So you just saw Marley and Me and you simply have to get a puppy. Maybe it has to be a lab, like Marley, maybe some other adorable bundle of fluff. But how do you choose that perfect pooch, the one that is your soul-mate? Here’s a great Howdini video, one of a series we did with a litter of the cutest golden retriever pups ever, that shows you How To Pick the Right Puppy for Your Family.

But what do you do after you get him home?

If you think it’s as simple as feeding and loving him, and chuckling at his hijinks, you probably have never had the experience of coming home to find one of your favorite stilettos chewed to a nub by a now-sleeping peacefully pooch with bits of leather stuck to his muzzle.

This happened to me when my spaniel Chester was a puppy. First there is the horror at discovering the crime scene, then there is the anger at the pup perp, then the feeling of loss and helplessness. (And finding one shoe eaten is actually worse than finding both of them destroyed. What do you do with the other one? Its partner is dead, murdered by a drooling dog, who may or may not come back for more. Do you throw the unharmed beauty away? Let the dog have it because, why not? There is no good solution here.)

Karma for Chester was that he is now spending his golden years completely toothless, victimized by his breed’s tendency to produce massive amounts of plaque that resisted all reasonable attempts to prevent.

So let this be a cautionary tale to both you and your Marley. Keep your closet door tightly shut, and read this to your pup.

And then why don’t you learn How to Brush Your Dog’s Teeth, by watching this Howdini video?

Tags: brush a dog's teeth, golden retriever puppies, Marley and Me, pick a puppy