Why We Decided to Get a Puppy Rather Than Adopting a Dog

This is something that I have really struggled with over the last few months. I have gone back and forth, convincing myself either way; lain awake at night thinking about it and feeling guilty for even considering getting a puppy.

Adopting your pets is something that I have always been passionate about promoting, and been quite vocal about my thoughts on not adopting, particularly when it comes to cats. If you even glance at my Facebook profile at any time you would probably see a cat rescue desperate for support or cats in need that I have shared.

We adopted both of our cats (one of whom is no longer with us) and all my life my family have adopted cats and then had them neutered or spayed if they weren’t already, and I can’t stand it when people don’t have their cats done – there are thousands of cats and kittens that are always looking for homes, and tons of strays on the street and yet so many people just let their poor cats just keep on having kittens instead of putting their cat first and being a responsible cat owner.

I have always thought that if I ever got a dog that I would adopt one rather than buying a puppy from a breeder. For most of this year, I have been looking online at places that rehome dogs, looking for one that would suit us and to whom we could give a loving home to.

We knew we wanted to get a smaller-sized dog as our house isn’t really big enough for a bigger one such as a Lab, but also a smaller one is more suited to our lifestyle right now.

Many organisations that rehome dogs require you to only have older children (usually at least above 10) which ruled us out immediately, and then any dogs that seemed like they could be right for us would tend to say no children or other pets, and we have a cat. Some also want you to be experienced dog owners, which we are not, or for you to be experienced with the particular breed. So even finding one dog that we were right for and who was right for us was very difficult.

We were also ideally hoping to get a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel (CKCS) because they are known to have really lovely temperaments and make great family dogs, plus they are the type of size we wanted. But CKCS aren’t often available for rehoming and when they are, unfortunately, they often have serious medical conditions, often because they have been bred irresponsibly.

Then there is the fact that we have a lot of young children in our lives. I know rescue dogs can be amazing and could have a lovely temperament but it’s hard to know how they would react to noisy, excitable children and of course, they have often been badly treated in the past so are more likely to snap than a puppy that is socialised well from the start.

I didn’t want the parents in our lives to be really wary of seeing us and being with our dog which I think they would have been if we had chosen to adopt an older dog. And I didn’t want to be worried about kids being around him or her. Of course, we will always watch our dog around children anyway but I’m not worried about something happening as I think I would be with a rescue.

I do know that rescue dogs can make absolutely amazing pets and I really hope that one day we will get the chance to give a home to one or two who deserve to be loved and happy. At that point we will be experienced dog owners, the children will be older and we will hopefully be able to offer a rescue dog a perfect home.

I have felt very guilty about choosing to get a puppy rather than adopt a dog in need and even though it felt right for us I still worried I was doing the wrong thing and couldn’t stop thinking about all of the dogs who need a home. But I do think that it was the right decision for us right now. We are all so in love with her and are so grateful that she is ours. We’ve only had her for just over two weeks but she has already brought so much to our lives and she seems to love us very much too.

I know that I don’t have to justify myself, but I wanted to talk about it all on here as it is something that I have struggled with and I know I have questioned why other people have decided to get a puppy in the past when there are so many dogs needing a home. But now I understand it is about doing what is right for your family and having a puppy is a brilliant experience for children and adults and kids can learn a lot from taking care of a puppy.