Rachel Saslow | Vox

How to choose the perfect dog for you

2019-12-26T13:36:07-05:00

Justin Keane watched his purebred miniature Australian shepherd, Stella, play on a chilly December morning at a riverfront dog park in Portland, Oregon. He has owned dogs all his life, both rescues and purebreds. He says he chose Stella from a breeder, and that she’s now a well-trained 4-year-old who has proven to be an excellent travel companion. When asked his secret for choosing a good dog, he looked a little bewildered. “I don’t know. How do you pick your mate in life?”

Nearby, a half-dozen dogs happily tromped through the muddy field, fetching tennis balls, rolling in frosty grass or sniffing one other. Most of their owners recalled that getting their dogs involved internet research, rounds of interviews with breeders, and not-insignificant amounts of money. At least at this dog park, there weren’t any simple accounts of picking up a stray.

Nearly 70 percent of all US households own a pet, and dogs are by far the most popular, according to Forbes. Millennials have recently overtaken baby boomers as the biggest pet-owning generation, and they spend lavishly on their “fur-babies”: 51 percent buy them gifts once a month or more, and 60 percent buy them clothes, also according to Forbes. As millennials delay or choose not to have children due in large part to financial insecurity, the US birth rate is at a record low, and when a Yorkshire Terrier wearing a hoodie rolls by in a stroller, it’s hard to avoid a little armchair psychology.

So how does one choose a fur baby? Folk wisdom recommends choosing a dog by gently shaking the litter’s whelping box: Whichever puppy is still standing is the best, because it is resilient and strong. Modern would-be dog owners tend to use more rigorous criteria. Purebred or mutt? Puppy or adult dog? Rescue or breeder? The choices can feel fraught, because choose wrong and you might inadvertently support a puppy mill or end up with a dog who doesn’t fit into your lifestyle or family. Choose correctly and you could have a BFF for a decade. No pressure!

Be honest with yourself about your lifestyle

You’ll need to examine your life and family from every angle. Be thorough and honest. There are many online tools to help with this. The American Veterinary Medical Association has a good questionnaire, as does Purina pet food.

John Howe, the association’s president, suggests asking yourself the following questions: Do you live in the city or country? If it’s the city, does your residence regulate the size or breed of dog you can own, and will your dog have easy access to the outdoors? Do you travel a lot? Do you have the time to housebreak and train a puppy, or would you prefer an adult dog that already has those skills? Does anyone in your family have allergies or fears of certain breeds?

There’s also the question of cost: Can you afford a dog? It costs about $1,000 to take care of a dog during the first year of life and about $500 a year after that, according to the book Rescue Dogs by Pete Paxton. The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) estimates an even higher first-year cost, placing it at $1,471 for a small breed to $2,008 for a large one. The first year is more expensive because of vaccines, training classes, and spaying or neutering. The cost of getting a dog varies widely, too, from a $100 adoption fee at a shelter to $2,500 and up for certain spendy breeds (English Bulldogs, for example). From there, you’ll need to afford good-quality dog food, boarding, and grooming, if necessary, and there’s always the possibility of the need for emergency veterinary care.

Time to choose: rescue or breeder?

And here we are at the third-rail of dog ownership.

Contrary to popular belief, “If you want to be the most assured that the dog that you’re getting has a known personality that will fit in with your family, your lifestyle and other pets, adopting from a shelter is the way to go,” says Paxton. “It’s a mistake to think that if you buy a puppy from a breeder that you can control the puppy’s personality and guarantee that the puppy will like kids, dogs, cats or your lifestyle.”

According to the ASPCA, about 3.3 million dogs enter US animal shelters annually. Every year, 670,000 shelter dogs are euthanized, while approximately 2 million are purchased from stores and kennels, according to Paxton, who uses a pseudonym to protect his identity because he still works as an undercover animal investigator exposing animal cruelty, mostly in puppy mills.

The stereotype that rescue dogs are “broken,” Paxton explains, is flawed. Would-be dog owners are often concerned about unknown health issues and separation anxiety, which is when a dog panics at the owner’s departure and stays panicked until they return.

