(I am grateful and overwhelmed by the response to this series and I thank you for it.)

Is choosing a dog a moral issue? And if so, how does the poor dog-seeker choose between the many different moral issues thrust upon them by the many righteous and even rabid, quarreling elements of the animal world?

Is rescuing a dog always a noble choice, and is it true that conscientious breeders keep the best, not the worst, traits of dogs alive? Is there only one way to get a dog? It is a sin to buy one or pay money for a dog? Sometimes I think ethicists and philosophers are more relevant to the dog-choosing process than any veterinarian or behaviorist.

The great ethicist and moral philosopher Hannah Arendt has always been my best guide when it comes to making moral decisions, and when it comes to deciding how I will choose an animal.

For me, the moral challenge is not in where I get a dog, but in how I get a dog. My first obligation is to the dog, not to my own search to be righteous and superior. Anybody who tells me what I must always do is not, to me, a moral person, but an unethical manipulator. There is no simple path to morality and righteousness, getting the right dog is hard and tedious work, there is no one or magical way to do it.

The person who loves me and cares for me will always tell me to look within myself to answer the questions I need to ask in life. Thanks in part to the ideologues who increasingly dominate ort culture, we are always being told what we must do and ought to, and rarely are asked the truly fundamental question: what is it, in our souls, that we really wish to do?

Sometimes it seems we are becoming a people of weak minds, too timid or intimidated to think for ourselves, and our our own moral decisions.

Getting a dog or any other animal is, in the final analysis, a joint decision of the heart and mind. No one outside of you can make it. The moral obligation comes from how we love the dogs, not where we go to look for them. In my mind, it is immoral to get a dog for any other reason than that it is the best choice for you and the dog.

The millions of dogs languishing in shelters and rescue facilities all over American call out to us to think clearly and bravely and honestly about what it really means to be moral in our lives with animals.

How do we decide how to do it? Do we listen to the people who insist there is only one way to get a dog, and make that the point and meaning of it. Or do we listen to the people  who say there are many good ways to get a dog, and we must first and foremost think not of ourselves,  but of what is best for the creature who cannot speak for him or herself. He depends on us to be a faithful advocate.

Or even better, do we listen to ourselves, not the legions of self-appointed gurus who try to force their beliefs upon us?

Moral conduct, writes Arendt, depends primarily on the intercourse of man and woman with him or herself. We must not contradict ourselves by making exceptions in our own favor, we must never place ourselves in a position where we will end up despising ourselves.

“Morally speaking,” she writes in Responsibility And Judgement, “this should be enough not only to enable us to tell right from wrong but also to do right and avoid wrong.”
It is not a matter of concern with the other but with the self, not of meekness and bullying but of human dignity, and even human pride. It is not how others tell us we must choose a dog, rather it is about what we tell ourselves we want and need, and can care for.

Our moral obligation is not to get a dog from one place or another, but to give the dog the best, safest and most loving life no matter where it comes from.

The standard is not the love or approval of those who presume to tell us what we must do, nor is it self-love and self-interest. It is self-respect. I do not get a dog to rescue something or to use a dog to make me feel righteous and superior to others. I get the dog and live with a dog in a way that gives me satisfaction in carrying out my moral responsibility to a dependent living creature.

There is no one way to be moral or do the right thing, and such wisdom almost never comes from the dictates of other people.  No one else lives in our life, our family, our home, our hearts, psyche and souls. We are individuals, we are all difference, there is no one way for all us to do a single thing. If dogs teach us nothing else, they teach us that.

Our world is filling up with people who would tell us what to do, how to live and how to feel guilty and poorly about ourselves. They are manipulators, they have their own interests at heart, not mine or yours. The people who love me want me to find my own way.

So, ironically, and this is a strange thing to write, even in our time, it takes strength and clarity to choose a dog well. It is no longer a simple matter, as it once was.  We must navigate very different ideas, emotions and beliefs. We must do our homework and learn as much as we can about the dogs we presume to bring into our lives and be responsibility.

We must look inward, not outward, for the sense of what is right for us, what we can handle, how much love we have to give and wish to receive. Our moral responsibility to living animals does not begin and end with where we get them, it begins and ends with making the right choices for them, and for us. Sometimes that is a shelter. Sometimes a rescue group. Sometimes a breeder.

We begin this journey with the understanding that no one holds all of the high moral ground. There are awful shelters, rescue groups and breeders. There are wonderful shelters, rescue groups and breeders. Sadly, it is your task and responsibility to sort out one from another.

(One tip: don’t trust anyone – breeder, shelter worker, rescue group – who tells you there is only one way to do this. They are destroying the process that most benefits you and the dog you want.)

Anyone who tells you that they alone are moral and righteous and superior are not your friends, they are the enemies of you and the animals they should be representing in a more honest and ethical way. Anyone who tells you that you are killing other animals by choosing the one you feel is right for you is not a friend of you or of animals, they are enabling a system that can be especially cruel to animals and people.

I remember a contractor who stopped by my farm one day and told me if I didn’t upgrade my electrical system the farmhouse would burn down. Think of my family and the dogs, he said. He could fix this for $1,000. A good friend who is also an electrical contractor came buy and said the work I needed was minor and would cost about $100. Be wary of people who use fear and guilt, he said. Fear and guilt are the greatest persuaders and manipulators. I would not care to look in my mirror if I ever did that to other people, whether it is about getting a dog or fixing a conductor.

Listen to people who listen to  you. Listen to people who leave you feeling good and nourished, not guilty and diminished. Look into the mirror when you make your decisions about how to choose a dog, and if you respect the face you see, it is a good decision, the best one you can possibly make in a polarized and confusing world.

I guess my advice is this:  be your own guru, your one wise man or woman.  You know the kind of dog you want. Find it and bring it home, that is the miracle of dogs.