It depends on how old they are, but most of the time, I usually say that a puppy will need to be let out to urinate based on their month of age—they only have about one to two hours per month of age that they can hold their bladder.

It is. People do it every day, although it’s a big commitment. You certainly want to make sure that you can provide that puppy with the appropriate time once you are home from work because they will need training. They are going to need to be able to be let out during the day sometimes.

So, If you have a tiny puppy, you have to keep in mind that you may need to be going home during your lunch to let them out just because they won't be able to hold it as far as needing to urinate or have a bowel movement. So, that may be something to consider as far as getting an older puppy or an adult dog instead.

It's similar to baby-proofing your house. Anything they can get into or chew on, you need to get that out of harm's way—shoes, dirty laundry, anything like that, that they could inadvertently chew on and destroy or ingest—the same thing with chemicals or toxins that they can get into. You also want to get a trash can that they can't flip the lid up on. If you have cabinets that are pretty easy to open or push open, you’ll want to get child locks on those. Anything that you can think of that a child could get into that could be harmful; then you’ll also need to puppy-proof that.

It depends on your lifestyle and what type of breed you're looking for—a small breed or a larger, giant breed. You want to ensure that the puppy's personality matches what you're able to do for them. It’s also important to know how big they're going to be whenever they're an adult. And I know that can be a little hard if you're getting the puppy from a shelter or a rescue, as they might not know what breed mix they are.

You also don’t want a puppy interfering with housing or anything like that, especially if you’re renting. All of those are things you have to take into consideration whenever looking at puppies.

You want to consider the breeds you are interested in and how they match your lifestyle. So, in the case of an energetic breed, make sure that your lifestyle is pretty active. Because if you have a more sedate-type lifestyle, you may be in for a rude awakening as far as how much energy your puppy has.

The commitment and time you need are the two most important things about raising a puppy. Puppies are going to be around. They're going to turn into adult dogs. They're not going to stay little puppies forever. So, you have to realize that. They're going to turn into big puppies at some point or another, and eventually adults and then senior dogs. So, you need to make sure that you have the willingness to commit to that and to that time and make sure that you're putting in the effort and the budget for it.

The most common sign that we run into that owners have mentioned is that their pets act like puppies again after laser therapy. So not a complaint, as there are no side effects or anything that you generally have to watch for.

So we like to have an exam done here, but as long as it's done within the past year here, we can set up a plan for you based on your concerns. But a lot of times, yeah, I would anticipate that there will be an exam.