How to Choose a New Pet
Where do I start a new pet for the family? What is the best pet for the household? Well you are starting well by collecting information. This is critical as a pet is for life, so be 100% sure, otherwise do not have a pet.
A bit negative there, but there is such a wide range of pets to choose from, all of them can be pleasurable, but have diverse advantages and disadvantages. You can choose from a dog, cat, gerbil, guinea pig, reptile, spider, snake and the list is never ending.
You must to involve one and all in the choice, it needs to be a whole household decision. Due to its significance I advise you talk about and commit to paper your objective for wanting a pet. Add to it on a large sheet of paper, with a column for the pet, some columns to rank each pet. The headings for a pet include, time (yours), cost (pets are costly), pet care, space needed, aptitude to fuss, interest, collective activity, any phobias, other points.
Pets take time, some have need of more than others. High maintenance animals are those that require regular exercise such as dogs and horses. Dogs originated from wolves and still have many of those characters. They are used to regularly covering large areas every day to search for food, so most breeds need a minimum one to two hours a day walking. This must be part of a routine and done everyday. Others may have need of a lot of grooming, changing water etc. A cat sitter often spends much of their visit to brushing long haired cats, though the cat sitter and cat enjoy it. You may hanker after a specific animal, but do you have the time for him? Be honest with yourself and the prospective pet.
Expense, think of expenditure. There is the purchase cost, which for a pedigree animal can be expensive. I would strongly advise you to think of taking a salvage pet, there are more and more of these at the moment as families are unfortunately discarding them to the pet charities – why not do good and help out? The other set up costs include cages, leads, grooming aids, blankets / beds. After that are the weekly pet costs, food, which for a large dog can be substantial. I strongly advise you to have your pet sterilized, many pet experts and research have suggested that you will have less behavioural issues with a neutered animal. There are regular veterinary costs such as vaccinations, however some are difficult to plan for. Because of this I strongly recommend you to take out pet insurance, so you can cope with any situations that may occur. There are also regular costs for flea treatment etc. These costs mount up.
Is your house large enough for the animal? Some animals can be exciting, but you may not be able to fuss them, what is the key for you? No pet has everything. Can you pick up the pet? Rats are remarkably fascinating, but some individuals do not like the scaly tail, or the idea of one.
You should to review the summary table, do you have the time for walking the dog during the week due to work pressures, the upside is you have the money to pay for a professional dog walker. Not enough space for the horse, use stables, but watch the cost.
So finally you have chosen a type of animal, there are lots of diverse types and individual species to decide on, looking at hamsters there are five basic types, with very different characteristics. There is also the choice of numbers, some animals are better off alone, others as a pair because they require the company. Then there is the choice of sex, some animals have very different behaviour between the male and female. Male rats are lazier than females and urinate more.
After all of these decisions, I would advise you to organise a pet test drive. Find someone with a similar pet, that you can look after for a few days, or even be a pet sitter for them for a couple of weeks during the holidays. Talk to the owner about the costs, the effort that is required, and do not forget the pleasure that the pet gives. An alternative is to do some pet charity work.
Pet breeders are very knowledgeable, so visit and talk with them.
I hope this helps, go and enjoy a new pet.