But Paxton contends that separation anxiety can also occur when breeders pull puppies from their mothers too early, at five to six weeks of age, (though in many states they can’t legally be sold until eight weeks).

“When dogs are bred for profit, their physical and mental wellbeing suffers,” Paxton says.

Some people do choose to go with a breeder because of allergies or because they have their heart set on a specific breed. Keane, who was at the dog park, had only owned rescue dogs but he connected with a breeder for the first time because he’d decided on a miniature Australian shepherd. He has owned a few rescues with traumatic pasts who he says couldn’t always be trusted to play nice. Stella has been a perfect fit and even comes with Keane to his work as an arborist every day. Still, he doesn’t tell everyone that Stella was purchased from a breeder because of the stigma. “You don’t want to say that in mixed company,” he says.

Howe recommends that people research reputable breeders by asking friends and veterinarians for references and also checking if the business or family belongs to a dog breeders association to try to avoid supporting a puppy mill. Pet store dogs can also carry risks, such as the recent outbreak officials say traces back to puppies from Petland.

When asked if there was a way to purchase a dog from a breeder ethically, Paxton didn’t budge, “Buying a puppy from a breeder means a dog dies in a shelter.”

So you’ve decided on a shelter. Talk to shelter workers about the dog before you leave.

Shelter volunteers and workers have often fostered the dogs and will know how they act in homes, Paxton says, so ask them for recommendations. The dog could act one way at the foster home, but if it’s their first day at the shelter they might be stress-barking or whimpering, but you wouldn’t know that unless you asked.

A dog with health issues can lead to unexpected veterinary costs. To avoid that, look for signs of health. Physically, the dog’s eyes should be bright and clear, Howe says. It should have a clean, shiny coat with no excessive dandruff. It shouldn’t be thin or overly fat or have any sights of illness such as discolored nasal discharge or diarrhea. A vet should diagnose any parasites, allergies or infections, but these are general health signs that a lay person can recognize.

Personality-wise, the dog should be active, friendly, and inquisitive. When gently handled, a dog should not show signs of aggression, such as fear-biting. It should not be afraid of you, whether it’s a puppy or an adult dog. Aggression and the flip side — timidity — might mean the dog was not properly socialized when it was younger, and “that’s a really hard thing to overcome,” Howe says.

If you’re going to a breeder, don’t rely on stereotypes

Online breed selector guides can help narrow down which breeds might be right for your home and give some basic ideas about their typical traits. Some terriers, for example, want to explore tight spaces, such as underneath beds, as a leftover instinct from hunting rodents. Shepherds might try to “herd” small children.

But stereotypes for breeds of dogs, like those for people, are quick to fall apart.

“I know plenty of Chihuahuas who are calm little lap dogs, and I’ve met some of the meanest Dachshunds you’ve ever seen, and it’s because they’re individuals,” Paxton says.

Dogs that are bred to look a specific way can run into health problems from inbreeding—hip dysplasia in large breed dogs such as Labrador Retrievers, and respiratory problems for flat-faced dogs such as pugs are two common concerns. Howe suggests buying a dog from somewhere that promises a refund or a different dog if a puppy turns out not to be healthy at its first veterinarian visit.

If your heart is set on a certain breed, however, there are also myriad rescue networks for each one. For example, if you live in Washington, DC, and you are a sucker for a wrinkled little pug, you could get in touch with Mid-Atlantic Pug Rescue, a network of volunteers who foster homeless pugs and find them homes. Just plug your location, preferred breed, and “rescue organization” into Google.

When you find a breeder you like, ask if you can meet the dog’s parents because the temperament of the parents is a good indication of a puppy’s disposition, Howe says.

Remember, your dog doesn’t have to be perfect

Maybe you’ll fall in love with a shelter dog who has some health issues, who snores or is a little older than you were hoping for. But sometimes it’s worth trusting your intuition and bringing it home anyway. Dogs deserve loving families, and as long as you have all the resources, go for it. Getting a dog is, after all, a matter of the heart.

