Today we wanted to give you some ideas or tips if You Are Thinking of Getting a Pet.

As you know we are farmers, therefore we have all kinds of animals, both farm kinds and pet kinds. Pets are wonderful and exasperating at the same time. We totally recommend having a pet or two or three. Some of us have multiple pets and different kinds of pets.

Yes, we think having pets is good for you but do not forget you should also be good for your pets. Not everyone is cut out to be a pet owner. Or maybe they are not in a position to be a pet owner right off but could be later in their lives. There are some thing to consider if You Are Thinking of Getting a Pet.

Many families go into the pet adoption process in a very spur-of-the-moment manner. But when you bring a pet into your home, there are more things to consider than just how rewarding it will be to have a new member of your family.

You not only want to benefit from all of the love and joy that a pet offers, but you want to provide that pet with the best life possible. Whether you are considering adopting a dog or cat, bird, fish, reptile, or any other kind of animal it’s important to understand the level of effort you are going to need to put into pet ownership.

Owning a pet is a major decision that you want to sit with as you consider how much time will be required, the financial responsibilities you will have, and the emotional ups and downs you will experience as a pet owner.

It’s hard to go to a pet store or shelter and see the precious eyes of a puppy or kitten, dog or cat, hamster or ferret and not want to take it home on a whim. But the reality is, you have to research the pet you are considering adopting, plan for its arrival into your home, and get prepared with everything that your new pet will need.

The last thing you want to do is feel overwhelmed when you bring a pet into your home. Animals are very good at picking up the feelings of the people around them. If you are on edge or upset, the pet can also be on edge or upset. This may cause you to return it to a shelter because you don’t feel as if you can support the animal with everything that it needs. As with all new relationships, there will be some getting to know each other and a few rocky moments but you can get past this with being prepare, some time and understanding.

Things to consider if You Are Thinking of Getting a Pet.

1. Never buy a pet for someone elses kids. That almost always goes bad for the pet and for your friendship with the parent of the kids. You have no way of knowing how the family or the new pet will react. Also, you will not be able to answer the questions below for someone else.

2. Go to an adoption shelter to get a pet, do not buy from a breeder. There are a rare few breeders that are “good breeders” but they are one in a million. People often think pure-blood breeds are better but if you do your research you will find that is rarely the case. Many pure-blood breeds have been so interbred that the parents often pass genetic issues on to their litters. Every breed has different genetic issues that the breed is prone to having but all genetic issues are bad for your pet’s health.

Whereas the general “Mutt dogs” or mix breeds often miss genetic issues as they are not being interbred. This means their genetic gene pool is wider and health issues are less likely.

We have found in our many years of pet ownership mutts are the best, especially rescue or shelter pets. Where you might get a snobby, posh totty of a pure breed, you will usually find a mutt is very appreciative of everything you do for them. Rescue pets have been on the streets, they know hunger, loneliness, cold, fear, and loss. When you get a rescue pet, give them a home and love them, they will return that with love and loyalty. Rescue pets know what life “out there” is like and they want to be with you and show you how much they love and appreciate you.

Of course, there are some rescue pets that have been treated very badly and have emotional scars. These kinds of rescue pets can be loving and appreciative but they may take some work to get them to be. You may have to be more careful and patient with them that other pets. But if you will stick with it, the reward of their love will come. It may not look like what you think it should or will but it will be there.

3. The Joy of Having a Pet

Many people simply focus on the joy that comes from adopting a new pet. And there is certainly a lot to be said for that. If you haven’t considered how much pleasure a pet can bring into your life and home, you’ll want to know that, too.

Coming home to a wagging tail or a pet who snuggles up to you because you’re the best thing in the world to them can provide you with a lot of comfort and companionship. Whether you’re single and feeling lonely or just need a break from the chaos of the world, pets can provide you with the love and attention YOU need.

It’s no wonder pets are certified as therapy animals to help people get through stressful moments or even to be health guides for them. They’re intelligent and alert to all of the needs of their human companion.

