So she’s asked your parents and they’ve said okay? Or she’s talked about it in their presence and they haven’t said no?
I’m joining the “Don’t get a dog” chorus.
Since you know that it’s a bad idea, can’t you get your parents to lay down the law?
Don’t get a dog. A dog deserves to be a member of the family, not left outside to maybe have one family member pay attention to it.
Another vote for NO DOG. Your whole family needs to be commited to the idea and they obviously are not. You are either going to end up with an unhappy dog living most ot its life lonely outside or end up tiring of it and dropping it off at the nearest shelter.
Just like not everyone is cut out to be a parent, not everyone is cut out to be a dog owner, either.
Don’t get a dog. Please.
If your sister wants one, she can get one when she moves out.
I’ve rescued dogs from situations similar to yours. Please do not get a dog.
Yo! People! Let me be clear about this! I am not getting a dog. It is not my decision! In fact, I’ve been trying to talk her out of it and have for years. My sister wants and, I’m afraid, will get a dog. I’m just succumbing to the inevitable and trying to plan things out if a dog is forced on me. I’m just trying to prepare for the situation as best I can given my admittedly bad situation
And Sister Vigilante, I think your assessment of me is too harsh. I like dogs and pets, but just have little time with them. And quite frankly, I prefer playing hours of video games rather than going outside to pet an animal, you can only do that for so long until you get bored. That’s not completely uncaring, but I’m not obsessed with animals. There is a middle ground where I belong to where a pet doesn’t take all of my time.
No, I don’t consider a dog a family member, its a pet. I’m not going to strap it to the hood of my car and take it for a ride, but I’m not going to give it a last name or something silly like that.
I’m assuming she cleared it up with parents first especially now that she can afford to buy one (as for taking care of one, we’re still working on it). I won’t be able to talk to her about it until this weekend though, so I’ll come back with updates.
And I don’t know at this point how much my parents would be able to stop her. She’s been wanting one for a long time. First she said after she gets into nursing, then she moved it back until after graduation, then moved it once again to when she got a nursing job. Now she has that and really wants one again and can afford one. There’s no more goalposts for her to move, this is it, I think
And I have, I guess, both a question/comment on some of you who said dogs are not outside animals. I don’t know where that’s from. Certainly if we lived somewhere that snowed, the dog would be inside most of the time. But what happened to a little dog house in the back and free reign of the yard? I don’t think that’s unheard of or cruel. Its kind of moot, really. My parents would absolutely, positively not stand for an inside dog. Most of my friends who have dogs and grew up with them have outside dogs too. I don’t see it as a big deal.
With that said, what’s a medium to small dog that is lazy and and doesn’t mind being left alone for most of the day?
I know a dog would be bored, but what’s so bad about our situation? We had a dog 10 years ago that lived many years like this and she seemed fine. And don’t bring up the biting thing, that was just cause she wasn’t trained well and has no bearing with her happiness. She liked us and would play with us when we did do that.
For me, the outside dog thing is more that of a single dog left outside. If you had several dogs that could hang out together outside, it wouldn’t be nearly as big a deal. But dogs are extremely social animals; they aren’t really made to spend all their time alone like that. Just because people do it doesn’t make it right. People do a lot of shitty things to animals. Also, a dog that bites isn’t generally a well-adjusted dog, even if it’s happy sometimes.
Since you’ll have no luck with your sister, is there any way you can convince your parents that they REALLY don’t want a dog in their house? It sounds like they don’t want one anyway, and it is their house and yard that are going to be impacted if your sister doesn’t train the dog properly.
Because she’s living in their house and should abide by their rules, or at least have some consideration for them. I can’t even imagine the mindset that thinks it’s okay to foist an unwanted animal on the people your sister is living with.
Is the yard fenced or will the dog be chained all the time? Will the dog be protected from other dogs? Will the dog be out of sight/out of mind, or will someone take time to not just feed and water him, but play with him and give him exercise? Every day? Does your sister realize that hot weather can be just as bad for dogs as cold weather?