Rachel Saslow is a writer based in Portland, Oregon. Her work has appeared in the Washington Post and Portland Monthly.

How to stop looking at your phone

2019-12-11T14:57:06-05:00

Part of Issue #7 of The Highlight, our home for ambitious stories that explain our world.

Molly Elwood, a copywriter in Portland, Oregon, started using a screen-time monitoring app earlier this year and was unnerved when she discovered she was on her phone 11 hours in one day. Once, she couldn’t get off the Instagram/Facebook/Twitter/e-mail merry-go-round while riding in the passenger seat during a road trip and ended up carsick.

Tiffani Patel, a massage therapist, yoga instructor, and personal chef in Austin, Texas, knew she needed to make a change when she realized she was choosing Instagram over her dog Forrest, a mutt she says is “85 pounds of love.”

“What am I doing?” she thought. “There’s a live, beautiful animal in my home, and he’s not going to be around forever.” She got rid of social media apps.

Catherine Price, a writer in Philadelphia, browsed eBay for Victorian-era door knobs instead of paying attention to her newborn baby during a feeding. When she finally glanced at her daughter’s face — illuminated by the blueish light of a phone screen and looking at her mama — Price’s heart sank, and she realized it was time to make a change. She ended up writing a book called How to Break Up With Your Phone.

“Changing your relationship with your phone can have effects that are surprisingly profound,” Price says. “I’m a happier person, and that came directly from changing my relationship with the metal rectangle in my pocket. I thought it would be just better time management.”

Coincidentally, Patel, Elwood, and Price all took up the guitar after breaking up with their phones. They had the time all along; it was just getting sucked by a small, shiny screen. How much time? According to screen-time tracking app Moment, the average user of the app picks up his or her phone 52 times a day and spends 3 hours, 57 minutes using it. And those are people who have chosen to track their screen time.

Overcoming a smartphone addiction — and yes, many experts consider compulsively checking your phone a behavioral addiction, similar to gambling — has the potential to improve your relationships, sleep, physical fitness, and mental health.

Many apps are modeled after slot machines, which are arguably the most addictive machines ever created, Price says. Matching on a dating app, an interesting article, a text message from a crush, a dozen “likes” after posting a selfie all release a feel-good chemical called dopamine, Price writes. Our brains have learned to associate checking our phones with the possibility of getting a reward.

According to Price’s book, Instagram has even coded a feature that deliberately holds back on showing users new “likes” so that it can deliver a bunch of them in a sudden rush when a user seems in danger of closing the app.

This is just one way designers are exploiting our brain chemistry to keep us on the apps longer. Get a little angry about this manipulation. Use it to quit.

But don’t just throw your phone into a river; it’s best to start with small changes so you don’t shock your system. With all the time spent in the real world after learning how to put down your phone, you might even need a new hobby. (Guitar, perhaps?)

Put the phone physically out of reach

“What we know is our phones will distract us even if they’re in sight but we’re not using them,” says James Roberts, a consumer behavior expert and author of Too Much of a Good Thing: Are You Addicted to Your Smartphone?

Relying on your willpower is a losing game, so get it out of sight and reach. Roberts, a marketing professor at Baylor University, suggests starting with putting your phone in the trunk or glove box while driving, since that will have an immediate effect on your safety.

To quickly improve sleep and your relationship with your partner, don’t charge your phone in the bedroom. That way, it won’t be the last thing you see in the evening, the first thing in the morning, or, apparently, a temptation in the middle of the night (a 2016 University of Virginia study revealed that one in 10 smartphone users have checked their phones during sex).

Reintroduce alarm clocks and watches back into your life so that you can’t rely on those excuses for using your phone. Subscribe to the newspaper or magazines to read articles; music lovers can go full hipster and listen to music on vinyl instead of streaming apps.

“You’re setting up your personal environment to be conducive to your goals,” Roberts says. “If I’m going to cut back on technology, I’m going to make it easy to cut back.”

