This is a post taken from my sisters blog, (see link below) we have been through so much together over the last 10+ years, and 90% of that time has been spent with animals be it saving, adopting, fostering or catching strays to find forever homes. Please take a few moments to comment and share.
These pet posts will be available at: The Daily Life of an Average Girl as well as here on my personal blog.
Topic #1: PETS ARE FOREVER!
If you commit yourself to doing hours of research, driving to the pet store, breeder, or local shelter, paying the adoption/purchase fee, buying food, beds, toys, tanks, filters, heat lamps, I.D. tags, and whatever else your animal requires, you're committing yourself to caring for an animal for the rest of its natural life.
Pets are not status symbols. They're not a method to "keep up with the Joneses." They're not toys. They're not anniversary gifts. They're not temporary distractions from heartache. They're not lawn ornaments.
They are a life-time commitment. Period.
With this commitment comes a lot of responsibility. You know what responsibility is, if you're over the age of ten. Your parents (if they were worth their salt), your teachers, your pastor, they all tried to teach you how to be responsible for your decisions, how to own up and follow-through with your commitments. They wanted you to be a person whose word is solid and reliable. Don't forget that when you bring an animal into your home.
Dogs typically live between 7 and 15 years, cats can be as old as 20, birds and turtles/tortoises live for decades! That's YEARS of costly vet visits, thousands of pounds of food, gallons upon gallons of water, millions of little pet turds to clean up, hundreds of training hours, and every drop of blood, sweat, and tears that you're capable of shedding.
I think you get the point I'm trying to make, especially if you're an animal lover like myself.
I decided that this post would be the first one, because this is the one that hits closest to home...
My roommates/landlords have an affinity for trying to one-up, people. Their friends get a new car, they get one a year newer. New TV at the neighbor's? Well, theirs is 3-inches bigger! Et cetera! A little competition among friends is good, and to be completely honest, it's just FUN! However, when you bring that competition and desire to be better than your friends, into your choice to get a pet, you...well, you just plain piss me off!
Case in point: My Leonidis, the pain-in-the-ass German Shepherd.
My landlords got Leo (then short for Leonardo) because their coworkers got a GSD puppy, and "Aw, look how cute it is!"
*sigh*
German Shepherds are not a lazy man's dog. Believe me, this dog is no exception!
This adorable pup (now nearly two years old) came into a house with a spoiled Pomeranian (don't even get me started with that thing...), and two cats, not including my clutch of cats that live in my trailer with me. My roommates' hearts were in the right place, but they just plain didn't have the patience or drive to give this dog what he needed, at an early age, to make him a well-balanced adult. I told them that they needed to train him, because they kept getting upset that he was pooping in the house, or chewing on cords/shoes/the couch. I told them that GSDs need a lot of maintenance, and training, or they go a little...bonkers...yeah, that's a good word!
Their response?
"We'll deal with it later."
REALLY RIGHT NOW?!
Well, as you have probably figured out, "later" never came. Leo's behavior got worse, because he was never taught what not to do, or how to act. He was never socialized with other dogs, or people. Eventually, they decided that they couldn't "deal with him" because he was "dangerous". (He wasn't dangerous. Just bored out of his skull.) He ran over their grandkid, he nipped, he jumped on people, he destroyed everything he could get his teeth on; he was just...bonkers. So, they decided to get rid of him.
I just...
Grrr...
My sister and I said, "No, you're not!"
She decided to take him in, and help him. He needed a lot of it. The only problem with her having him was that she was working 12-hour days, and the roommates she had weren't exactly...responsible enough for her to trust to take care of him when she wasn't there, so he continued with the destructive behavior, even though he did make a vast improvement. When she was home, he was an angel, but he reverted as soon as she left. It was an unhealthy cycle that eventually stressed them both out. Then, he jumped into her neighbor's yard, one day, and her neighbor threatened to shoot Leo. That went over like a ton of bricks, and Leo came back here, under my care.
I have been his official owner, now, for about 3 months and he is a completely different dog. He gets regular exercise. He has rules and boundaries, and he is disciplined when he's being a dick. He's bitten me, a couple times, because he was never properly socialized, he's destroyed (and I mean d-e-s-t-r-o-y-e-d) some of my things. He's chased my cats. He's done all kinds of things that people usually send their pets to the pound for.
I didn't.
I stuck with him, and I pushed through the frustration and the tears, and even the blood, and one day it just clicked. We had a bond, and I was the pack leader. It wasn't easy, and I still consider him a "work in progress", but I've seen enough of a change in him to be able to see that light at the end of the tunnel. I was exhausted and sore, and frustrated beyond belief for the first couple weeks, but I stuck to my guns, and I didn't give him an inch, and now the jumping has all but stopped, the chewing only happens when he doesn't get his daily run, the charging after kids/other dogs/cats has slowed (with the exception of my orange tabby, with whom Leo likes to play tag...there is nothing funnier than an 8-pound-cat chasing a 100-pound-dog around the yard).
That's what I'm trying to tell you people who like to pick up and dump animals left-and-right. To those of you who get rid of animals because they destroyed your favorite shoes, or because they grew out of being "cute, or because you're simply bored with them, or because they got diarrhea on your new carpet, or because you had a baby. The animals only act out because you let them. Period.
If you cannot take control of a lesser-species, how the hell do you expect to be successful as a manager, or a parent?
...?
Seriously, though, if you can't control your dog, how the hell are you going to control a group of humans who are probably smarter than you?
Yes that was harsh. Yes, I probably insulted you. No, I don't care.
When it comes down to the choice between a human's feelings and an animal's well-being, I will side with the animal. Every. Time.
Honor your commitment to your four-, two-, no-legged pets.
Yes, there are times when it is in the best interest of the animal that you give up ownership to somebody who is more capable of caring for them. But none of those reasons are ever because you WANT to. Those reasons only come out of need, and those reasons will break your heart, every time.
I've had to rehome pets in my lifetime, because I was homeless, or because my Big Boy (my oldest tabby) was getting attacked. I rehomed a pitbull, because I was living with people who wanted to start a dog-fighting ring, and I had nowhere else to live. I have never rehomed an animal because they were an inconvenience. And, I have cried, as each one of those animals walked out my front door for the last time.
If it doesn't break your heart to "get rid" of them, then don't get rid of them. Find another way to fix whatever problem you're having with them. Change your own routine. Do whatever you possibly can to care for them, and then some, because that's what you signed up for.
Don't back out of the contract because of a little bit of adversity. Cleaning diarrhea out of the carpeting, replacing chewed up shoes, repairing window screens and, yes, even whole doors, are all small potatoes when you consider that no matter how shitty your day was, no matter how many people screamed at you, or how worthless the outside world made you feel, to that animal, you are the one. You are it. You are literally their whole world and they rely on you for their food, their shelter, their drink of water. They don't play unless they play with you. They greet you at the door with open hearts and wagging tails, and lots of kitty purrs, in my case. You're their best-friend, and they will never, ever turn their back on you for anything, ever...
Even when you turn your back on them.
2 comments:
Thank for your taking the time to read, comment and share.
Some of the worst comments I have seen are on Craigslist, was a woman who wanted to trade her two small dogs in for a large breed dog......and the other ones are "I had a baby, let's get ride of the cat/dog" All I hear is oh honey we just got this animal, lets get rid of the baby.....
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