Found on Craigslist... SPOT ON Things to Know. Owning a dog, or any pet for that matter can be a great joy, but at times it can be one of the most stressful things in your life. Here are some lessons people need to learn before even thinking about adopting a dog or other pets. All of these things are brought to you from my life experiences. 1.Road Trip! Unlike what a startling high number of people think, it is possible to move and travel with your pet. There is no reason to give up an animal due to moving, you are just simply not willing to put in a little effort. I have moved several times with the total of my animals, two dogs, two cats, eight ferrets and two snakes. This wasnt even an across town trip, I have traveled over a thousand miles from Indiana to San Antonio. All the while being yowled, whined and looked at by some not so happy campers. This was not a pleasant experience, and sometimes I just want to give them a good dose of tranquilizer (Fiance included) but I did it because they are my -family- and family does not get left behind. It is also possible to travel over seas with your animals, my mother did it. Not only did she travel with a cat and a little yappy mop of a dog. She also did it with a three year old son and while pregnant with me. 2.No room! No room! No room! It -is- possible to have a large breed dog in an apartment, but again it takes an extra bit of work to accomplish. Me and my fiance lived our first year here in a small one bedroom apartment, with two large mutts, both over fifty pounds. Did it frustrate us at time? Oh yes! Did we lock the bedroom door to just have a tiny itty bitty bit of alone, not animals time? Hell yeah! But we wouldnt have it any other way! There is no rule stating the big dogs can not be apartment dogs (unless your apartment happens to say that.) We managed it by daily four mile walks and weekend trips to the dog park. 3.Time is fleeting. “I do not have enough time for _____.” Surprisingly, or unsurprisingly this is a very common excuse for people looking to rid themselves of pets they no longer want. Its an easy to come up with, and in my opinion not very convincing, excuse for people who dont want their pet and dont want people jumping down their throats about it. We are living proof that it is possible to have a social life, a business life and a personal life with a pet at your side. We are no strangers to throwing a ball while working/cleaning/folding laundry etc. We easily play with weasels while reading and pet a cat in our laps while on the computer. If you are not willing to do this when life gets busy then you should consider a pet rock instead. This is a particularly horrible excuse for low maintenance pets such as snakes and other reptiles. Our snakes, all twelve of them now, require less then an hour of care for all of them combined. Please be honest and just state that you do not want your pets anymore, do not beat around the bush with lies. 4.Breeders by another name. If you happen to own two unaltered animals and allow them to breed than you are a breeder. There will be no convincing people of anything else. If you wish to have intact animals it is your duty as an animal owner to prevent them from breeding with each other or any other intact animal. No one is convinced that your pure-bred dogs reproduced on accident when you are trying to make a hundred or more dollars off of their puppies. There are many local options for the alteration of your pets, including programs run by the local ACS as well was the SpaySA and SNAP program. 5.Not facing extinction. It is ridiculous to me how many people seem to be convinced that bully breeds are in danger of becoming extinct and how many people dont care the hundreds of pit bulls die every -day- in local animal shelters. Please do not breed your bullies, they deserve so much more then what you give them. A life of constant parent hood and a source for your income. They deserve to be cherished family pets, not breeding machines. Please consider adopting, and saving a bully from death before you buy from these heartless breeders. I have personally worked with pits in local shelters and they are some of the most amazing dogs. Save them before they die needlessly. 6.Love me for my money Money does not buy love, many of the animals we currently have were either given to us for free or rescued from the streets and an uncertain future. They receive the best food money can buy, their vet work is completely up to date, and we spend any free time loving and playing with them. But most of all, we love them and they are our family members. Somebody paying three hundred or more is not always a good person. A neighbor down the street bought one such dog, it sat in the yard forgotten, unfed and unloved. Slowly but surely it wasted away until it was too late to be saved. Please screen your homes, meet their families and see where your animal will be living. Write up a contract guaranteeing proper care and updates of your animal/s. Remember, no amount of money can buy love. 7.Baby Boomers. Puppies are adorable, babies are adorable. If you know what youre doing, your child can be raised with the unconditional love of a canine or feline friend. The problem is that too few people want to take the time to do this properly, resulting in far too many people re-homing their animals due to their babies. Please consider if you can handle the stress before getting a puppy, there is no “I didnt realize I couldnt handle it” after you bought a young puppy while very close to having your child. It is unfair to the puppy and can lead to unstable dogs should they end up passed around from house to house. 8.In with the old, in with the new It is possible to keep both the older and newer dog, there is no need to exchange for a new model. In fact I view this as extremely cruel, if you are not dedicated to a dog for the entirety of its life then you should never own a dog or any pet for that matter. It takes more then a day for your old pal to get used to a brother/sister just as it takes people longer then a day to get used to a new family member and less attention. Our eldest dog is going on 13 and our two youngest are about under 2. Yes the old lady gripes and snaps but she has a right to do it and both youngsters know its not aggression its just “leave me alone and get off my lawn ya hooligans!” Sending an older dog to the shelter is a death sentence. Face the facts, not many people want an older mutt, theyre looking for the cute adorable puppies. Even if your older dog is COMPLETELY trained, its just not what people are looking for. 9. Its all your fault!! Do not dump your dogs, do not threaten to dump your dogs if no one takes them. Their deaths and their lives are on YOUR heads, not the people who can not/will not take the problem you have created. You are signing their death warrant, whether they get shot, hit by a car or euthanized at a shelter. It is on nobodys head but yours. Do not get a dog unless you can properly handle and care for one.
Posted on: Fri, 26 Dec 2014 22:42:08 +0000
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