I’m new to this, so you’ll have to bear with me. Minyanville is not just about investment in the financial markets, it’s about investments in life. So in keeping with this theme, I’m going to write a series about being a newbie in pet ownership. And in pet ownership, I believe if you’re going to dive in, dive in.

So here it goes.

Days led into months, which led into years of begging and prodding from my two sons and husband.

We always visited the local pet stores to see adorable puppies and stopped in the street or in the park to greet a dog. I was scared of the extra responsibility. It’s equivalent to a baby without labor pains and it never grows up.

This past fall I finally caved.

As all stories like this go, my boys promised me they would do everything for the dog -- feed her, take her out for walks and to the bathroom, even in the pouring rain and below freezing temperatures. But I knew too well that I would be the one with full responsibility.

Friends had told me the decision to have a pet was really up to me.

My hope for this column – “Dog Gone It” is to share the financial implications of owning a pet. I hope to do this with relative frequency, but between the schedules of work, two young boys and now a dog, I’m not sure I can. Time will tell.

Finding A Dog

There are many avenues to go down when getting a dog. We thoroughly researched three in particular before getting ours. When I say thoroughly, you have no idea how much work I did. I hope to save you time, money and potential heartache by sharing it here.

The three most common approaches are the local pet store, private dog breeders or an animal shelter. (Most areas have an ASPCA.) Each has pros and cons. Most important, they have significant cost differences:

Option A: Pet Stores

Sometimes unfairly, pet stores are labeled as supporting puppy mills. This is not always the case, so you need to research your seller. Puppy mills are analogous to an assembly line where dogs are mass-produced and more often than not sold to pet stores. The conditions from which they are bred and cared for are not up to standard.

The greatest importance for a newborn is the bonding between mother and her puppies after birth. In puppy mills, most puppies are tragically taken away from their moms and littermates before seven weeks, which is detrimental to their emotional development.

While it may be convenient to go into a store, see the dog you want and have immediate gratification, think about how you purchase and make decisions in every other aspect of your life and make sure to ask the right questions before you make that impulse buy:

1) Where did the dog come from?
2) Does the dog have papers from the breeder and is the breeder licensed?
3) What’s the breeder’s reputation?
4) Can the store provide any references of people who have purchased dogs from that breeder? Many times, stores buy from the same breeders.
5) Talk to other people who have purchased puppies from that store.

Having children, purchasing a home or furniture, looking for the bargain in the supermarket -- many times people put more thought into these things then they would with the purchase of a living creature they will have to care for.

A dog will be a steady fixture in your life and family for many years to come. It is a very important decision that should not be taken lightly.

Next Page:  The Breeder and Pound Options -->