Every year around Christmas time the RSPCA in the UK , and other animal charities around the world,  make appeals to everyone to think twice before buying a new puppy or any other pet as a Christmas present. The repeated message is “A dog is for life, not just for Christmas”. This prompt is to make people think, and to consider the implications of owning a pet of any kind.

It is a wonderful experience to see your child’s face light up when you present them with an adorable puppy. There’s no getting away from that, however it doesn’t last very long and it is only one side of the coin.

Puppies can be very hard work. They chew, they soil, they can interrupt sleep, they dig and they demand a lot of attention, it’s rather like taking on another unruly child.

Although puppies grow quickly, their education is a slow process, even if you have an intelligent breed. During your puppy’s education and socialisation you need to remain calm and patient at all times, and above all you must be consistent, even if you are at the end of your tether. One small slip up confuses your pup and can set his education back.

Puppies tend to take up a lot of time, Just like a child. Your puppy would need walking (come rain, blizzard or shine) training, feeding, brushing, cleaning up after, as well as playing with. Children soon loose interest with all these chores and they inevitably fall to the parents. Do you have time for all these little jobs every day? If not your bored depressed little puppy will probably eat your sofa.

Of course puppy farms are applying hard sell tactics in the run up to Christmas. They prey on people who are unsure if they should buy a puppy or not. The puppy farms force people into making rash decisions that are not thought through properly. The salesmen may say “Well, someone else is interested in this pup”, of course there isn’t anyone else, they just want to force the sale by making the buyers think that they may loose the chance of buying the cute little puppy they have shown interest in. The puppy farmers are not concerned if you are ready and able to take on a puppy, they are only thinking of the wonderful Christmas they can have once they have their hands on your cash.

Christmas day will no doubt be a wonderful day with your new puppy and your happy children. Any puppy mishaps will be regarded as little accidents and mischievous behaviour and all pups’ naughtiness will be heart warming and laughed off.

Six to eight months down the line, puppy is still having little accidents. Puppy is now a big puppy, and proving to be a bit of a handful. The kids have lost interest and everything is covered in dog hairs

This is when there is a boom in puppies that have been placed into the care of animal charities. The charities can not possibly re-home every adorable puppy that comes to them. Anyway, who wants your unruly puppy at the dogs home when they can go to the puppy farm and buy a younger, smaller and cuter puppy there?

The fact is that some cute adorable pups that find themselves at the dogs home have to be destroyed, due to no fault of their own, other than nobody wants them.

Happy Christmas Puppy!