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Join Marissa, Kayla and Ursa discuss the process of choosing a dog, introduce topics to consider and learn how they chose their loved ones!
Things to Consider:
- Take your time and don’t rush!
- Do you have the opportunity to foster from a shelter or rescue in order to try this on?
- Be aware of your internal process. Ask yourself and your family questions:
- What is our current lifestyle?
- How would we like to spend time with this new dog?
- What qualities are a must have?
- What qualities are deal breakers?
- What qualities are negotiable?
- Does breed matter?
Ursa’s dogs Niko and Zip. 
Kayla and her dog Barley 
Marissa and her dog Sully
Links and References
- Kayla’s dog selection spreadsheet
- The TED Talk that inspired Kayla to make the spreadsheet
- Jackie Johnston for separation anxiety
- Kayla’s 30 Things to Teach a Dog in 30 Days Course
- The book “Behave”
Kayla founded Journey Dog Training in 2013 to provide high-quality and affordable dog behavior advice. She is a Certified Dog Behavior Consultant who’s worked with hundreds of private clients, thousands of shelter dogs, and dozens of working detection dogs. Kayla’s dog and cat behavior advice has been featured in NPR, the Chicago Tribune, and Pet MD. She’s an avid adventurer who is currently doing #vanlife on the Pan-American Highway with her two border collies and a cat. Aside from running Journey Dog Training, Kayla also runs the nonprofit K9 Conservationists, where she and the dogs work as conservation detection dog teams. You can get 1:1 advice with a Journey Dog Training team member here.
