This time of year, many writers and animal activists are cautioning people against buying a puppy for Christmas. But the fact is that there are perhaps hundreds of thousands of dogs across this country who don't have permanent homes.

The argument they give is that people who buy puppies as Christmas gifts do so without thinking through on their purchase. That is, instead of urging people take more responsibility in buying a puppy, they elect to shut puppies out of Christmas.

But even in December, dogs continue to find themselves lost or abandoned. The fact is that dogs do indeed make great Christmas gifts. If you could go to the local animal shelter, and ask every dog there if it would like to be someone's Christmas gift, they'd all tell you that they would LOVE to be someone's Christmas gift.

The point is making sure your recipient is committed to owning one.

If you plan to buy someone a dog for Christmas, here are my tips:

• Don't make it a surprise gift - Talk to the recipient and find out if they're ready to commit as much as 15 years of their life to caring for a new family member. If your kids are asking for a puppy, consider yourself as the dog owner, not the kids.



• Let the recipient select the dog - Don't take a chance on picking out a dog you think he or she would like. Even if you know the breed of dog they want, you still can't determine which particular dog they feel something special with



• Take them to the local animal shelter - Instead of buying a puppy, adopt a homeless dog. Many shelters don't stop euthanizing dogs just because its December. I guarantee you if you take someone to see the dogs at a shelter, they won't leave without wanting to adopt one.

Instead of spreading a message that Christmas is the wrong time to bring a dog home, we should instead make it the best time. You can extend the Spirit of Giving by giving a home to a dog.

You just need to make sure that you and/or the recipient is committed to caring for one.