Planning to get a dog of your own? Or are you planning to give a puppy as a birthday present?

Choosing a dog isn’t as easy as “eeny minee miney moe”. Before you do choose a dog, it would be better to get some specifics straight to help you narrow the choices.

First to take into consideration is “who is the pet for?” How important is this information? Picture this: Old Aunt Wanda, age 96 and her 4 year-old Pit bull. It just doesn’t match huh? It would also be ridiculous to gift a toddler with a Doberman or Mastiff. The dog of choice just has to match the would be owners’ growth, since a dog is a good choice for a lasting bequest. The dog’s character should fit the owners’ personality.

Secondly, thought should be put in the future dog owners’ environment and lifestyle, too. A retired spinster can easily take care of a dog whose breed needs care and attention to detail . While a single bar hopping person might not have the consistency and the ample lucid time to juggle a career, active party life and a dog that needs a lot of upkeep.

With these two specifics, you can decide if you’ll get a purebred or mongrel; short- or long-haired; large or tiny. The characteristics that can be negligible are the dog’s coloring and age of the dog.

We all know that our pet dogs’ ancestors are coyotes, foxes, jackals and wolves. I always assumed that the earliest form of canidae/ canis family would be the wolf.

By chance, I came across an entry in an old world book, which traces the dogs’ bloodline to a wolf-like animal, the Tomarctus. This creature looked like a wolf and had many social instincts and skills of a dog. This grand daddy of dogs came to be 15 million years ago. Question is: where did this creature come from???

Extra sleuthing brought me 40 millions years ago, and it just got complicated. The Tomarctus is a descendant of an animal called Eocene Miacid. This creature is where the bear and cat evolved from…There’s more, the Miacas is described as a weasel-like animal.

The family of Miacids evolved into the cat-like family, the Feloidea. The family where the big cats and small cats sprung from. While another evolution produced the dog-like family,Carnivora (Canoidea). From this family came the order of Ursidae (bears). It’s amazing that from a weasel-like ancestor, descendants of all sizes came about.

But going back to the dog, from direct fierce bloodline how did dogs evolve into our beloved pet dog???

The relationship between man and its “best friend” began when early human started hunting and planting. This would be the time when man discovered fire and started discarding bones and leftovers (maybe). The scent of food traveled by air and brought the early dog to stay by camps. Experts have this idea that the early dog found it easier to eat from waste than tire itself out stalking and hunting. That seems to makes sense to me. Man and dog share the same sense of practicality. I guess this is where man and dog hit it off, starting the longest record of co-existence and friendship.

A well-maintained dog is one that does not look scraggly despite bathing twice a month. Proper environment, exercise, nutrition and hygiene are components of a good-looking dog. Often times what can make the difference is a luxurious gleam of a well-groomed coat.

What is it about a dog’s coat that can reflect your dogs’ disposition and health? Dogs’ fur is not like human hair. Most dogs have two coats of hair. The outer coat are guard hairs & an under coat of shorter fluffier hair. The guard hair protects the dogs from rain and snow while the shorter under coat hair keep the dog warm. When a dog sheds its coat, it is the under coat that falls off. This happens in late spring and grows back in autumn. Turn your dog into Pooch Charming by grooming him as often as possible and according to hair length. Shorthaired dogs need to be brushed several times a week. While longhaired dogs have to be groomed daily. There are times the dog may need clipping in hot weather to make it more comfortable and to prevent skin problems.

Your dogs may be bathed as often as it is necessary. Make sure to use warm water and special dog shampoo. Using detergent or shampoo for humans strip the dogs coat of essential oils. Be sure to rinse the shampoo off thoroughly.

With lots of love, patience and attention to grooming will turn your dog, purebred or mongrel into a  Pooch Charming canine.