Some dogs, like Border Collies, that were bred to herd and shepherd ,will be very restless if restricted to a small area, while for others, life in an apartment is easy. If you live in an apartment and are looking to add a dog to your life, consider dogs like Scottish Terriers, Cocker Spaniels, Italian Greyhounds or Boxers.

Purebreds or Mutts?

All these factors interweave into a complex list of desirables, for example, you might want a dog with a great coat, a good guard dog and dog that is good with the children, all at the same time. Choices can be difficult and the only sure answer lies in intensive research. All of the breeds we talked about above are purebreds. This means that they are the product of parents of the same breed. To get a true purebred worthy of being in a dog show, you often have to pay thousands of dollars.

But not too many people want show dogs. You might simply want the companionship of a dog that will happily live with you in your circumstances. Most people get mixes of some sort, because rumor has it that purebred dogs can have personality problems because of inbreeding or because the original gene pool is too small. As a result, many people choose to go with a mutt, a mixture of different breeds. Mutts can combine the best of two or more breeds, and actually be a truly one-of-a-kind dog.

Your decision However, you would probably be better off putting yourself first through a lot of quizzes, visiting dog shops, dog shows, and talking to breeders and friends who own dogs. You need to possibly spend as much time researching on your dog as you would on your car, perhaps more, because a dog is preferably to stay with you till its natural lifetime, which might be twelve to fifteen years. A good phase match between your needs and the dogs attributes is no mere coincidence; it needs to be earned.

So the next time you go to a pet shop and fall for the appeal of a cute and cuddly puppy, go back home and take your time doing research; you will definitely not regret it. A good decision remains a good decision even on the next day and never is it truer than when you set off to make a canine addition to your family.

Copyright 2005, Ian White

Ian White

When one of Ian White's coworkers told him that an expensive listing in a housesitting directory hadn't paid off, Ian had an idea: Why not create a web site that could match housesitters with homeowners anywhere in the world?

At the time, it was just an idea... but when Ian found himself out of work one day after a long career as an IT professional, he decided that rather than go back to working for someone else, he would go into business for himself on the Web.

And his decision has paid off handsomely. Access2000.com.au has grown into a directory site offering matching services to five distinct and profitable niche markets. By simply duplicating his "niche-matching" efforts, Ian has seen his revenues soar to a year -- even though he only spends an hour a day running his business!