Are your pets family?

[koshergrl]

though technically, we still have to get through today. I'm so tempted to take him to work and make him stay in the car. It wouldn't be fun for him, but he's traveled long distances, so he can go at least a couple of hours between stops...then we have an hour lunch...soooo tempting. In fact....

 

[Vengeance]

though technically, we still have to get through today. I'm so tempted to take him to work and make him stay in the car. It wouldn't be fun for him, but he's traveled long distances, so he can go at least a couple of hours between stops...then we have an hour lunch...soooo tempting. In fact....

Don't be surprised if he shreds your car upholstery out of boredom and spite

 

[Jackson]

Now look at this avatar and ask me if she isn't part of the family. She is more forgiving than the rest of the family! And loving is the the priority of her day!

 

[Coyote]

So you'd put your dog's well being before your children's?

Not me.

I'm not talking about making a choice between a person who doesn't like your dog and your dog, I would make the same choice as you. I'm talking about choosing your dog over your house, and having to pay out the remainder of your lease if you choose your dog..

It hasn't come to that yet, and I really don't want it to. So I'm scrambling to figure something out. I will, too.

What are you doing? How old is the dog? There are a lot of things you can try to remedy the situation without losing home or dog....

Oh, he's young, a year old next month. And he's huge. And I don't have a fenced yard (I did when I got him). And he sort of bounces from one thing to the next, it's always something. A couple of weeks ago, it was peeing because he was undergoing steroid treatment. THAT was fun. Now he feels great...and he's discovered where the rug meets the hardwood floor. He destroyed my daughter's favorite shoes (though that's sort of a given, if he can get to them. We've gone through a few pairs of shoes in the last 7 months). But yesterday, he separated the rug, and then when I rushed home at noon to check on him and let him out before rushing back to work, he raced out the front door and down the street. He went about a block before he turned around.

So yesterday just wasn't a very good day...it was better in the evening. And today is my last day of work for 10 days! So I'll be able to spend some quality time with him, get some pet repellent for the areas he's worrying, and have somebody look at the rug and figure out what we can do. I didn't even know my floor was really wood, though I suspected. I thought it was just that super tough wood looking linoleum stuff. He hasn't hurt it. Yet. After his run he was really good for the rest of the day, lol. He needs that edge taken off of him every day, and I can't always do it. I can unless anything changes, but when things change, I'm screwed. This week, the childcare has changed for winter break, which means everything is a half hour earlier in the morning, plus I have to make lunch for the kids which eats another 15 out of the morning..and that's our walk time. This is the last day of that particular hassle, though. We made it. Whew.

It sounds as if you hit bad timing with work, adolescence, and the after-effects of steroids (which unfortunately causes drinking and peeing) - I don't envy you What kind of dog is he? Do you have access to dog parks where he can run? I hear you about walk time - that is a problem I'm having at the moment due to deer hunting and short days. If he's crazy about balls or frisbees - that can be one way to wear him out - or brain games like "find it" (kids can play that with him to). I run with my dogs during the summer but right now, it's a bit harder (plus motivation in the winter sucks).

 

[koshergrl]

He's getting toys toys toys!

 

[syrenn]

my husband says it is disgusting to let the clark drank out of my glass then drank from it myself....that its nasty.....i point out he has no problem with other things being inserted into my mouth...and the fight is on lol

 

[koshergrl]

I'm trying to avoid kissie faces lately; I worry about tapeworm and other disgusting creatures hitching a ride. It's hard because my boy is soooo kissable...and he gives kisses, too. And he drools. He wakes my daughter up these days after drinking, so he goes and lays his head on her while she's abed, covering hier with loooong ropy drool. She gets right up.

 

[Coyote]

Rosalee the Toy Pig in her under-the-stairs lair. All toys belongeth unto her - eventually (she operates by stealth when the direct approach doesn't work)

She's our newest addition - a deviation from aussies, since she's an Akita mix

 

[Katzndogz]

My dog is my daughter. When she was a baby, I carried her in my pocket. Then we graduated to a pouch until she was big enough for a leash.

