It’s hard to think of anything more exciting for a dog lover or a family with kids than the day you’re bringing home a new Pointer puppy. But, it’s important for you, your family and your home to all be prepared for your new family member. Thorough preparation will make his arrival easier and safer for everyone, including your new puppy.
I bet you never thought you’d hear the words “unhappy” and “Pointer” used together. I didn’t either, and I’ve been around Pointers for a lot of years. My own Pointer, a certified therapy dog, is always happier than a lark. Of course, my family and I give him plenty of love, and he gets all that attention from the people he visits in nursing homes, hospitals and the other facilities.
If you want your Pointer to enjoy his time at the kennel as much as you enjoy your vacations, make sure it offers all the “basics” – cleanliness, safety and security, spaciousness, climate control, a trained staff and so on. But you should also look for some of these extra services.
Some of my customers board their dogs whenever they leave town and they’re old hands, but others have never done it before and I need to explain how things work when they first come in. If you’ve never boarded your Pointer before, you might not even know what to look for in a boarding kennel. I can help you with that.
You already know that Pointers are fairly sizeable dogs, and that they’re athletic, strong and active. What you might not know is just how well they get along with small dogs. And I’m not just talking about dogs that weigh 20 or 30 pounds. Nope, I mean Pointers get along just fine with even the tiniest dogs.
I’m a veteran show dog handler. People have been paying me to exhibit their dogs in breed conformation shows for more than 30 years now. I think in all those years, I’ve probably come close to showing just about every dog breed the AKC recognizes, or at least it seems that way. Some breeds seem to have a better chance of winning the big prizes than others. I guess that’s because they’re so popular with the public and the judges.
10k runs/walks can be a lot of fun, they raise a lot of money for charities, and those long walks or runs are good for you, too. But have you ever considered bringing your Pointer along with you, to walk by your side while you’re raising money for charity?
I train and board dogs for a living. I own my own boarding kennel, and I’m here to tell you I’m always thrilled when one of my boarding clients walks through the door with a Pointer. These dogs are the best when it comes to boarding, whether they’re just staying with me overnight or they’ll be here for a week or two.
I’m not a hunter, but I sure can’t convince my Pointer of that. Let me explain, because I guess that sounds kind of weird … My husband and I live in a golf community where new homes are still being built. In addition to our homes we have two golf courses and a number of other activities on the grounds to keep us residents busy. In fact, the golf courses are why we moved here a few years ago. But in addition to these amenities, we also have a lot of birds in the area.
My husband and I live in a gated retirement community. We’re “old but not cold”, as the saying goes, and we like to stay active. In fact, that’s one of the reasons we own a Pointer – he’s always ready to go for a walk, and that keeps us going. At any rate, about 5,000 people live in our community, which is big enough to put out its own weekly newspaper. The paper consists mostly of articles about upcoming events (shows being held, club meeting schedules and so forth) but it also has a few local news articles and an editorial page.