Pets can also provide a level of security you may want in your household. Intruders are much less prone to entering into a home unannounced when a dog is barking and alerting their owner of their presence.

But as wonderful as it can be owning a pet, you have to make sure you’re ready for the responsibilities involved, too. Knowing what goes into pet ownership can help you make a decision about which type of pet is right for your family.

Here are some of the Responsibilities of a Pet Owner.

4. Pets Require Attention and Activity.

Many kinds of pets will need the same attention and activity as a child would need. So basically you are getting a hairy, scaley, or feathery child.

Some of the parrots have the mental ability of a three-year-old child. Parrots need a lost of mental stimulation to stay happy and not get bored. If your parrot is bored it will either become destructive, angry, or hurt itself.

One thing that many people don’t take into consideration is how much attention and activity a pet can require. All pets are different in how much attention they are going to need from you, or how much activity you will need to provide.

It also may depend on the age of your pet. An adopted puppy is going to need more supervision, play time, and exercise than an older, senior dog would.

If you owned a snake, you’re not going to need to take it for a walk like you would a dog, thankfully, that would be a slow walk. A dog will need to be walked regularly in order to help it keep its weight down and give it the exercise that it needs and enjoys throughout the day.

With some pets, such as a dog, if you do not provide them with the attention and activity that they need, they may become destructive within your home. You will find your furniture and belongings torn up because they are trying to use up that pent up energy.

You also may need to provide activity for a senior pet, especially if their weight has gotten out of control and they’ve gained too many pounds and need to slim down for health purposes.

But being engaged in activities such as going on walks or playing fetch with you is an important part of their mental health as well. It keeps them stimulated and shows them that you care enough to engage with them on a regular basis.

Some pets don’t need or require as much activity, either. For example, cats generally don’t need to go on walks, but they do need to spend time playing and socializing from a mental standpoint as well as a health standpoint.

If you only have a single pet, then you will be the point of reference for them to get that attention and activity from. This is why many people prefer to adopt animals in pairs so that they have another living being to interact with socially.

Two puppies, for example, can play a game of tug of war with a toy and release the energy that they have while enjoying their time playing. You don’t want your pet to become lonely or bored because you are too preoccupied with other things in your life and don’t have time to devote any of your attention to them.

Though, we would not recommend trying to take on two new kids at one time.

5. Make Sure the New Pet Gets Along with Everyone in the Family.

Another thing to consider is whether or not the pets you are considering adopting are going to get along with everyone else in the family. You want to take care of this issue before a permanent adoption takes place.

Not only do you have to make sure that the humans in your house are going to get along with the pet, but you also have to make sure that any other pets that are already in your home are going to get along with the new pet that is brought home.

A. Other Pets

You do not want stress or conflicts. Whether it’s a senior dog or cat that may not take to a new puppy or kitten very well.

If you fail to introduce a prospective new member of your family to the existing one, you may end up with physical altercations or even emotional and social issues that cause a lot of stress in your life.

Most shelters will allow you to conduct a meet and greet before you officially adopt a pet. You can bring your family as well as your existing pet to meet the new animal and see how they interact with one another.

When and if you bring the pet home as a new member of the family, you want to introduce them again in a neutral area. You don’t want to bring a new dog into a home where an existing dog lives because they will be territorial about the space.

Instead, you may want to take them to a dog park or even just the backyard and have them play together for a short bit of time before bringing everyone into the space together as a new family.

B. Kids or Other Family Members

Not only do you need to introduce and watch the new pet with your existing ones, but you have to see how your children will interact with the pet, too. They may have to be taught how to properly interact with the new animal.

It’s important that they know how to approach the animal with caution and watch for signs that the pet may not be comfortable with them. For example, they don’t want to lean down and get in their face or pull on their tail.

You don’t want your children to sit on the animal as if it is a toy to ride on. They need to be taught to respect the boundaries of the animal because it is a living being and cannot speak for itself.