She sleeps with me every night. Although she does steal covers. She is more than a welcome visitor every place we go. My son's granddaughter calls her "Great Grandma Doggie". My dog is more like a child, and better behaved than most children.

My cat is my companion because he came to me late in life. I owe him my very life. At one time I had a spate of unexplained severe nose bleeds (probably caused by a change in climate). The cat kept watch all night long and alerted me when I started bleeding. He'd pat my face, bite my fingers until I woke up.

Before these children, I had a cat for 20 years before he passed on. I was so devoted to him that my boyfriends sometimes complained that I loved the cat more than them. My answer was "He was here before you and we'll be together long after you are gone." Then I met a man who said "You two have been together for 15 years. You and I have been together for a year. I know my place if you had to make a choice." I married him.

 

[koshergrl]

I love my animals but I make no mistake, they're animals. Not so much because I care less for them, but because I have learned very hard lessons about humanizing them. They aren't humans, they're animals, and they do best if they are treated as such. I love them as a human, but it is wrong and unfair to expect them to love me as a human, or to behave normally if I force human-ness upon them.

Plus they just aren't as long lived as we are, and they are subject to a whole variety of hazards that we can't always control or protect them from.

 

[Vengeance]

I

Plus they just aren't as long lived as we are, and they are subject to a whole variety of hazards that we can't always control or protect them from.

This fact has reinforced the meaning of heartbreak for me many times over the years but I'll be damned if I'll harden myself just to escape the pain- the loss avoidance isn't worth what I'd have to give up.

 

[koshergrl]

I'm not convinced I'm hardened. I understand my animals and their needs today much, much better than I did back when I still got all loopy over them.

Though...I still get pretty loopy. Had a much loved animal die unexpectedly last year, that was a pretty rough weekend.

 

[Vengeance]

I'm not convinced I'm hardened. I understand my animals and their needs today much, much better than I did back when I still got all loopy over them.

Though...I still get pretty loopy. Had a much loved animal die unexpectedly last year, that was a pretty rough weekend.

I don't mean to say that I think you ARE hardened, just that that's what I'd have to do before lifespan became a distancing factor in the equation for me. I curse the inequity of it every time I come up against the phenomena, but if it's that or do without, well...

 

[Katzndogz]

I know of the hazards of being a canine. My dog though really is MUCH more of a little girl than a dog. Very little of what she does is "doggie". I have already decided that if I outlive her, there will be no other dogs. I couldn't bear having a dog that wasn't as smart or as much of a child.

 

[spectrumc01]

The dogs...yes
The cats...sometimes
The fish...no

 

[jillian]

Absolutely! They have their own Christmas stockings and everything!

we have a lop eared rabbit on one of our menorahs and gave the bunny a chanukah gift.

the bunny... family...

the bearded dragon... not so much... even though i like him.

 

[Zoom-boing]

I'd have to go with a definite yes on this one. After several years of the kids pesting 'dad can we get a dog' (I was in like flint from the get go) we got Penny, the white one. After several more years of pesting 'dad can we get another dog' (again, I was in link flint from the get go) we found Diogi. Shadow the cat has been with us for 14 years. I think he may wake up soon.

 

[koshergrl]

Absolutely! They have their own Christmas stockings and everything!

we have a lop eared rabbit on one of our menorahs and gave the bunny a chanukah gift.

the bunny... family...

the bearded dragon... not so much... even though i like him.

My son and his family have a bunny they've had for a couple of years now! An indoor bunny, with a pit bull in the house. I would never have imagined it would survive the dogs and kids this long, but so far so good.

 

[Coyote]

My dogs are family - but they aren't "children". I love them for what they are - not what I want them to be. I think the worst thing you can do to another species is to "humanize" them. That places an unfair burden on them, prevents a you from appreciating and loving their true character, and worse - encourages miscommunication that can often lead to the animal losing it's home or it's life

 

[koshergrl]

That's what the Dog Whisperer says. Dogs live in the "now". We damage them when we try to make them human, and we eliminate their joy in life because they're behaving unnaturally.

NOT that that is necessarily is what happens to all dogs who are loved as children by their owners. But when their owners TREAT them as humans, it isn't good for them.