Let technology help solve your problem

What you may need now is a little hair of the dog. First, acknowledge (and get over) the irony that you might need apps to help protect you from apps. “It seems weird to use technology to help with technology,” Price says. “I just see it as a tool that’s helping you live up to your intentions.”

There’s a whole industry of apps to help people monitor screen time (Moment, RescueTime), block apps or schedule sessions with them (Freedom), or schedule social media posts so it looks like you’re online when you’re not (HootSuite). Since last year, iPhones even have settings to track and curtail your screen time.

As for the phone itself, some people go back to using a so-called “dumb phone,” or one that has limited internet capabilities. A less drastic approach is to tinker with your settings to convert your screen to black and white. Smartphones are a lot less appealing when they look like an old-timey television instead of a bowl of candy.

Follow Price’s @screenlifebalance handle on Instagram to act as your internet conscience. Nothing kills the buzz of a social media spiral like reading, “Childhood goes fast. I hope you’re enjoying what you’re doing on your phone,” over the image of an adorable girl. It’s like a cold shower. The Screen/Life Balance website offers free lock-screen downloads that say things like, “What do you want to pay attention to?”

Push notifications “are evil and must be destroyed,” Price writes in her book. Turn off all notifications except for, say, calls from your spouse or your kids’ school. Getting rid of those “dings” and red badges can reduce temptation to pick up the phone, Price says.

Try a digital detox

Go smartphone-free for 24 hours. You might reach for your phone like a phantom limb and feel cranky when it’s not there. It’s called withdrawal.

“When you take away the rewards we’ve been trained to crave, you will feel twitchy and anxious, and it’s totally normal,” Price says.

Cal Newport, an associate professor of computer science at Georgetown University, suggests a 30-day “digital declutter” in his book Digital Minimalism. Take a break from all optional technologies in your life, and at the end, reintroduce only the technologies that add value to your life. Newport doesn’t intend for participants to significantly disrupt their personal or professional lives. Employees should continue checking their work email so they don’t get fired; someone with a spouse deployed overseas with the military should still use FaceTime to communicate, for example.

Find a replacement

A digital-minimalist approach is never going to stick if you’re left twiddling your thumbs for 23 percent of your waking hours. Brainstorm activities you used to enjoy: crafts, basketball, poker with friends, hiking, reading, playing an instrument, whatever. This step should feel fun, but it’s also non-negotiable: If you take away all digital distractions before you’ve started filling the void, the experience of a digital declutter will be “unnecessarily unpleasant at best and a massive failure at worse,” Newport writes.

Molly Elwood, who got carsick from too much social media, used to spend hours advocating for veganism online in comment wars with strangers. She now volunteers for a vegan nonprofit organization.

Figure out what you’re feeling

“The emotional component is something we don’t give enough attention to,” Price says. Reaching for our phones is an efficient way to not feel unpleasant emotions. (Remember how boring and socially awkward it was to ride an elevator before smartphones?) But they also muffle the happy moments in life if you’re too busy scrolling to notice the world around you.

So, get mindful about your phone use. Take a breath and ask yourself why you’re picking it up in the first place. Are you bored, anxious, curious, happy? When you’re done using it, do you feel better or worse? Thirty minutes dinking around on Instagram instead of going to sleep at night is probably going to feel disorienting and vaguely depressing.

Reconnect with your smartphone gradually

To consistently be able to stop looking at your phone, your phone will have to become a tool again instead of a temptation. (Tool: using the map to navigate in a new city or the camera to take a picture. Temptation: posting that picture on social media and then compulsively refreshing to see who is liking it.)

“Of course, why we use [smartphones] is they do a lot of things wonderfully,” James Roberts of Baylor University says. “But we over-adopted.”

After people “break up” with their phones, they often slowly reintroduce some apps as long as they are able to use them responsibly. The process can involve some trial and error.

“Habits do take a while to form and to break,” Roberts says. Don’t beat yourself up if you slip. “If you spend too much time on a website, that’s okay. Go back, reorganize and start again.”