6. New Pets Need Personal Space.

Each pet that is brought into your home needs to have some sort of space that it can call its own. Whether you are crate training or simply want to provide a dog bed or cat bed for your new furry friend, this will make them feel as if they have a place in the family that is all their own.

You also want to provide them with their own source of food and water. Some pets will be okay sharing resources, but others will be more territorial, possibly because of what has happened in their past.

7. Will Your Pet Need to be Groomed?

Grooming is another issue that you want to consider before you make the final decision to own a new pet. Grooming is something that can be very minor or something that takes up a lot of time and financial resources.

This all depends on the type of pet that you have. Grooming includes everything from giving your pet a bath and trimming its fur or clipping its wings to helping it maintain good dental health.

If you are considering owning a dog, for example, small dogs will require less grooming than a large one. Short haired dogs are not going to demand as much from you in the way of grooming as a long haired animal.

All dogs are going to need to have their teeth brushed and their nails trimmed. So there are some elements of grooming that are going to be a necessity, regardless of what breed or size of dog that you adopt.

Cats typically groom themselves, but they still need you to give them a bath sometimes and help them brush out their coat so that they don’t have a problem with hairballs. If you adopt a long-haired cat, you may need to provide a little more grooming so that they don’t have to deal with matting or tangles in their fur.

Other animals may require grooming of their own. For example, with fish, you don’t necessarily have to groom the actual animal, but you do need to keep its living space clean.

Birds have to have you clean their cage area out regularly, and they may need you to trim their feathers and help them take a bath so that they feel clean and healthy at all times. Many birds will need their nails trimmed. With a calm bird, this is a small thing. But if you have an anxious bird or one that has had a bad experience with nail trimming before, you could have your hands full. You may even need to take your bird to the vet to get it’s nails trimmed.

Reptiles and rodents also need help with maintaining a clean habitat. That may mean changing out there debris with fresh bedding or removing old food from their living space.

If you fail to provide proper grooming for your pet, not only does it cause them stress, but it also can cause health problems for them. They might develop some sort of skin infection or start chewing at the matted hair and begin having problems with their teeth. Pets can get their nails caught in matted hair and pull the nails out. There are a variety of health issues that can come from bad grooming.

Grooming is something that you can either learn how to do on your own, and buy the proper tools for it. Or you can take your pet to a professional facility and have someone else do the grooming for you on a regular basis. Either way, supplies will need to be bought or services payed for.

8. Training Your Pet.

Another decision you have to make before adopting a pet is what kind of training is involved, and whether you are up to the task to handle this? You do not want to adopt a pet without realizing how much training it needs. Your world could decend into chaos and you might decide to return your new pet to the shelter.

Just like raising a child, you have to teach a pet right from wrong and show them what proper behavior is. For example, some pets have to have obedience training. With dogs and cats, especially, they need to know that they can not go potty anywhere in the house. A cat must be trained not to claw up your furniture. Dogs will need to be trained not to bark nonstop at the neighbors. Dogs and cats will need some training in this area.

Contrary to some people’s beliefs, pets are not born knowing what they want from them. You have to teach your pet what you want and how to do the things you want as well as to not do the things that you do not want.

There is not as much obedience training for pets like fish, birds, reptiles, and rodents. They pretty much just exist in your home. This being said, many people do take the time to train exotic pets in some way. A rabbit can be trained to a litter pan. Rodents are very easy to train to walk on a leash and do tricks. Larger birds can be trained to do all kinds of things. Fish and reptiles can at least be trained to come for food when called. But again, all of these things will require training, your time and your participation.

Dogs and cats will need some training in these area.

They need to know to alert you when they need to go outside or to go potty in a cat box. You have to work on eliminating any of these unwanted behaviors early on so that bad behavior does not get ingrained in them and become hard to change at a later date.

