Do you think I'm in the right place for adopting a puppy?

I’ve been looking for a young dog to work with in animal-assisted therapy. I just found what seems to be a qualified breeder, and she even lives close by. The puppies are four weeks old right now, and I’ll be calling her tomorrow. Chances are, the dogs all have new homes to go to, but I’m excited, and I decided asking Fluther would help me organize my thoughts on this.

I already have a dog. She’s awesome with puppies, and a very stable dog in general. I have all sorts of plans to make sure the new dog would not be bothering her, and I’m confident I can take good care of both dogs.

I’m worried about two things:

1. Money. I’d be able to provide high-quality food, as well as vet visits and training sessions. However, if that new dog needed any operations right away, I’m not sure whether I’d be able to work it out. My older dog was given to me by my parents, and they have said they’d take care of any expensive procedures. Obviously, as I’m not a child anymore, I wouldn’t want them taking on responsibility for this new dog. Under normal circumstances, I’d wait until my older dog is gone. However, that could be a while (luckily!!), and I’d like to work with a therapy dog as soon as possible. It’s part of what I want to do for a living.

2. My sister’s Maltese. She’s a fragile little dog, and we’re working on her training. She’s hand-shy, as well as anxious around new things. We are making a lot of headway there, right now. However, I’m a little worried I might get distracted with this new puppy, and I can’t let that happen!