Pets & Responsibility
The wife and I took the furry kids out for a day at the park and then a trip to the pet store yesterday. The trip to the pet store usually takes us over an hour due to everyone wanting to pet our dogs, talk to us about them, etc. I guess 500 lbs of well behaved dog is not a common thing. Anyway, while doing this we ran into a couple that just got their first dog, a very small one, and we talked to them extensively.
Long and short at the end of the conversation we are really worried about the dogs future. Why you ask, well the wife seems to think the dog is a fashion item as she always talked about how dirty her hands got when she held it, etc. It is dog, it is not a surgical center people. Dogs shed, they have dirty paws, and they lick you at times. Why none of this occurred to her before buying the dog blew my mind. As for the husband, well everything was about price and time. How much is dog food, how much is flea medicine, how much is crate, how long does it take to feed them, how much time does it take to get them to go out? Those are all valid questions, and ones that should be ask, but they should be ask BEFORE buying the dog. If you are not willing / able to spend the money and time it takes to care for the animal then do not get it.
Simply people, be it a dog or a cat or a rat or a reptile, think it through and really know what you are willing and able to do BEFORE buying the pet. It is not far to the animal, and it is not fair to you either if you do not think it all through. Animals will have accidents, they will be dirty, and there are cost associated with having them.
As much as they are pets, and they are, they also become part of the family and they should be treated like more then accessories or problems. Think before you buy or adopt.
