Michelle Otis: I am Michelle Otis. I am the Shelter Director for the Washington Humane Society. Today, we are talking about how to adopt a dog. Now we are going to talk about what to look for when adopting a dog.

Host: Should I adopt a puppy or a dog?

Michelle Otis: Many people want to adopt puppies because they mistakenly believe that they will bond more with a puppy than with an adult dog. When actually, that's not necessarily the case. Anytime you bring in a dog into your home, you have an opportunity to bond with that animal and it is really up to you and that's going to depend on how much time you spend with that animal and the characteristics the animal has in the first place. Puppies are a lot of work. So make sure that if you do decide you want to adopt a puppy and you want to raise it from a very early age, that you have the time to invest or that you can make the arrangements that the puppy is going to need in order to facilitate training. The benefit of adopting an older dog is that most older dogs have had some level of obedient training or house training or both and so you actually maybe able to transition an older dog into your home without having to repeat a lot of what you are going to have to treat to train a puppy.