What if the dog is a barker? Your neighbors gonna be okay with that?
Even dogs in fenced yards with doghouses need to be trained and socialized.
Sure, the dog will “survive” just fine, but it’s not fair to the dog. Yeah, it’s just an animal, but if it’s just an animal to you and your sister, why bother?
People say humans are social animals too but some of us prefer to live alone, or don’t mind it. What’s a dog that likes being a alone?
This may sound…I don’t know, odd, cruel, or loving. But I like my sister more than a dog. If she really wants one, I’m not going to sneakily go behind her back to the parents and ask them to force her not to get one. If she really wants one then I’ll deal with it and so will the dog. That…probably didn’t come out right, but the gist of it is that she’s not some dog-torturer who’s going to be bashing the dog over the head with hammers everyday. She might be a bit naive, but she really wants a dog so I’m hoping she’ll grow into a good dog owner. And maybe the parents will too. So maybe the dog will have to “suffer” an owner who’s not the best dog owner in the world, so what? Its not like we’re stabbing it and feeding it acid. At the most, the dog will be a bit bored, but that’s hardly a capital offense nor one who needs rescuing from, I’m looking at you Jimbabweosu… :dubious:
We’re not great dog owners, I admit that. Nor do I see much change in the future. But if we can just be average ones, I’ll take it. And seriously, if we get a rescue, we’re probably doing the dog a favor anyway. If the choice is to be locked in a cage all day until you get euthanized or be slightly bored, then I think that’s a pretty clear choice.
I’m honestly not trying to sound as cavalier about this as I probably come off. I like dogs, really, and I don’t want anything bad to happen to one. I just think people are a bit too obsessed to want to treat it like children and give it the stimulation of an infant. Its an animal that, if there were no people around, would run around in the woods for 12 hours a day looking for smaller animals to kill. Staying in a backyard for most of the day isn’t cruel, in my opinion
Dogs are pack animals and do mind being left alone most of the day. If you’re only going to interact with the dog occasionally, why get one at all? And smaller dogs are generally more energetic than larger dogs.
I’m going to echo most of the respondents and ask you to please try harder to urge your sister not to get a dog.
Sounds like it’s time for Yog & Sis to both move out. To separate domiciles.
The dog can come later…
I guess we just grew up differently than you, I guess. I’m sure if my parents are 100% against a dog, she won’t be able to get one. But I get the feeling she’s whittled down their resistance to something more manageable. Its just that my dad won’t play with the dog at all or really pet it, unless he did it to our old dog behind everyone’s backs. And my mom may throw a stick once in a while to fetch but she has other stuff she prefers to do
The backyard is fenced, the dog will live there. The front is not, so it won’t be allowed there unless on a leash. Thus the backyard is protected from other dogs, unless we have some really good jumpers. We’ll feed the dog, we’re not evil ;p And maybe…every other day with the exercise? Eh, I don’t even exercise that much, why should a dog get more than me? 
(kidding about that last part!) And if it gets hot we’ll just shave it
If the dog barks we usually take it inside and let it sleep in. If its during the day, oh well.
She wants to bother
If you can train a dog to balance stuff on its head, why can’t it get used to being alone for a while? Doesn’t make sense
As I said, I kind of don’t want a dog, but there’s certain lines I won’t cross in dissuading her. If you have any more things that I can say to her, go ahead and post it. Frankly this dog thing is causing me a bit of anxiety with all the weird issue you people are raising
In this economy? No way, I’d rather get 3 dogs! 
:eek:
Do NOT get a dog! Outside dogs need shelter from the sun and a constant source of fresh, clean water. And dogs with double coats can actually be more comfortable in the heat, as air is trapped between the layers of fur and helps provide insulation. Shaving the dog will remove this layer of insulation and may expose the dog to skin cancer, as well. Again, do NOT get a dog. You and your sister seem woefully inadequate to take care of one’s needs properly.
