Puppies, Research Paper Example

As an owner of a small pet shop specialized in pure-bred family pets, I’ve been trying to do my best choosing the two finest possible variants of dog purchase for one of my best clients. Taking into consideration family’s consisting of parents and their two children, a girl of eight and a boy of ten, I’ve paid the greatest attention to breeds’ characteristics as children companions. I’ve researched their usual behavioral habits, personality characteristics, the amount of care they require and the typical concerns they usually give cause for.

I’ve discovered that both Collie and Golden Retriever are considered to be excellent in companionship with children, being reliable, safe, intelligent, moderately active, easily trained and extremely friendly. Both these breeds are appropriate for living in the apartment, and they both require certain amount of activity that a sportive and active boy is going to provide either of them with. Moreover, their personalities are perfectly wonderful, both breeds are considered to be clever, tender, nice-tempered and well-mannered, which will make either of them a nice friend of the artistic stay-at-home girl. Parents will be satisfied with dog’s obedience and good breeding. Moreover, both breeds are good-looking and nice to caress and pet.

Golden Retriever

Description

Golden Retriever is an extremely beautiful middle-sized dog. Its body is strong and muscled, yet not massive. It is well-proportioned and has a cream- or golden- colored coat. The undercoat is very dense, while the outer coat is water-repellent. It has broad head, with wide, strong muzzle. Its nose is black, eyes are kind and of brown color with dark rims. The normal Golden Retriever is approximately 23 inches tall and can weigh up to 75lbs. Its life expectancy is about 13 years. Being moderately active indoors, it is considered to be a fine pet for living in the apartment.

Personality

Golden Retriever is an adorable, mannerly, clever dog that can be trained easily and is extremely tender and tolerant with children. It is charming, devoted, amiable and confident. Golden retriever is surely to become a good friend and a wonderful family member, loving and sweet. Always willing to please its master, it enjoys training and is usually obedient. It is always friendly with everyone including other dogs. It will never attack, but will surely watch the stranger’s approach, being alarmed and ready to defend. Golden Retriever is good at performing tricks and is always entertaining for children to play with. It is steady-tempered and cheerful. Some people claim that Golden Retriever is the one dog that is man’s best friend. It has human character features, feeling deeply, being able to understand human thoughts and share person’s deepest emotions. It is very active and playful.

Health

Golden Retriever’s main health concerns are CHD, elbow dysplasia, cataract. Skin allergies are frequent in Golden Retrievers and necessitate urgent veterinary attention. With a necessary care and consideration needed to prevent the appearance of diseases, Golden Retriever is an active and healthy dog.

Grooming

Golden Retriever’s dense undercoat requires being regularly brushed in order to prevent matting. Yet its coat is an easy one to groom, requiring only a regular application of dry shampoo and occasional use of bathing. Golden Retriever is an average shedder.

Major Concerns

First of all, Golden Retriever does need regular vigorous exercise and athletic activities. It needs 90 minutes of exercise per day in order not to become bored and consequently destructive. Without necessary release of energy it might become noisy, mischievous and behaving in a way that cannot be controlled. Golden Retriever happens to move too vigorously if lacking a necessary breeding. You have to be sure to display leadership and behave confidently and with moderate firmness in order to avoid behavioral issues.Golden Retriever hates being left alone, it needs a lot of companionship and consideration so that it doesn’t feel separation anxiety.

Collie

Description

There are two varieties of Collie: Smooth and Rough one. Yet I prefer to advice a Smooth one since it requires less grooming. The Smooth Collie is a middle-sized and long-coated dog that has become famous by the movie star, Lassie. It has a one-inch coat. The hair on the face and lags is short.  Its body is slim yet strong and full of muscles, being more long than tall. It can be of several color combinations, both tri- and two- color. Its eyes are almond-shaped and of dark brown color. Its face is chiseled. Collie’s life expectancy is about 14-16 years. It is behaving well in the apartment, being relatively inactive indoors.

