Inquiring Minds Want to Know.. Why did you get a dog?

[Jennifer and Jack]

I have been thinking about this for a while.... I see people get dogs and then give them back because they decided it was not what they were looking for, more then they can handle etc.

 

What makes a person get a dog??? If I can be gut honest, which I can if I want, Thank you USA. I was never a dog person, I did not have any respect for a dog as a living creature, I was one of those that I now feel sorry for because they have no idea what they are missing out on.

 

I am a people pleaser to a fault. Some friends of mine had two dogs, I was able to see the bond that they had with them, though I didn't understand it. I thought they were "a bit much" to have a basket of toys for a dog but whatever.

 

Fast forward, I was at one of my doctors appointment, a doctor I don't see anymore but I had just started going there. She had two Goldendoodles. She was head over heels in love with them. I ended up being admitted into the hospital... and for my follow up appointment, my mom and I went to see her.

 

We were flabbergasted when she walked in the room and sat down and cried. Neither both my mom or I were dog people. Unfortunately for my poor doctor, her two dogs were involved in a horrible freak accident, one fell off of a sun roof and the other jumped off after him. One of the dogs had to be put down, and the other required extensive surgery but survived.

 

The poor doctor, had to do clinic that day and she sat down and cried and cried and cried and showed us pictures.. I am a total bleeding heart so I cried too. My mom she was sad for her but thinking we just drove almost three hours and she wanted to discuss my hospital stay and coming off the IV antibiotics.. We were not able to discuss anything that day, We were just a friend to her.

 

We both got in the car, (my mom and I) we had no idea what to say, We could not imagine someone being so upset about a dog. Not because we were cold hearted but because we just didn't know.

 

My heart was so broke for her that I ended up sending her dog a get well basket..Thank Goodness for google, I googled what to do for someone when their dog dies or is hurt.

 

So we sent out a basket for the dog that lived and a condolence thing for the one that passed.

 

We became friends and she was still my doctor. My health at the time was horrible and I needed to stop working but was depressed about it....I started talking to my friend a lot about her dogs and I actually was just thinking about getting one.. I was not totally sold out on it but as a gift, Jack was purchased for me, or a good part of him was.

 

The next thing I knew, I was going to be a puppy mom. I didn't know the first thing about it. I didn't even know how I was going to let a dog in my house, NO ONE comes in my house with shoes on. I would challenge people to find one speck of dust anywhere.

 

In walks Jack to my life, I never knew what I was missing, I didn't know the hole in my heart that needed to be filled.

 

How about you, what made you decide to get a dog? Was it empty nest syndrome? Was it because you grew up with dogs and always had one? Did you fall in love with a rescue? What made you get a dog???

[Jennifer and Jack]

You said it Sandy, we all need to be reminded of what is important in life, How the small things do not matter and how it is love that binds us together. Thank you for sharing,

[Pat and Traveler]

Amen, Sandy. 

[Pat and Traveler]

Trav make me laugh every day and never wants to borrow money.  He's interested in everything I do, even if it's really boring, like cleaning out a kitchen cabinet or a toilet.  When I'm on the computer, he likes to stand by my knee with his tail waving slowly back and forth across the monitor, which results in some fascinating misreadings of computer stuff.  Actually, I didn't know THAT would happen when I got a dog.  I'd wanted to get a dog for a long time, but work schedules meant it would have to be home alone for what seemed excessive amounts of time.  Shortly after I retired, I got Trav, and am SO glad I did! 

