What Do You Think Of This?

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

A FB friend who is also a dog trainer shared this article about "kids and dogs".  I'd love to get thoughts on this.  To me it sounds like laying the groundwork and "self justification" for rehoming a dog who is no longer loved or valued now that there are kids.  This whole idea that dogs are expendable seems to be running rampant....I just don't get it.  http://www.slate.com/articles/life/family/2013/07/kids_and_dogs_if_...

[Adina P]

People quit loving their spouse every day and leave. Not surprising they'd dump a dog.I see it as a choice to make even when feelings are dim. I feel bad for my dogs when they've had a stretch of extra busy me. So i try to make up for it when I can.

One kid and one dog was pretty easy. Two kids and two dogs gets hairy for me. Some swing it with ease. I can't imagine one more of either. I have fantasies of fostering, but realize it is for the Far distant future. And to think i used to want four dogs.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Four dogs and no kids would be infinitely easier than 2 of each, lol. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

And as far as venting goes, in that whole little debacle with the Legos and the vomiting, it could just as easily have been one of the kids who vomited at that moment as the dog. Who would she have blamed or complained about then? 

[Sara]

I would push the LIKE button ten times for this reply, Adina! :)

I, too, feel overwhelmed and frazzled with a full-time job, two small kids, husband, animals, aging mother, etc! I read the article and thought that the writer was trying to add humor to the situation, but I also think her message was more of a "cautionary tale" than anything. I got the impression that she was trying to let people know that she's AWARE of her shortcomings where her dog is concerned and that people should think seriously about pets before bringing them home. I agree that she might have been a little extreme in her examples, but I think she's being honest. And in today's world, I applaude honesty when coupled with humility.

I don't know. I don't like what she's "done" with her dog, but that doesn't mean that I can't sympathize with where she's coming from--which is the place of a frenzied Mom with too much on her plate right now.

[BG and Gavin]

If she does not have enough time, maybe she can step away from the computer, forget the blog and go give her dog a belly rub :)

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Getting less attention is just fine and part of life as it gets more complicated.  Re-homing because you are busier and can't give your dogs as much attention, is not on your agenda, Adina, and your dogs love what they get and would rather be with you than in a new situation.

There are valid reasons to re-home a dog, but not simply because you are busier.  One of the most valid reasons for re-homing is when you add a puppy to your busy family and had NO idea of the work involved.  IMO it is fine to quickly throw in the towel, realizing you bit off more than you could chew at this time in your life.  This is a quick turn=around for the puppy and probably not going to leave it with any long term trauma.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I do understand how crazy tough it can be with little ones and a dog...or two. I always had dogs and kids, and I remember times when I had toddlers and puppies and wanting to pull my hair out. The thing that was different for me is that I loved the dogs....and the kids....it depended on the day, but sometimes I loved the kids more and other times the dogs were #1...good thing my kids aren't on DK because that could be shocking to them. That love was just always there...I would get angry and frustrated and even feel really sorry for myself at times....but I always loved them. Here's what I really objected to in what this Mom had to say...

"It’s not that I don’t love my dog. It’s just that I don’t love my dog. And I am not alone. A very nonscientific survey of almost everyone I know who had a dog and then had kids now wishes they had never got the dog. This is a near universal truth, even for parents with just one child, though I have more.'

I really don't believe that almost everyone who had a dog and then kids wishes they never had the dog. I don't believe that for a minute. I know lots of young Moms (including my own daughter and her friends) who has four boys and two dogs and has never for a minute hated the dogs. She has been furious with them (when they got sprayed by a skunk...or broke through the electric fence and went next door and ate parts of the neighbor's lawn mower to the tune of $500...and plenty more)...but she never stopped loving them. I agree that married couples stop loving each other a lot....that's why nearly half of marriages end up in divorce. I thing there's usually a reason for that....someone actually did something to lose the love and trust of their partner...not always, but usually. This dog did nothing...he just was being a dog.
I don't think there's an absolute "right" or "wrong" with this...I just thought it would be thought provoking. I have an opinion based on my own sense of values, but there clearly is room for differing thoughts.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

And about those married couples who stop loving each other: both parties are (or should be) responsible adults capable of making decisions and caring for themselves. Hopefully, neither is dependent on the other for every aspect of their basic needs. They can feed themselves, lol. They can take themselves to the doctor.  And both parties agreed to participate in the relationship voluntarily. None of those things is true of the relationship between a person and a dog. When you get a dog, you are voluntarily making yourself responsible for him in every sense of the word. His life depends on you. And the dog has absolutely no say in the matter. So, I think for those reasons, getting a dog is more like having a child than like getting married. How many people stop loving their children and get rid of them? 

 How dare someone deprive any dog of a truly loving permanent home because they want a toy for a little while? 

[BG and Gavin]

Plus Karen the love between adult partners is conditional and it should be. The love between a parent and a child is unconditional.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

So true, BG! And certainly, dogs love us unconditionally too. 

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

What I think? I think I wish I had the 5 minutes of my life back that I wasted on reading this horrible woman's opinion about her precious dog! 

[Laurie, Fudge, and Vern]

I have been thinking about this since I read it. I can't imagine having a dog before my kids and loving it so completely and then just stopping once I had children. On the other hand, I was one of those people who got their kids a puppy and at times I regretted that decision because it was me who did all the work involved with a new puppy. Was it Hershey's fault? No, it was mine, but I can tell you I was not as good of a dog owner with Hershey as I am with Fudge and Vern. I had young children, worked, etc. and a dog just added to all of the things that I had to do. I wish people would consider this before getting their children puppies and dogs and if this article makes people think BEFORE they get a dog and put it through the trauma of rehoming it later then I think that is a good thing.