Choosing The Right Dog For Your Lifestyle
By Gary Walker
Jul 23, 2012
Dogs are the most diverse species on earth with a dizzying array of sizes, body shapes and coat colors. In addition, different breeds of dogs display quite different personalities and behavioral traits.
Much of this is down to human meddling. For centuries we have bred dogs to meet our needs, so that over time we've developed over 600 distinct dog breeds.
However, recent studies suggest that many of the physical changes in dogs may have occured spontaneously. So as amazing as it is, it seems dogs have actually evolved along the lines they believe we expect of them. Now that's what I call devotion!
Fascinating stuff, but there's also a practical purpose to all this.
Let's say you are interested in buying or adopting a purebred dog. I'm sure you'd want one that is a good fit for your life style. It would be foolish for example to adopt a Husky, if your idea of fun is flopping down in front of the TV with with a bowl of popcorn. Before you know it you'll have an extremely frustrated dog, most likely with behavioral problems.
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And it's not just energy levels you need to consider. As you begin to put together a picture of your perfect dog, think about the level of affection you want, the level of independence, guarding ability, whether you mind a dog that barks. You'll find there's a breed that matches just about any profile you can think of.
And what about physical appearance, size for example? It's hard to imagine two animals more different than a Saint Bernard and a Chinese Crested, yet both are unmistakably,