After you move to Austin, The Woodlands or anywhere else, you may realize something is missing. What if your family isn’t quite complete? No, we are not talking about the blessed arrival of a new baby, but rather acquiring a family pet! Your new home may be bigger or have a backyard and may allow you to consider something you previously hadn’t, adding a family pet!
Whether you have mooved to a condo downtown or a sprawling home in the country, here are some important things to consider when searching for the perfect family pet.
Space
We alluded to extra space or lack thereof in our introduction, but this is truly a big consideration when choosing a family pet. Apartment and condo dwellers may want to consider a hamster or fish. Traveling up and down the stairs multiple times a day so that a dog can relieve himself, may not be what you want to do the first thing every morning and the last thing every night. Certain Home Owners Associations may also have restrictions on animals, such as no dogs larger than twenty-five pounds, or restrictions may limit the number of animals you are allowed to have in your home.
Time
The biggest thing you should take into consideration before deciding to add a pet to your family, is the amount of time you have to dedicate to an animal. When you decide to adopt a pet, you are adding a member to your family. This is an extremely important and life-changing decision! You are now responsible for the life, care, treatment, health and happiness of a dependent being. Take time to consider how caring for and training a new animal will change your life and schedule. You will need to make provisions for the animal when your family goes on vacation, you can’t leave an animal for long periods of time (especially when they are young and being trained), and you have to invest a significant amount of time upfront to train your new family member.
Responsibility
You may think getting a new pet will help to teach your kids responsibility. While with supervised tasks and training, the process of adopting and training your pet can help to teach your child responsibility, don’t solely entrust the care of your animal to a child. It isn’t fair to the animal and your child may not be ready for the responsibility, despite how cute or fluffy the animal is. An adult still needs to oversee trips to the vet, medication, a balanced diet and adequate exercise for your new family member.
Commitment
Pets do not have as long of a lifespan as humans; however, when adopting a new family member you are making a commitment. Dogs tend to live for around fifteen years while some birds and tortoises can live for decades! Whatever your pet’s life span you should be willing to commit to care for them if you choose to adopt a pet. As time goes on, your life, family and circumstances will change. A move to a new city or having kids is not an excuse to dump a pet. It’s not the pet’s fault your life or circumstances changed. Be sure to consider the future before adding a pet to your family!
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Original Source: https://squarecowmovers.com/furry-family-members-finding-the-perfect-pet