I was talking with my office manager who also lives in our neighborhood and is a family friend. Their family doesn’t actually own a dog but she wants one. Her husband, on the other hand, isn’t too fond of dogs.
A couple years back he asked me, “I’m not too into dogs but the kids want one. What breed would you recommend?”
My response was something along the lines of, “A stuffed one,” or something else equally as sarcastic.
Why would I say that? I’ve dedicated my life to dogs. We own dogs. A lot of our decisions about where to live, where to go on vacation, what type of house we buy, the vehicles we own, etc. are partially if not entirely dictated by the fact that we own dogs. Why would I, then, tell someone else that they shouldn’t have a dog?
The answer is simple.
In any given day I deal with aggressive dogs. Dogs who pee on the floor. Dogs who jump all over people. Dogs who chew up leather couches, iPhones, and anything else expensive they can find. I see such horrible behavior coming from man’s best friend that I often come home from a long day of working and say…
“Why on earth do people own dogs?”
These creatures cause so much pain, distress, anger, and more.
Give me a few minutes, though, to relax and catch my breath and I remember. Dogs are great. They are loyal. They are fun. They protect our home. They cheer us up.
But one thing I realize is that if you are going to invite a dog into your home you are also going to invite problems. Now, those problems can be fixed with the right training, care, exercise, attention, etc. If you aren’t much of a dog person, though, then you are asking for trouble when you get a dog ‘for the kids’. Regardless of who the dog is for it is almost always going to land on the parents to solve the dog problems and they are only going to be able to do that if they have genuine love and affection for their canine companion.
So, why do we have dogs? Because there is nothing like them. If you don’t feel the same way, though, then it’s probably a good idea to abstain from dog ownership no matter how much your kids beg.