Obedience training is something that may seem time consuming and rigid at first, but it actually helps your pet feel more safe with you and have confidence that you are in control so that they can bond with you better.

Not only will you want to house-train your pet, but you also want to train them on different things. These include basic commands like sit and stay. if you are going to be taking your dog out in public places, you also want to teach them how to heel.

They need to know how to walk on a leash. Some pets have never worn a collar or leash, and they may feel uncomfortable with it or lunge forward and try to pull you as they are walking.

You may need to train your dog to be well socialized. Especially if you are going to a dog park, it’s important that your dog knows how to not react whenever another animal is trying to cause chaos.

If you are going to be using a crate in your home, such as at night or when you are gone, then you’ll want to help your dog get comfortable with the idea of going into a crate and being confined to that space.

There are different ways you can engage in training your pet. You can educate yourself about different training styles and test those out on your pet. There are tools and aids that you can use such as click trainers and treats.

Or, you can hire a professional trainer to either come to your house and work with your animal or enroll in a class where they teach various training techniques and instructions that you can use with your pet in a group setting.

Of course, there is also therapy pet training, emotional support pets, search and rescue pets, and all of these require special training.

9. Pet Expenses.

Another consideration you have to make before you own a pet is how much it is going to cost. There are many different kinds of expenses that come with pet ownership, and this is an ongoing expense, not something you pay for just once.

There will be an adoption fee that you pay to the shelter for your pet. You probably already know that you will have to buy basic things regularly such as food and treats.

When it comes to food items, you want to contact your veterinarian and find out what type of eating plan and food brand they want you to use. You have to consider the long-term nutritional needs of your new family member, and not just buy the cheapest thing on the market.

In the beginning, you’ll need to purchase items for their living area, such as a bed or a cat tower. They will need things like potty training pads and a cat box or litter. They may need a cage and a perch if you are purchasing a bird.

A reptile not only needs an enclosed habitat to live in, but you have to purchase items that can adjust the temperature and humidity, heat lights, and spritzers, for them to be happy and healthy. You also may want to purchase decor for these habitats like rocks, plants or ceramic logs. Some reptiles will need special food or vitamins.

Many pets, including dogs, cats, and birds, like to have toys that stimulate their mind and help them get their energy out. You might want to purchase a small scratching post or a large cat tower for a cat. Healthy chew toys are available for dogs and birds.

Different-sized dogs require different sized treats. The treats we buy for our 20lb small dog is less than a bite for the 100lb coonhound. And the bigger the treat and the better quality the treat is the more expensive they get.

There are mirrors and hanging toys that you can put in a bird cage. For a dog, there are all sorts of squeaky toys and tug of war toys as well as electronic toys that will throw a ball for them.

One thing many people often forget is what they’re going to do with their pets when and if they travel. The expenses involved with this can include having someone come to your home to walk your dog or check on your animals, or paying a boarding fee to have them kept at a boarding facility or vet clinic.

10. Health Care for Your Pet.

One of the expenses and mental costs of owning a pet is health care. What often happens is that someone will adopt a pet, only to have it go through a medical emergency that they can not afford.

Pet ownership requires you to consider the expenses you’ll need to pay on a regular basis. That includes regular checkups with a veterinarian to ensure that your pet is healthy, to any urgent medical events that may occur.

Not only do you have to pay for the appointment itself, but you will pay for vaccinations and tests that need to be done, As well as any other procedures to maintain the good health of your pet. Now would be a good time to consider getting pet insurance, so that if you do have a major medical emergency, some or all of your costs will be covered. However, not all Vet offices actually take pet insurance.

Some of the common health issues that you may be faced with as a pet owner can be having to have a pet put under for a teeth cleaning, or to have teeth pulled, a collapsed trachea if you have a small dog, viruses and parasites that can cause digestive issues, and more.

Different animals have different health issues that they have to deal with period for example, if you have a cat, you may be addressing urinary tract infections more often. You need to research what types of issues the pet you are considering adopting is prone to have so that you can take the necessary precautions to keep them healthy and free from any harmful conditions.

