Help me decide when to get a pet

ANNOUNCER: It's time now for the latest in our series Professional Help. We all need a little help to get through life sometimes, from everyday questions to more complex problems. We're asking the experts to lend us a hand. Here's Minnesota Now producer Alanna Elder.

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ALANNA ELDER: We're in the wrong hemisphere to be talking about the dog days of summer now in February. But I'm here to talk about the dog days of winter. It's that time of year when you may be feeling cooped up, spending more time at home, and thinking it would be nice to have some company.

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Getting a dog or even a cat means a significant change to your lifestyle and your budget. It's a big change for the animal, too. So how do you know you're ready to give them a good life? When is the right time? I got professional help from someone who from a young age, welcomed all kinds of animals into her family.

AZURE DAVIS: I grew up on 50 acres. And I joke that there wasn't a lot of neighborhood kids around to play with. My family and I, we were always re-homing animals and finding homes for them. We took in a lot of wildlife and injured animals and did rehab care with them and released them. Over time, I realized, as we were trying to find homes for these cats or dogs, there wasn't any options or resources for people in the local community.

ALANNA ELDER: Azure Davis is the founder of Ruff Start Rescue, which she started at the age of 23. She's witnessed some big swings in people's willingness to adopt or keep pets. And that could hold some lessons for those of us on the fence. It probably won't come as a surprise that during pandemic lockdowns a few years ago, her rescue could barely keep up with applications for fosters and adoptions.

AZURE DAVIS: It was great. Because those animals are out there that need to be saved. But over the last four years, we haven't so much seen people returning their pandemic pets that they adopted. Don't get me wrong. There's some. But it's owner surrenders, in general.

Some of these people have owned their animals for a long time and are needing to surrender them. From 2020 to 2024, owner surrender applications have gone up 127%. It's huge.

ALANNA ELDER: A primary reason for that, she says, is rising costs. So if you're thinking about getting a pet now, consider all the expenses that could come up.

AZURE DAVIS: If you're getting a puppy, make sure you're thinking about training costs, very, very important for that socialization period. If you're getting any adult dog or cat, the veterinary expenses, absolutely something to consider. Because vet bills and vet expenses have gone up. And that is one of the reasons we see people surrendering animals, because they can't afford the vet care.

When you adopt from a rescue, this is a huge benefit. Because yes, there's an adoption fee. I mean, it can range anywhere from $99 to $600. Within that, they're fully vetted. So they're already spayed and neutered. They're microchipped. They've had heartworm testing, flea, tick, dewormed, all of their vaccines.

ALANNA ELDER: Do you recommend pet insurance for some of the vet costs?

AZURE DAVIS: I actually think more people are getting pet insurance now, especially with the rise in vet costs. I personally have never had it. There's quite a few of our staff members that do have pet insurance. And they're very thankful that they do have it when it's needed.

But really, to also think about, do they have any special diets? Make sure you're considering food. That has also gone up.

ALANNA ELDER: The other major consideration is the time commitment, which varies, of course.

AZURE DAVIS: A lot of people want puppies. They're cute. They're fun. But really making sure you have that time for socialization, training, that's just vital, especially when they're younger. But even if you adopt a middle-aged dog, really preparing for that adjustment period and knowing that that first even a few weeks, it's very stressful for them.

It's the three, three, three rule. So you're going to have three days, three weeks, and then three months where you're going to see different changes. As they adjust, they settle in. They really learn that you're their person.

You're going to see a difference in them as they get confident. And sometimes, that can be behavioral issues that need to be corrected and worked on. Other times, they might be really shy at first. And so having the patience when you adopt to understand that if you bring an animal home in the first 48 hours, don't expect them to be completely perfect and adjusted to your family and your routine. The more you work on it, the better that they will adjust to your household.

ALANNA ELDER: If you're getting kittens, she says that adjustment can be easier with two rather than one. Plus, it helps them socialize. And speaking of cats, in recent years, as more people have surrendered their pets, Azure says cat adoptions, at least at Ruff Start Rescue, have actually increased. But dog adoptions are down.

AZURE DAVIS: We hear that a lot. It's easier to get a cat now. But dogs still need adopters so bad.

ALANNA ELDER: More and more people have returned to work in person, which could be a letdown for their real or prospective dogs. But she says you don't need to have the perfect situation, say, live on 50 acres or work a remote job, to give a dog a good home.

AZURE DAVIS: People will say, I can't get a dog because I work eight hours. I'm going to tell you right now that these dogs that are dying in the shelter, perfectly healthy, highly adoptable dogs, would much rather be in a kennel in your house for the eight hours while you're gone at work than be euthanized due to lack of space.

If you get a puppy, and you're doing potty training, the eight hours is pretty challenging. It's doable, but it is challenging. If you have someone to help, that's really nice, for let-outs and for the potty training. But if you have an adult dog, especially, or a senior dog, they're pretty good.

A lot of times, I mean, people that do have pets, when we're gone during the day, they're sleeping all day anyways. So I think maybe 10 to 12 hours, that's where you need to question, can you get maybe a dog sitter? Can you get a neighbor to let them out in the middle of the day?

Some people will say, well, I live in an apartment. So I can't foster and I can't adopt. And that's not true. We actually have a lot of people that live in apartments, and they bring their dogs for walks. They're going to the dog parks. And so it's not necessarily a barrier, but it is something to consider, depending on the breed, the energy that you're going to be adopting.

ALANNA ELDER: If after thinking about your budget, home, and lifestyle, you're still just not sure if you're ready to adopt an animal, Azure says there's one more way to find out. You could give fostering a try.

AZURE DAVIS: And you can also gauge with that, do you want a high energy dog? Do you want a puppy? Do you want a senior dog? Do you want a cat? Just kind of depending on your lifestyle and your availability, and then you love that dog or that cat as your own.

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For Professional Help, I'm Alanna Elder.

ANNOUNCER: You can hear our recurring series called Professional Help every other Thursday here on Minnesota Now. Or if you missed one, find the whole collection at mprnews.org.