Reasons Not To Get A Puppy | The Realities of Puppy Parenting 

Oh god yes... As cute as they are, the first 6 months are a full time job. Also beware of big breeds! They grow sooo fast. If you get a Newfoundland, Leonberger, St Bernhard, etc. You will end up with a dog that is as big and heavy as many other breeds fully grown, but they still run on puppy software cause they mature slower. Not to mention the teenage phase We didn´t had too much problems with chewing, cause we strategically placed kongs or those chew ropes pretty much everywhere. However he tended to (and still does) play golf with everything on tail height. So the happy tail wag of doom probably cost us a few dozen plates and decorations that were standing on side boards or the living room table. BTW another thing you can do if you are unsure of getting your own dog yet: Be a foster home for some time. Probably depends on where you live but here in Europe you can very often help shelters by taking in and caring for dogs for a limited amount of time (usually 1-6 months, though it can be longer) depending on the organization you don´t even have to pay for vet visits, only for food, toys, etc. Ofcourse the big downside here is that you have to let go off the dog again, when it gets adopted. I did this for ~2years before getting our big boi and I´m still doing it regularly whenever I can.

“Puppy software” 😂 Great point about the chew toys! And the concept, as well as the “hitch,” of fostering. We fostered one adorable, rambunctious “teen” terrier-border collie that wasn’t my existing dog’s type. So when the right home came along we let her go. My heart was so broken! I told the rescue I couldn’t foster again. Six months later we were asked to do a 1-week foster-sitting job while another volunteer went on vacation. You guessed it-we adopted that dog and (very happily!) still have him. But there were certainly bumps along the way. We still had to work hard on training him, and likewise, he on trainin us! On the plus side, we never had to rewrite his “puppy software”! 😅