I seriously feel like I am a parent of a child. I have to wake up and get out of bed because he's whining to go out. As a sleepily walk to the door I step on a toy. I have to pry another toy out of his mouth so he doesn't take it outside. I have to go outside in my wife beater and boxer briefs to yell at him to stop barking at the garbage men because its so early. He finally comes in and as I walk through the apt to the kitchen, toys are lining the hallway. Now as I'm wide awake picking and gathering toys, The Pug is already back in his bed asleep. :bang::eusa_doh::dry::rolle: http://emptyclosets.com/forum/members/21659-albums3954.html The Pug ^^^
I feel like I am a cold and distant mother to my dog. I am her favorite (prolly cuz I did everything for her till she was about a year old) but she has never gotten the love and attention she so desperately desires from me. I will wake up and she will be sitting outside my door and they'll be like "Oh, she's been waiting for you for hours". And I'm all "Graaah, get a life!". One day it's going to be like on Mommy Dearest and Bella (the dog) will be all like "Whyyy did you ADOPT me?" And I'll be "Because I wanted a child! I wanted something to looove!!". It's going to be goood.
Lolz, I love that you got it. So few understand my references . I guess they can be a little dated, but the classics never die, right?
I babysat a Basset Hound for a week, and when I went to the bathroom, I'd come out to see her lying on the ground and staring up at the door mournfully (no one does mournful like a Basset Hound!). Plus she whimpered whenever I wasn't giving her enough attention. I prefer my cats. Happy to interact with me, fine with being ignored. And very quiet most of the time.
You pretty much described the same thing I do, I thought it was only my dog that was a pain in the ass. Haha
Our old dog could hold it forever. I don't know how since she was only like ten pounds, but we'd wake up in the middle of the day, feed her, eat breakfast, THEN let her out and she'd still play for a good ten minutes before doing her business. The only toy she played with was this stuffed piglet, and ball. She was very unchildlike, especially for a small dog, though she always wanted to cuddle between us on her back like a baby haha. Anyway, another stark difference, I don't think I'd have to trim my child's butt hair so it doesn't get dingleballs.
True...but you wouldn't have to change its diapers, and the toilet training is generally much easier And dogs don't pick up bad habits as they get older, and get caught up in things like drinking and drugs. (Huh, now I'm picturing my cat smoking...) Myself, I like dogs and cats for different reasons. I grew up with a lot of animals, cats, dogs, horses, a few goats, chickens, ducks...and found most of them less pesky than human babies. I guess somebody has to have babies, but give me a dog any day.
Haha, I know more than a few dogs who'll beg for beer or pester you when you're medicating. The only difference is they don't have opposable thumbs to operate bottle openers/lighters. Still, they are a lot more adorable than tiny humans, and I'd rather pick up dog shit than change another human diaper.
I love my dogs, and they are my kids. My grandma last year sent me the Father's Day weekend grocery store circular from her local store in Florida, and it had a section saying "Happy Father's Day to dog dads everywhere!" Dogs are like kids-you have to raise them. Only they don't grow up and move out of the house and they don't live as long.
Taking on a dog is a lot less complicated than being a parent, but it should be no less of a COMMITMENT. Wean him out of his whining. Take him out to potty after his dinner, bring him back in, and sleep through the whining. A lot less easy than it sounds, but worth it. After 2-3 nights, he'll get the idea and after a week I can almost guarantee he'll never whine again.
I love my dogs, and admittedly, I do treat them like my children. Well, I do feed and clean them after all! My puppy does seek a lot of attention, so daily I play with her in the garden for an hour or two to tire her out. She then sleeps throughout the afternoon till evening, but then she's full of energy again.