At a Christmas party I tried to convince someone it was “worth it” to have a dog. (She asked.) She thought you had to clean up after them and take care of them forever (until death do we part) because they never grow up and the benefits don’t outweigh the costs.
Yes. A dog makes a mess. A dog might chew the wood between the window panes right down to the glass. A dog might tear up the pillow that Grandma needlepointed.
But how can you explain joy to someone who just isn’t listening?
How can you say that having that dog was worth every penny and every bit of clean up and even worth the Thanksgiving Day that you had to drive to the emergency vet and sob as he eased that gentle soul into the next life?
Life is messy. Having friends is messy. Families are messy.
Pets are messy. But they are companions and you can talk to them all the live long day and they don’t tell you to SHUT UP! They provide laughter and warmth and love or at least something that seems like love. My life would be a lot less without having a dog in it.
With thanks and love to Tippy and Tiger and Maxine and Lily,
Some people are dog people and some people are not. My wife and I are. My dad is not. It drives me nuts when he visits. Whenever one of the dogs even looks like it might move into his general vicinity he starts fussing. He is not afraid of them he just can’t stand them. Did I mention this drives me nuts? Fortunately we have a guest house that is not accessible to the dogs. When he gets too fussy I just tell him to FO to the guest house.
Tidbits of chicken or beef serve very well to revive faded love, should your dog’s love start to flag.
I would cuddle my dog this very moment, but alas, all her love for now is for the particular vent she adores. When the furnace cycles off, she will rise from The Magical Vent, The Glorious Giver of Hot Air, and come to me. She will rise up and put two tiny paws on my legs, and there will be cuddling and surfing the Dope.
Your friend may be listening but just not agreeing. People are different. Not everyone likes dogs. When I was a child my family had dogs. I didn’t like them. As far as I was concerned they were a lot of work without any benefit. I was glad to see the back of them when I moved out of home. I’d never get one.
Yes, you do. It’s called responsible dog ownership. When you commit to having a dog, you commit to training them and teaching them how to behave. And taking them to the vet for both routine and emergency care, and taking care of them when they’re sick and feeding them special food when their digestion is off and buying toys that they’re allowed to chew on and a proper collar and leash and a summer clip every year and and and . . .
It’s far less work than caring for a child, IMHO. My mother thinks it’s the other way around. We both think the other’s nuts.
I get incredible joy from my pups every day. I thought my heart would break into a million pieces when eight years ago this very night our beloved Miss Emily died in Mr. S’s arms on one of those frantic trips to the vet. There were some very hard days after that. But she and her successors have given us so much more joy.
Yes, my house is full of dog hair, there’s no keeping up with it. I had to give up black wool coats. Occasionally there are accidents (they are housebroken, but they have medical issues). So we buy a lot of baking soda and Febreze. Big deal. They have stinky breath and they’re always in my way and they trample us every morning in bed and they’re chock full of personality and boundless enthusiasm and they’re cute as buttons and no stranger will ever sneak up on us and I love them to pieces.
I can’t help thinking what a sterile existence it is for those people who don’t want dogs because they’re “too messy.” As you say, life is messy. And I prefer dog mess to a lot of the other messes.
He is a good boy. Of all the places for Miss Emily to be when she went (not so) gentle into that good night, that was the best one – being held and loved by her best buddy. She worshipped him and vice versa. He had lain down for a nap that afternoon and took her with him because she had been restless. I’m so glad they had that last cuddle together before she got bad. Ugh, what a horrible night. Not much of a fun Christmas that year either.
Now her ashes are on the piano, along with one of her biscuits, one of the mints that she loved to steal, a little springer figurine, a small photo of “The Dirtiest Dog in the World” (after she’d been digging in the ash pile, and with a total “who, me?” look on her face), and her first (puppy) and last collars. We still talk to her and tell her we love her and ask her what she thinks of the current crop of troublemakers.
Dogs aren’t for everyone, that’s for sure. I got mine as a birthday present. Take note, don’t get someone an animal for their birthday unless they have told you in great detail how much they want a dog.
We get along ok over here, but my plate was pretty full when the dog came along and now it’s overflowing. But I understand committment and I know that when you adopt an animal it is for life. However, if a kindhearted person came around and took a liking to my dog I would be more than happy to let her go. But I don’t actively go around looking for that. I just hope she outgrows her puppiness.
She’s about 9 months old and def. looks like an adult dog, but her behavior indicates otherwise. I work with her as much as I can, but as I said above, my life is full of things to do that are prioritized above the dog. She gets properly taken care of, but we aren’t perfect pet owners by any stretch. And when she’s finally gone I won’t be getting another dog. It’s cats for me!
I don’t think people should all love dogs (but will I ever truly trust someone who doesn’t?). That’s okay. Just don’t get one if you don’t want one. And don’t practically ruin a Christmas party going on and on about not liking dogs when people you supposedly care about have expressed how important their dogs are to them.
I don’t like a certain popular conservative radio host. I don’t talk about him. I don’t ask people to explain themselves about why they like him. I simply do not listen to his program.
You definitely should not give someone a dog unless you are absolutely certain that person wants one! That’s crazy!
I have cats. I didn’t mean to have cats. I didn’t want cats. But there were some feral kittens in my backyard who had to be socialized before I could turn them over to a no-kill shelter.
I don’t want cats. I hate scooping the litter and there’s hair on every goddamn thing in my house. Cat effin toys everywhere and fur-tumbleweeds all over the place.
But one of my sweet boys is on my lap right now as I type this, purring, making biscuits, and making me think that everything in the world might turn out okay after all. I’ve watched them grow from feral kits to infinitely loving and sweet cats. I can’t imagine my life without them now. I’m totally committed to them and love them dearly.
So what I’m trying to say is that I don’t think why it’s fun to have pets is something you can explain to someone. You just have to do it and only later realize it’s what you were looking for without even knowing it.
We have a Bassett Hound. Sometimes I can’t stand the fact that she refuses to go out side to poop. She tends to go in the garage, and sometimes she doesn’t quite make it. And then it has to be cleaned up…bleah! But when I get up in the night and check on the Kiddo and he’s lying there alseep and Katie is curled up, snuggled into him, my heart melts. That dog loves that boy more than I’ve ever seen a dog love a boy before.
Just reinforcing the dog love here. They’re not messy all their lives. Puppies can be trained and often grow out of their bad habits spontaneously. A well-behaved, housebroken dog is a joy. But even when they’re not perfect, they’re still great to have around. Just totally wonderful companions. All they need are regular meals, frequent rubs and kind words, and they’re devoted to you for life.
And yes, I’ve known the sadness of losing my companions, too. The pain is like a knife through your heart. It takes bravery and strength to commit to a new dog, but the joy of forming a new bond helps ease the pain that only time can otherwise heal.
My daughter came home from college just an hour ago, and the dog she raised from puppyhood greeted her with more love than you can shake a stick at. She wagged her tail and her whole body. Even slightly more love than she greets me with when I come home from work.
Though she is worth it in a more literal sense - four of her puppies are in their final stages of guide dog training.
our beloved Miss Emily died in Mr. S’s arms on one of those frantic trips to the vet. There were some very hard days after that. But she and her successors have given us so much more joy.
Of all the places for Miss Emily to be when she went (not so) gentle into that good night, that was the best one – being held and loved by her best buddy. She worshipped him and vice versa. He had lain down for a nap that afternoon and took her with him because she had been restless. I’m so glad they had that last cuddle together before she got bad. Ugh, what a horrible night. Not much of a fun Christmas that year either.