While adopting a puppy can be an exciting thought, take some time to consider the following factors before making this life-altering decision.

• You need to give some serious consideration to numerous factors before bringing home a lovable puppy. Do all members of your family approve of it? While only one person might be the primary caretaker who takes care of the puppy’s needs, other family members must not object to having a puppy around.

The average lifespan of a dog can be anywhere between 10-15 years. Therefore, it is in the best interest of the animal to have the acceptance of all family members who will welcome the puppy wholeheartedly.

What size would your puppy grow up to be when it becomes an adult dog? Depending on the size of your house, you must adopt a puppy that will find it comfortable to live in the same space as you. Confining a large breed dog in a tiny house would not be fair to the animal, and might result in the puppy developing emotional or physical disorders over time.

Adopting puppies means that you select a puppy from a reliable pet shelter, and not pay money to pet store owners or ruthless breeders to bring home a pet. Be noble and act unselfishly by choosing to provide a healthy, happy life to a puppy from your local shelter.

Raising a puppy requires time. Do you have the time to get a new puppy acclimatized to your home environment? Can you trim nails and bathe a puppy, give it nutritious food, take it for walks or to the veterinarian at regular intervals?

Can you give the attention that a puppy requires for its entire lifetime? Are you emotionally equipped and responsible enough to establish rules around the house, socialize the puppy with other pets or children you might already have at home, train and take it for exercises every day, and deal with any emergency situations that your puppy might be involved in, because these would not just require time but loads of patience as well.

You have to think about your budget while adopting a puppy. Providing a hygienic space to live, healthy food and clean water to consume, and routine vaccinations do require money. Apart from these things, you will also have to spend on dog tags, collars, leashes, crates, beds, toys, and more.

Be compassionate and put the animals first when you make up your mind about adopting puppies.