GUEST POST FROM Sparky999 (on 2+2):

[Sparky was one of the first people I met on 2+2, and over the years our friendship has grown (mostly because I keep giving him money at the tables).  He's a true professional - by being nice to the fish.  He's super-knowledgeable about dogs, and he was nice enough to write this two-part post.]

I decided to write about what I know and for those of you who play with me you will know I'm not talking about poker! Ever since I was a child I have loved dogs, some of my earliest childhood memories are of our family pets and even now at the age of 26 I enjoy spending time with my dogs more than most other activities.  I have two dogs at the moment a black/white Siberian husky named 'Mia' and a pure white Samoyed named 'Shimba' and to put it simply I know a lot about dogs, so I thought I would give you a poker players guide to buying a dog, since most of us are in our early 20's and in the next few years we will be buying houses and possibly considering buying a dog.

The first and most obvious thing is breed selection. There is obviously a huge amount of choice and it is the most important decision you will make when buying a dog. It's not as easy as seeing someone walking a cute dog and saying I want that one. You need to consider a million questions; How much exercise does the breed need? How long do they live for on average? How big do they grow? How much time will the dog have to spend alone? Do you travel overseas often or for long periods of time? How difficult to train are they? Is the climate you live in suitable for this breed? Are there any significant health problems associated with the breed you are considering? Is it a breed that needs other dogs company or that does better as the only dog in the household. I really could write a million questions but the point I am making is that different breeds have amazingly different needs and if you don't fully understand the breed then you are setting yourself up for an unhappy experience for both you and the dog.

The breeds I chose I simply would never have bought if I didn't play poker for a living, it enables me to be at home much more often than someone with a 9-5. Although Huskies and Samoyed are incredibly independent they don't do well being left alone for long periods. They also require a lot of exercise, I try to spend a MINIMUM of an hour exercising them a day, EVERY day. Come rain or snow, upswing or downswing my dogs need daily exercise. I use two main methods of exercising them either a 30 yard nylon tracking lead, where I just let them run around as they choose. The other is a lot more fun and still relatively little effort on my behalf, dog scootering! I can't describe to you how much fun this is and the dogs love it so check out this link below to give you an idea.

Once you have chosen a breed that fits your lifestyle and budget (I'm assuming cost is not much of an issue for most readers so I'll just say dogs cost $500-$5000 depending on breed and heritage) the next thing you need to do is find a breeder. Wait! Can't I just cruise down to the local pet shop and pick up a cute puppy so I can pick up chicks? No!!! In my opinion you should never buy a dog from a pet shop. There are several reasons for this the most important being pet shops sometimes buy puppies from puppy farms also called puppy mills where dogs are kept in horrendous conditions with the sole purpose of producing as many offspring as possible, with complete disregard for their welfare. Although it is less common now than 5-10 years ago it still happens a lot and this is not something you want to support.

 

You can use Google to find most breeders but you need to check out their credentials before you go any further. A good breeder will almost never breed more than one or two breeds of dogs and they should know everything about those breeds. They should actively encourage you to come to there residence to meet there dogs, and also for them to meet you. When I purchased each of my dogs I had an informal interview from both of the breeders to make sure that I was right for their puppy and that their puppy was right for me. Pure breed dogs are often artificially inseminated so you usually only get to meet the mother of your puppy but you should try to spend some time with her and see how her temperament is, how she interacts with you and you should also make sure she seems to be in good health. A good breeder should be proud of their kennels and want you to see where they keep their dogs, if they seem secretive about this kind of thing you should walk away. It's not easy when you have a pile of cash in one hand and a cute puppy in the other but purchasing your dog from the right breeder is very important. When you buy a pedigree dog you should be given a formal copy of its heritage going back at least 2 but preferably 3-4 generations.

So we have chosen a breed and a breeder, we have met the mother of the puppy we want to buy and seen the conditions in which they are kept.

That’s it right? We can go home and start trying to pick up chicks? Well, almost. Before you bring your dog home you need to make sure your house and garden are dog proof! Some breeds are escape artists and will find any small gap in a fence to try to escape so they can explore. Both of my dogs are like this and the Samoyed is just the worst not only will she find any gap in a  fence she can chew her way through most wooden fencing and even some metal mesh fencing. The last thing you want is to get your puppy home wake up the next morning and he/she is gone. Trust me I've been there and it's not fun. Puppies love to chew anything that’s on the floor so you need to make sure those Gucci trainers are locked away and your bedroom floor isn't covered in clothes.

To be continued...