Six Reasons NOT to Get a Dog
There are many good reasons to get a dog, but the reasons below do not make the cut.
1. Your kid wants one.
I see this one ALL the time. What starts as a small, cuddly companion turns into a large jumping, nipping, soiling, mess. You are cleaning up accidents long after you're supposed to be done with the potty training period. You've spent hundreds or thousands of dollars replacing big-ticket items that your dog has destroyed.
Your child shrieks every 10 minutes because the dog just won't stop nipping at her arms and legs. They are not the best friends you'd hoped they'd be, in fact your child wants nothing to do with the dog (and you can't blame her). You were expecting Lassie, and you got Kujo.
Your child SAID she would feed, walk, and train the dog, but that only lasted about four days. Why? Because children, like dogs, are guided primarily by impulse and do not have the skills necessary for long term planning...yet! As a parent....that's kind of YOUR job. Dogs can teach kids about responsibility, IF and WHEN the parent is willing to model that responsibility.
Note: I am not saying don't get a dog if you have children. If you want a dog, and are ready for the responsibilities of having one, then by all means do so! Just don't expect an immature human being to do the bulk of the dog chores, no matter how much they promise you otherwise. That's just setting yourself and your entire family up for disappointment.
2. Puppy fever.
We can all relate to this one, right? Your friend gets a puppy or you hold one at an adoption event, you get all starry eyed, and the cogs start to turn..You already have a few dogs at home but this puppy is so small and cute and you could maybe fit his crate under your desk and.....
Reality check. Are you ready to:
come home from work every 3-4 hours (or hire a dog walker at $20/day) to potty train your dog?
deal with unexpected veterinary costs?
clean poop accidents?
keep everything put away so your dog won't chew?
understand that puppies need training and rules more than unlimited affection?
accept that your dog has needs that may or may not align with yours?
If you're not ready to do all these things and more, please step away before somebody gets hurt. The puppy stage is no joke, and while it doesn't have to be a nightmare, it is a lot of work. Wait until you have the time and energy to deal with a puppy, or simply consider adopting an adult dog when the time is right.
3. Birthdays or Christmas
Dogs are the gift that keeps on giving! Right? If you are not 100% equipped the with tools, training, and resources to communicate with that Christmas bundle of joy, then your dog will keep giving you lots of "presents," including:
headaches (Dear God, please stop barking)
vet bills (oops, Fluffy ate the entire bag of chocolate chips. again.)
guilt (You're going to have to be an outside dog.)
Again, this is about expectations vs. reality. Many of us have really good reality testing skills, and understand that things sometimes do not go as planned. But with dogs it seems we turn a blind eye to the more likely scenarios and continue to live in a fantasy land where our dog stays small, cute, and harmless.
If there's one thing a dog should NEVER be, it's a surprise. New pets need everyone in their home to be on the same page regarding training and structure, so if you want to gift someone in your family a dog, talk it over with them first so you can discuss the important things like routine and training.
4. To get you out of the house.
Sorry, but no. While every dog does in fact need to get out house every day, you shouldn't get one just to force you out of the home. If walking the dog is the only reason you leave the house each day, you most likely have bigger psychological fish to fry. We must take responsibility for ourselves before we take responsibility for another living creature.
Dogs can be wonderful companions, but they are not therapists or a valid form of mental health treatment. A dog should not be filling a hole in your life where hobbies, goals, and other humans should be. Owners who are responsible for themselves and their lives, who are already active inside and outside the home, make the best dog owners.
If you are struggling with depression, get help! See a therapist. Talk to a friend, or maybe make some new friends. Go to parties even if you'd rather stay home. Humans are social creatures, and sometimes just going through the motions makes all the difference to our mental state.
Still stuck on the dog idea?. Take walks without the dog, to prove that you can do it. If you can stick with the habit of a 30 minute walk every day, not only will you be better off for it, but you'll be more ready for the responsibility of another living creature relying on you.
5. The dog has a sad story.
We live in the age of Facebook, where every dog's story can go viral. Make no mistake: there is malevolence out there, but today that malevolence is amplified one thousand million percent due to Social Media. If there's a dog on a chain without 100 miles of a major metropolitan area, chances are you're gonna know about it (and be tagged in it).
The dog you desperately want to rescue may have indeed have had parvo, or lived it's life on a chain. But what I want to drive home is that none of those things makes YOU ready for a dog. Your sadness for the dog's past does not change the fact that your newly acquired "rescue" still must walk nicely on a leash, not bark his head off, and not growl at people.
Often, these kinds of dogs are struggling with MASSIVE behavioral issues due to the lack of structure, rules, boundaries, and consequences in their previous homes. If you continue living a permissive lifestyle, you can expect those behavior problems to continue, not abate. There is an idea going around the rescue world that "love" (re: affection, treats, and freedom) is all dogs need to get better. It's a fantasy.
Dogs who come from difficult environments need, at minimum, an experienced owner who is ready and willing to live a balanced lifestyle. Most will actually need professional training on top of that. If you're ready to be that owner, and/or invest in training, by all means step right up.
But if you're adopting the dog because of an emotional need to feel like a rescuer, you might want to rethink whether you're doing it for selfish reasons.
6. Your other dog died.
Ahh, humans. We certainly will go to great lengths to avoid feeling all the things. And really this is quite understandable. Who the heck wants to feel sad?
So off we go to the bar, to Netflix, to the shelter, searching for a balm to soothe that aching place in our heart. And the world is replete with potential balms. But people often overlook the oldest and most healing balm of all - time.
If you've just lost you're dog, you're more than likely quite torn up. And I can tell you from experience, you need to be standing on both legs emotionally when you bring a new dog into the home. Your new dog will need a calm, confident, and serene leader instead of a leader who's still outwardly grieving. Instead of trying to rush the process, wait a couple of months until the wound hurts a little less. There will never be a shortage of dogs.