If you know someone who wants a dog, help them find a dog. Help them pay for a dog, if a purebred pup is their heart's desire. Write a big check to the veterinarian of your loved one's choice to pay for the dog's necessary vaccines or neutering. If adoption will be from a shelter, visit the shelter and make arrangements to pay the adoption fees. But, never, no never, buy or adopt a dog to give to an unsuspecting friend or family member.Dog's given as gifts create problems that should be explored before a defenseless dog lands in a home where he was not expected and may be neglected.Are you sure that the gift-dog recipient wants to and can look after a pet physically and financially? It can be painful to admit that our budgets are too tight for a dog's food and medical needs, or that we just don't have the physical capacity or desire to devote our time and hearts to the needs of a vital, fragile life who will look to us as the center of its universe.If you are thinking of surprising a retired relative, or anyone you know, with a pet, first ask yourself, "Why does that person not have a pet?" Perhaps they keep hoping they will travel and do not want to leave a pet behind.

Maybe they love their perfectly trimmed lawn and pride-and-joy flower beds and do not want a dog who may dig, may tangle in the foliage, and who certainly will relieve himself on grass and bushes. The dogless person may dislike dog hair. Beware that the person may have had a beloved dog die and their heart is not ready to open to a new commitment. Whatever the reason that a person does not have a dog, giving a dog to an unsuspecting friend or relative could be a huge mistake. Let's get Grandmother a puppy to keep her company. (Substitute any person whom you believe needs companionship.) Hang on right there. Too, too many heartbroken pups and adolescent dogs wind up pining away in rescue-organization crates or dog runs because a family member wanted to bring companionship and activity to a relative or shut-in friend.

Offering to drive them and accompany them to find a dog is a great idea. Let the desire to acquire come from the person who will own the dog. Little puppies and older shelter dogs cannot ask the needful puppy responsibility questions, so we must ask hard questions about them: Can the new owner walk the pet every few hours and watch its every move?Does the new owner mind a few, or perhaps many, pee-pee accidents on her rugs?Is there a crate waiting for the new dog?Is there a fenced yard to protect the dog when there are bad weather days or when the owner does not feel up to walking the dog?Is the prospective dog-owner finally retired and able to travel?Is there a place for the dog to stay when the owner needs to leave town?Does this dog-parent want to spend money on dog food, medical care, grooming, obedience education and boarding?Does the dog-owner have the energy to romp, walk and supervise a lively dog?If the new owner is elderly, are there any concerns about sharp little teething teeth on the fragile human skin?Most of all: Did this person say a dog was the one thing she most wants in the whole world?
A pup needs to be planned for and wanted. A dog-owner must wholeheartedly welcome the very big responsibility of another very needy life to look after.Everyone needs exercise. A dog, however, is not expendable and ignorable like a piece of exercise equipment. A dog must run, jump, play and investigate his environment. If he lands, bored and ignored, in the home of a person who loves nothing better than long hours of reading and resting in the recliner, the dog is in trouble, and the person becomes troubled. Chances are, the dog will join the ranks of the unexercised rather than making a voluntarily sedentary person leap up to exercise.

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Give this person a treadmill or a membership to an athletic club.Small children and little pups are cute in pictures. In real life, the mix requires constant vigilance and vast increases of work for the parents. A dog is not a toylike source of juvenile entertainment.Too many of the dogs who were squeezed and enjoyed by little children as puppies now wait behind chain-link fences at shelters. Too many "gift for the children" pups grow up to be sad, older dogs who wonder why the "new" wore off them so soon. There is a frightening possibility that children who see their too-old, too-much-trouble dogs disappear to shelters learn lessons that life is not very valuable, or that their parents' promises and commitments cannot be trusted. Even worse, some dogs are killed by cars when humans toss them outside and lied to the children, teaching them, "the dog is happier outdoors." Happy, or not, the dog is probably going to be dead.A surprise dog may suffer if no one is ready for him and, even worse, no one wants him.A dog choice is as personal as the choice of any love connection.

The dog who makes my heart beat with attraction may look like a rolling dust ball to you. Aunt Olga may want a tiny, 3-pound fluff puff of a dog while you may think the only dog for anyone is a regal Scottish deerhound. There are several hundred purebred dog breeds and thousands of lovely mixed breeds, all lovable if they are matched to the person who wants to love them.We fervently hope that our dog will grow old with us. With love, attention to the best possible diet, frequent trips to his veterinarian for checkups before medical problems arise, and vast quantities of our devotion to his needs, our dog may share our life for over a decade.Picking out a dog for a soul mate is personal. Move heaven and Earth to help anyone longing to dedicate themselves to a fine dog locate their dream dog. Just make sure the dog you help them find is their dream and not yours. Nightmares can result. Visit our Happy Dogs World website for more information's about dogs