Dogs - Cruel or Acceptable?

[TLS-Moose]

Take out pet insurance as well, vet bills are a biatch.

My previous dog, a Weimaraner, hit a double glazed patio door at full run It shattered the outside pane of glass and cracked the inside pane ........ he was uninsured at the time, and the vets bills for the the call-out at gone midnight, X-rays, stitches to his jaws, nose, eyelids, etc., were not a pleasant experience I can assure you

[tafflade]

If you do go for it - BUY A DOG CAGE.

seriously, its not cruel to keep a puppy in a cage

(s)he can live in it for the first 18 months - 2 years untill they get past the chewing stage, after that they'll be fine. it'll save all the coming home from work to find your kitchen reduced to matchsticks, everyone's upset, dog gets a stern telling off...........blah blah

we have 3 dogs, when we got the last one we pulled out the dog cage for the puppy to live in, the trouble was getting the other 2 out of it They hadn't seen it for a couple of years but still remembered it as a safe place to be

I'd also recommend finding a dog club near you and going on an obedience puppy course, get the ground work done early on and it will pay dividends in the future, maybe do the KC bronze good citizen award thingy.