Danged edit window.
You’re the one who asked for opinions. Sorry if the answers weren’t what you expected to hear.
Well, I don’t really know of a breed of dog that is fine with being alone most of the time, likes to spend time outside, is low-maintenance, and is easy to train. It’s possible that your sister might be able to talk to someone at a shelter and outline her needs, and they might be able to help her by finding a specific dog that might work out. They might not be overly receptive if she fully describes the situation, though; a household with adult children who may end up moving and with homeowners who don’t really want a dog is a situation where they’re likely to see the dog come back in a year once the novelty wears off for your sister.
I would not suggest going to a rescue. If your sister describes the situation to them at all honestly, pretty much no rescue is going to give her a dog.
I agree that the kind of life you’re able to provide is better than living in a cage in a shelter. But you’re shortchanging yourself just as much as the dog. Dogs can be great companions without being treated as “children”.
But if that’s part of your rationale – that you’re rescuing a dog from life in a shelter – then tell the people at the shelter your plans and ask them to help choose the dog. They know their dogs, and they’ll know which dogs are like velcro and which ones might be okay by themselves.
Don’t get a puppy. Puppies need more care and attention than you’re able to provide.
You make it sound like dogs are some fragile porcelain figurine that has to be covered in bubble wrap all the time. What about short haired dogs? They get no protection? Its not like we’re keeping its fur short all year, for the old Chow, it was maybe twice a year that we shaved her, and and we did have the groomer leave some on. She looked like a poodle for a bit until it grew back
Its good that I’m getting ideas about things that may come up. My objection is mostly towards some of the obsessiveness that, to me, make no sense. I’m starting to wonder if some of you are qualified to have pets :dubious: Kidding, sorta
No, the adult children are not planning on moving anytime soon, I can guarantee that. But yeah, the old people in the house might have a problem with it. I’m still trying to convince her not to get a dog though, so don’t think I have given up. Though I think getting a rescue dog is the right thing to do, she may just end up doing what our cousin did it get it from some lady. I dunno if she was reputable or not, I wasn’t really part of it. (don’t jump to conclusions people!) So probably 50/50 chance she was. (I just flipped a coin and it came up legit, so I’m going to assume she was a legitimate breeder)
Oh believe me, I know. Even though I haven’t owned dogs much, everyone I know has grown up with them, and I’m surrounded on 3 sides of our house by neighbors who have dogs. I’m hoping I develop into more of a dog person but with almost daily raids to kill orcs and goblins, that’s probably not going to happen. But it might
But they’re so cuuuuute! 
And really, obedience schools work different than how I think its been portrayed on TV all my life? Can I at least drop off the dog and pick it up later after a day of training? Is that real? Please tell me its real, or else I’m going to lose my faith in TV forever…
If she can afford a dog, she needs to save up and afford her own place first.
Tell your sister that under no circumstances will you help with her dog. Do not give even the slightest appearance of supporting her decision. Tell her that you told her story to a forum of relatively intelligent people (for the internet, at least) and NOBODY thinks she should get a dog.
Goddamn. Your sister reminds me of a former coworker of mine. She got a dog from a [del]puppy mill[/del] pet store… and sent it to a shelter less than a year later. She didn’t want to be a dog owner, she just wanted a decorative animal. But animals need to be walked and trained and supported by their family. If your sister gets a dog, it’ll be a horrible travesty for that poor animal.
Prepare to lose your faith. The way obedience training works is you (or ideally, your sister) take training right alongside your dog. The training is intended to train you how to lead the dog as well as train the dog to obey you. Since the dog is going to live with you, you want to bond with the dog and have it accept you as the person to take commands from. Life with the dog is easier if you’re the one the dog looks up to you as the leader, not some trainer the dog is likely to never see again for the rest of its life. And take it from me, working on obedience training together can be very enjoyable for you as well as for your dog.