This preventative care is going to be just as important as being able to finance emergency medical care for your pet when and if it is ever needed. For example, you need to make sure that your dogs and cats are on flea and tick medicine, and not wait until one of them is diagnosed with heartworm to address that issue. Heartworm preventative can be found in just about any store, farm supply, and vet clinic these days. It is giving once a month to keep your pet from getting heartworms and other parasites. This will be another expense to be ready for.

11. The Heartbreak of an Illness or Shorter Lifespan for Your Pet.

One thing that nobody wants to talk about when it comes to pet ownership is that you may have to endure a severe illness or a death of a pet at some point. This can be very difficult for many people.

In most cases, your pet is going to live a shorter lifespan than you. Only in some instances, such as a parrot who lives fifty years or more, may you find your pet outliving you.

And even in those situations, you have to think about who will take your pet once you are gone. You do not want your beloved pet to be sent to any random shelter and adopted by someone that you do not know or trust.

You want to think about how you would emotionally prepare for and handle a situation such as a chronic illness like diabetes. Can you not only monitor the health of your pet regularly but provide daily injections? Illnesses will require more frequent checkups with the veterinarian.

You may also want to consider what type of end of life decisions you will need to be making. Some people prefer to have this happen naturally, while others prefer to put their pet out of pain and suffering through euthanasia.

When you are considering getting a new pet for your family, don’t just think about how you will feel in these moments, but how your children will react as well as your spouse or other family members. Many pets have been known to mourn the loss of another pet just as much as their people do.

You want to make sure that your family understands the lifespan of the pet you are adopting. For example, a cat may live 20 years, while a fish may live just a couple of years.

When it comes to dogs, you may have some that only live seven years, and others that live 20. Typically, larger dogs have a shorter lifespan than smaller dogs, but nothing is guaranteed. The health of your pet can determine their lifespan but also what their life was like before you adopted them. Was your new pet on the street, starving, or injured? Did your pet have any long term illnesses or was it in a bad situation before you? All of these things, genetics, illness, injury, starvation, and abuse will affect your pets lifespan.

Owning a pet can be an emotionally fulfilling aspect of your life. They provide unconditional love and companionship. As long as you stay informed and aware of their needs, and are committed to providing for them as a member of your family, it can be a mutually rewarding relationship. A pet should be a lifetime commitment not a spure of the moment thing, or a new toy.

Remember pets have the same ability to love, feelings, emotions, fears, needs, and expectations as you do.

Once you take time to really consider these important aspects of pet ownership, you will know if you are ready, willing and able to get a pet. Are you ready for the commitment to this pets health and happiness? Do you have the ability to support this pet?

No one knows for sure what their future will bring, do you have a plan for your pet if your life takes a bad turn? Is there someone or somewhere your pet will be safe in case you get sick, or lose your job or your home?

Not that we are trying to be negative or trying to talk you out of a pet. On the contrary, as we said before, we think just about everyone would benefit from some kind of pet to love. But being realistic and being prepared are both very important in life no matter if it is about getting a new pet or having a child, both will need you to look after them, their needs and their futures.

In our farm life, we have had many animals come and go from dogs and cats to sheep, rabbits, lizards, and many animals in between. Loving them and providing for them is what we do and we love it. A farm is a place set up to take care of animals and that is a great thing. Not everyone is set up to be able to take care of a pet. There are some people that just do not like pets, go figure. But you need to know where you are on the scale of pet ownership before you jump in.

We hope this has giving you some things to think about if You Are Thinking of Getting a Pet? We sure hope you are and we hope you will. Wishing you all the best and happiest days to you and your pet.

If you are interested in other “pet talks” please check out some of the ones below.

Ways to safeguard against losing your pet

DIY large farm animal Fly repellent ointment

Thank you for visiting and please come again for another edition of Out Standing in the Field.