Personality

Smooth Collie is good-looking, lively and responsive. It is an extremely gracious and clever dog, sensitive, lovable, kind and easy to train. Collie is loyal to its family-owner, it is exceptionally dedicated to those it loves. It is always ready to protect and follow its loved ones whenever needed. There is an incident when one Collie was lost by its family, and walked 2000 miles looking for its owners. It is also a well-known fact that Collies have received the Ken-L-Ration Hero Dog award 5 times. Collie is energetic and playful, and is still extremely gentle, which makes it a perfect child’s companion. It is never aggressive and is friendly with other pets, always getting along with other dogs. It may take a while for a Collie to become friends with a stranger, but it is always polite though. It needs active life and requires involvement in family activities.

Grooming

Collie’s coat needs a permanent care, yet not an extensive one. To keep its coat in a show condition, it should be brushed once a week and trimmed occasionally. Collie’s shedding is moderate all year around, being heavy twice a year. Smooth variety doesn’t require much grooming though.

Health

Collies are generally healthy pets, yet some of them might suffer from eye defects and hip problems leading to acute lameness and arthritis. Necessary care is needed to keep them healthy and good-looking.

Major Concerns

First of all, Collie requires daily exercises. You shouldn’t let it get bored, since it might become destructive, barking a lot and chewing everything around. It needs somewhat 60-80 minutes of exercise per day, in order to release energy and be involved in something interesting. Secondly, Collie doesn’t like being left alone, it needs attention and companionship a lot. Collie is timid by its nature, and in order not to become suspicious and fearful, it requires contact with people and exposure to extraordinary sights and sounds.  Collie is a peaceful dog and it feels fine as far as the atmosphere in the family is harmonious. It’s extremely sensitive to stressful situations, and may start behaving neurotically if there are problems in relationships in the family. You have to be authoritative and yet gentle with Collie not to make it resentful and stubborn. Collie is intelligent and it can learn a lot, yet it may also become manipulative if you are not consistent.

Conclusion

As we can observe, there are some distinctive features typical for each breed. There are some differences in grooming, as well as in possible concerns about dogs’ behavior. Yet both breeds are well-characterized and are having obviously good reputations as home pets. They both have good chances of becoming amazing family friends, satisfying needs of its each member.

I have tried to provide important and accurate information focusing on major issues. The prices on both breeds vary, but a Golden Retriever puppy is usually more expensive than Collie puppy. The price preferences are to be considered, the advantages and disadvantages of both breeds are to be thought over and decision is to be made by puppy’s future owners. Family has to decide what is expected from its future purchase, and what dog will fit each member’s wants and expectations in the best way possible.

However, no matter what breed my client will choose, I believe that purchase of a puppy is a wonderful idea. It will help to develop children’s sense of responsibility, teach them to take care of someone, to be considerate and thoughtful. And at the same time, puppy will produce sense of happiness, joy, trust and friendship, giving the children someone to share leisure-time with. Purchase of a dog will unite the family and result in frequent common entertainments. Dog’s energy and activeness will require a lot of activity from its masters, and may also result in general increase of family’s sportiveness.

Works Cited

“Dogs and their reliability with children” Dog Breed Info Center. 23 Mar. 1998. 2 Apr. 2009. <http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/children.htm>.

“Dogs good with children” Go Pets America. 15 Feb. 2003. 2 Apr. 2009. <http://www.gopetsamerica.com/dogs/dogs-good-with-kids.aspx>.

“Dog Breed Reviews: 180 Purebred Dog Breeds” Your Purebred Puppy. 5 Jul. 2000. 2 Apr. <http://www.yourpurebredpuppy.com/dogbreeds/index.html>.

“Dog Breed Information” Next Day Pets. 27 Sept. 2003. 2 Apr. 2009. <http://www.nextdaypets.com/directory/breeds/>.