A Dog Is Not For Christmas

Bella, a few weeks old
(c) Louise Lambert

As all responsible dog owners know, Christmas is absolutely the worst time of year to bring a new puppy into your home!

The idea of a cute little furry thing with a red ribbon round its neck sitting under the Christmas tree waiting to surprise someone is the stuff of dreams and cheesy films. All too often puppies are given as if they're toys, not real life creatures with emotions and needs, and with no thought given to the amount of care and attention they will need, particularly in the first few weeks of their lives.

So what happens? Before the holidays are even over, dog homes up and down the country are having to take in pets that new owners have not been able to cope with.

What puppies need in their first few weeks with you is a calm and welcoming environment to help them settle into their new 'family'. They also need the undivided attention of one person who will be responsible for training and socialising them from the moment they arrive. Christmas is not a time of calm for most families. It's a time of noise, parties and lots of comings and goings. The worst possible environment for a small vulnerable creature who has just left its mother to find itself in!

My daughter and I really wanted a dog - and had our hearts set on a Labrador. But my husband was not keen. Too much responsibility, he said - so that was that. But over time he obviously started thinking more and more about it and taking in what we were saying (we did go on about it a bit!), because one Christmas, among the gifts I got from him was a book on Labradors! He had given us his blessing to bring a dog into our lives and by the following spring we had a beautiful 8-week old puppy - Bella - living with us. That was nine years ago and she is still as loved now as she was all those years ago. It was hard work for the first few weeks and I can't image how we'd have coped with her if she'd come to us over Christmas!

So my advice to anyone thinking of getting someone a dog for Christmas is this - buy them a 'dog information pack' instead, with books on dogs (different dog breeds, how to train and socialise them, etc.) and the details of a reputable breeder, or perhaps a dog rehoming centre, that you've already been in touch with and will contact again after the holidays.

Believe me, it will be worth the wait. And in the meantime, you'll have lots to talk about!

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(c) Sigismund von Dobschütz

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