At a pet shop, you will have the advantage of seeing a number of breeds before making your choice.

At the time of buying a pup, check the following:

1. The puppy must be healthy and playful.
2. It must not have any skin disease.
3. Check for any discharge from the ears and nose.
4. Ask for its date of birth.
5. Ask whether de-worming has been done.
6. Ask for Kennel Club of India registration papers.
7. See the temperament of the puppy. If it is afraid of you, don’t buy it for it will have a tendency to bite.

Then, take your puppy to the nearest vet who will guide you properly on how to take care of it.


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