NEW YORK STATE WEIMARANER RESCUE

Christmas morning, Jimmy and Susie rush down the stairs in their pj's and shriek with delight. Santa has finally yielded to their incessant requests: a sweet, wriggling puppy is waiting for them beneath the tree, adorable in his big red bow. It's love at first sight. The puppy slurps the kids' faces then curls up on their lap. The children beam and the camcorder rolls. THIS COULD BE A MESS!

WHY IS A CHRISTMAS DOG A MISTAKE?

First, because no animal should be a surprise, the arrival of a dog changes a household considerably---for years. Someone has to take responsibility for their daily needs-feeding, exercise, health care and grooming. The decision should be thought about and talked over. A new dog, not necessarily a puppy, either, should be the result of a process, not impulse.

Kids can be unreliable; kids change. The puppy melts their hearts for a few days or weeks. However, puppy needs to be walked every day (in the rain). It needs careful attention to feeding and eliminating if it is going to be housebroken effectively. It needs to be taught not to jump on Grandma. The kids oohing and aahing under the tree will soon move on to IMing and texting their friends. Few children outside of 4-H programs want to be tied down to conscientious animal care, and their parents are often no more enthusiastic. Reality will soon supersede the Christmas morning fantasy.

Second, the atmosphere of Christmas morning frightens the puppy. People who study canine development and behavior have found that puppies, like children, go through development stages. The first fear/avoidance period in a puppy's development occurs roughly between 7-12 weeks of age. The puppy needs to be introduced to its new home and family during a relaxed and quiet, gentle time, with minimum of loud noises, flashing lights, and screeching children, ringing phones, visiting company, and other types of general hub-bub. Christmas morning is absolutely the worst time, in terms of the puppy's developmental needs, for introducing this newly weaned youngster to its new family.

The biggest problem with the Christmas pup is that good dogs are usually unavailable for holiday giving. Hardly any ethical dog breeder will support the idea of a dog as a surprise present. Good breeders have carefully constructed breeding programs that are rarely tied to the idea of seasonal gifts. Breeders don't want their dogs to end up in households where nobody understands the work involved in raising their puppies. Experienced rescue group volunteers and shelter workers hate the whole idea of the Christmas dog because they know many of those dogs will be coming back to them or left abandoned and tied to a dog house in 6 months.

Responsible breeders-those who guarantee the health and temperament of their puppies, and who are abreast of current knowledge about canine health, genetics, socialization and development-already know these things and will not send a puppy home with its new owner on Christmas morning. If you were to be able to obtain a puppy from someone who actually let you have it on Christmas Eve so that it could appear under the tree on Christmas morning, that should tell you something. It should warn you that you would be getting your puppy from someone who does not know enough about canine behavior and development to be in the business of breeding or selling puppies. You would be much better off acquiring your newest family addition from a breeder who knows enough about dogs, and cares enough about the puppies that he/she breeds and places, to insist that you take the puppy home under conditions which would be best for the puppy.

The dogs that are readily available at Christmas are the kind you probably don't want. Puppy mills grind out thousands of puppies to meet holiday demand. They are the dogs you find in pet stores and malls---cute as puppies but often inbred, poorly socialized, and prone to more genetic health problems like allergies or bad hips or behavioral difficulties like compulsive barking or chewing.

For Christmas get the kids an Xbox 360, or an iPod. They will love it and use it. You don't have to clean up after it, and if they lose interest, you won't have to walk it in the middle of a snowstorm.

If you absolutely are set upon getting your family a puppy for Christmas, consider this alternative instead: Purchase a leash, collar, good book on raising a puppy, a gift certificate for veterinary checkup, a gift certificate for puppy socialization chasses from one of the local obedience instructors, a book or video tape on the topic of how to select the right dog for your family or a gift subscription to one of the dog-oriented magazines. Wrap these up and put them under the tree. As family members unwrap the various pieces of the "puzzle", their delight and anticipation will grow. Then after the Christmas tree is taken down and the frenzy of the holiday season is behind, the family can once again enjoy together the excitement of discussing and selecting a breed, selecting a breeder, commitment to, and investment in, the well-being of the newest family member. It will be a project the family has done together, which is a wonderful way to welcome your new puppy. This will not decrease the enjoyment of your new puppy. It will be a better start both for the puppy, and for the long-term relationship between dog and owner. A puppy with a good introduction to its new family is much more likely to become a forever companion rather than just another tragic statistic.

. To see if a Weimaraner is the breed for you visit the Weimaraner Club Of America website www.weimclubamerica.org for excellent breed information and quiz.

Happy Holidays from Poet Weimaraners, www.poetweimaraners.com , poetweims@aol.com & Southern Ohio Weimaraner Rescue, www.southernohioweimaranerrescue.org

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