Arkady

Deciding to welcome a dog into your home is a life changing event. Those that have dogs can separate their life into B.C. and A.D. Before Canine and After Dog. If you are thinking about getting a dog, this read is for you. A dog isn't an easy pet. If you want an easy pet, get a pet rock. Dogs are kids. That's the best way to describe them to people who don't have dogs. They aren't human kids obviously, but they are perpetual children that live in your house. This means you get the absolute chaos that comes with toddlers when the dog is a puppy. Can you reason with a toddler? Not really, it's more of a hostage negotiation. Example: "I have this treat here so you don't bite Grandma, please don't bite Grandma. Ok you bit Grandma, now you need to go to time out to think about why you bit Grandma. Oh, you are biting me now. Great." Will a toddler flush your keys down the toilet and set fire to the house if you don't watch them? Most assuredly. Will a puppy eat all your shoes, fall down stairs, and poop on your carpet? That will happen if you don't watch them. Or it will still happen even if you are watching them like a hawk. Toddlers and puppies could teach espionage agents about silent poop strikes. As the puppy ages, it will be less toddler like and more childlike. Do you see kids at Walmart that are knocking over mannequins and yeeting sodastream bottles across the aisles? How about the kids racing in shopping carts that run down senior citizens in motorized scooters? Yeah? You've seen those kids? Guess what. An untrained dog can be a terror just like children who were raised without boundaries and expectations. A well trained dog takes a TON of work. Bunsen and Beaker are trained, but not "well" trained. Our family put in hours and hours with them in obedience classes and work at home so they mostly listen. If you are planning to get a dog and just hope for the best, chances are that dog will become a nightmare for you and others. Kinda like the kids in the movie theatre throwing popcorn at the screen and cooking bacon on their smuggled in George Forman grill. Finally that dog will age. It will get old. It will need care that is time consuming and expensive. You MUST be their for that dog at that time and you must save up for that time. The dog will then die and for a time it will destroy you. Here in lies the conclusion of this post. Despite all this insanity of eaten drywall and mooselegs, and eventual sadness, that dog will be the best thing in your life. A dog is the only thing on Earth that loves YOU more than anything else. That is the reward of having a dog in your family. Every amazing reward in your life will cost you something. Be prepared. It's worth it.