[Jennifer and Jack]

I love how Jack follows me everywhere, I can't even go potty without him coming and sitting next to me wagging his tail, I will never find someone alive as loyal and loving as him

[Heather & Brinkley]

We always knew that we wanted a dog but it just wasn't the right time until last year.  For years I was working full time and in school full time and my husband was working crazy hours at the hospital.  I was definitely the one that was pushing for the dog more than the hubby-- he wasn't against but he wasn't longing for it.  We had been trying to have a child for six of our eight years .  We were unsuccessful because of some health things that I deal with.  All the while friends of ours that got married way after us were all getting pregnant.  FIVE couples in one month time frame broke the news that they were pregnant... while we weren't.  Then after the last of the five couples let us know, the next day we had the TV on animal planet as background noise when a half-hour special on "designer dogs" that focused on doodles came on.  I joked and said "look, it's a sign."  (I had met a doodle five years prior and knew that would be our first dog).  We watched the special and at the end, my hubby said "we can't have a baby right now but I think it's time you start searching for a Goldendoodle; it's not the same, but hopefully it will allow you to express a smidge of your motherly instinct."  Four days later I had put a deposit down on Brinkley (then named Buster) and  we were driving to PA to pick him up-- on Valentine's Day weekend.  My husband wasn't sure at first if we made the right decision because Brinkley, like all puppies, was a absolute handful!  Now, we both love that guy more than we could have imagined.  Brinkley has certainly helped fill a portion of the hole that we had felt... and we are now looking into adoption through foster care.  I couldn't imagine life without our fluffy guy.

[Bonnie and Kona]

Heather, You and DH sound like an amazing couple. I hope the foster/adoption idea works out well for you in the future. In the meantime, enjoy that special Brinkley!

[Heather & Brinkley]

Thanks so much!  Brinkley is one spoiled Doodle... and I don't think he minds one bit (and neither do we!)

[Jennifer and Jack]

I also can not have children, I found that Jack allows me to get some of my motherly instincts fulfilled, If and when my health stablizes, I will be doing emergency foster care for infants. I didn't get exactly what I wanted with having children but as it would turn out, I think God knew exactly what he was doing because Jack is perfect for me and I have other ways to make my empty aching arms hurt less... I pray you find the perfect child for you either through adoption of foster care, Once you have that child in your arms, you will fully believe that it was totally meant to be the way it was.

[Heather & Brinkley]

Thanks!  I know that things will happen in the right time... so I've learned not to worry about it anymore.  :)

[Debbie and Thomas]

When I was a child...one of 5 children...we all bugged my parents for a dog.  Neither of my parents had ever had a dog growing up and my mom had her hands full with 5 kids.  Like some of you...we played with dogs in our neighbourhood.  My sister and I especially liked the terrior across the street.  One day they moved away and their dog went with them.  To make a long story short....we convinced mom to let us have one just like him.  From that day on everyone in the family became "dog lovers".  He slept with one of us every night...sat by my dad at dinnertime waiting for scraps.....waited by the door for us as he knew school was out and we would be home soon.  He was our best friend...years later when I was getting married...he was in my wedding photos for gosh sakes!  My husband Jack says there are more pictures of the dog than there are of me.  We took him to our new apartment for weekends until my parents would call because they missed him too much.  This dog...his name was "Percy" lived until he was 17.  My sweet brother.  this is why I got a dog....they just "complete me"!

[Jennifer and Jack]

I want Jack to live at least till 18 if not longer....I can't imagine my life without him.

[Sue, Murphy and Bella ()*o*()]

Never had a dog, never wanted a dog, never saw any reason for a dog and God knows if it didn't cook or clean up after itself, it didn't belong in the same house with me.  Until I met Marley, our daughter's goldendoodle. He was 5 months old and we were spending a week at Myrtle Beach for her wedding, and she brought him with them. He and I bonded immediatly and he just won my heart in a way I could not imagine. He started sleeping with us from the first night and he taught me how to love a dog. From then on I knew I wanted this feeling in my life and the joy I felt everytime I looked at his happy little face.

I started with tons of research, learned as much as I could about being a good dog owner, and found DK. What once was a "want" easily became a "need" as the more I learned about doodles, the more I realized what we had been missing. But I had no idea, how very much you can love an animal and think of it as an actual part of your family. So now I have two dogs, will always want at least one dog, I certainly can tell everyone who will listen the reasons for having a dog, (doodle in particular) and now I not only cook for them both, but am happy when I clean up nice firm poops.