Should You Gift a Dog for Christmas?

It’s not uncommon for people to buy pets as holiday gifts, but this holiday season, I found myself wondering if that’s a good idea. You see, I know my friend has been asking everyone she knows to get her a dog for Christmas. She’s really an animal lover and I know she would be good to the dog, but is she responsible enough to care for the dog on her own?

She’s in her twenties, so she is certainly old enough to own a pet, but she’s been unemployed for about a year now. She lives with her mom, so rent isn’t an issue, but then there’s food, water and vet bills to worry about. Having fallen on hard times myself and having to care for three animals, I know how rough that can be. It’s certainly not my business, so I’m not going to get involved. I’m just left hoping that anyone who would gift an animal would be responsible enough to think through the person’s situation first. Unfortunately, it’s not enough to just love an animal; you really have to be able to provide for it for the entire length of its life.

Another reason this friend’s situation got me thinking about gifting animals is that she’s likely to get a large breed. I don’t have anything against large breeds, but landlords often do. Within that dog’s lifetime, she’s going to be moving out of her mother’s house (I assume). Given her situation, I know she’s not likely to be buying a house right away, so she’ll end up renting. For her, that just means she’ll have trouble finding a place, but for some others it might mean giving up the dog. It’s not easy to find a home for a large breed adult dog.

I know it might sound like I’m being hard on my friend, but that’s actually not the case. If she does get the dog for Christmas, I know she’ll be committed to taking care of it for its entire life. Plus, she's a paralegal, and we're expecting the job market to turn around soon. At least then she'll have a steady income. The reason her situation got me thinking about this is because it’s not an ideal environment for a pet. She would do what it takes to make it work, but not everyone could or would. It might seem like a nice idea to get a puppy or kitten for someone for the holidays, but you really have to evaluate their situation first. A puppy should never be an impulse buy.