Dogs vs Cats
I know that most people are either dog lovers, cat lovers or general animal lovers, and then there are those other guys... the ones that don't like animals... watch out for them... no just kidding it's all about personal preference and the amount of time you are willing to give to other beings. For me I always thought I was an animal lover, I didn't think I had much of a preference. I'd had a cat before, whom I loved dearly (she was crazy though) but we parted ways because my oldest was allergic to her and he suffered from terrible sinus issues around her. I was very sad but my son's health definitely took precedence over wanting a pet.
After we didn't have a pet for a long time, we tried another cat but Chandler's allergies flared up so severely that we had to find that kitten a new home. So then we thought we would try a dog. I did some research, because taking on a dog was a HUGE responsibility. I mean I can raise kids but I had killed every plant I'd ever owned up to that point so getting dog was a huge undertaking and as Chandler was only 10 at the time not something that could be saddled on him full time.
I needed a dog that would have an easy going personality, a dog that wasn't going to need two long walks every day and a dog that was cute. I had considered a King Charles Cocker Spaniel, but they are quite high energy and very expensive so as much as I love the looks of them I had to pass until I knew I would like being a dog owner. So I considered a Chihuahua, or a Bichon or even a Pug but at the end of the day I didn't feel any of those would be a good fit for my first dog. Then I was reading the classified and there was a picture of this adorable black and white spotted half Great Dane, half mastiff in the paper. It was so cute, and at first I said no, I wasn't going to look at them, but then two weeks went by and they were still in the paper, so I phoned the number to ask to go visit to see the puppies.
Thus, my journey to dog ownership began... because I fell in love with the little clumsy puppy the minute I held her. Ask my husband, he told me as soon as I held her I was taken and he knew we would be taking the puppy home. And we did and I became the owner of a Harlequin Great Dane/ Mastiff puppy. She was so cute.
She was a very needy puppy at first, it was hard to leave her at home when I had to work but she adjusted and we adjusted. There were a few bumps along the way, nosey neighbours criticizing my schedule for work (not all of us have the luxury to take out dogs out everyday for three hours and sometimes a 15 minute wind sprint of running in the park is all we can do) and her tearing apart my house after she was altered (ate three packs of birth control pills, yup that happened) and she grew into a much larger dog than she was as a puppy, but she was still ADORABLE.
In fact she is still adorable today, but here's what I have learned about myself, I'm a cat person. I love all animals, but I prefer if they are other people's responsibilities I will take on my 3 kids and a cat. We now have a cat and I love her, and she never gives me any anxiety, but my dogs (we now have two dogs, because my husband is a dog person) give me anxiety and stress. So I am a cat person, it is what it is. I love my dogs, (the second dog begrudgingly because he's pretty cute too) but even though you shouldn't play favourites I have a favourite and it's my cat, I just gravitate towards cats more than the dogs.
But here's what my dog does that makes me realize that even though they get on my nerves and irritate me, I still love them. Over the past 5 years of us living in this home my dog Sasha has escaped our yard a handful of times (she squeezes herself out a small hole in the chain link fence). Each time she's done so we've learned about it on the radio or Facebook because some one has seen her and called it in. The first time hubby was asking me where she was and I was telling him, like he was an idiot, that she was obviously in the backyard, well didn't I look like an idiot when I looked outside and she was sitting in our front yard. She did this another couple times during storms (we now bring her in during storms and she sleeps through them, but if she's outside she gets a little manic) but each time before we could catch her she was back in the front yard looking at us like, what I just needed to have an extra run today. Now last week she got out of the yard again, I'm not sure how, but she was gone for 6 hours. I contacted all the radio stations, I drove all over the place looking for her and nothing, couldn't find her. Lil Man was getting upset because his puppy was not answering him when he called. I drove around with his window down and him yelling "Sasha, where are you? Come out, come out wherever you are? Sasha please come home." (Heart breaking just a little) But I couldn't panic because I didn't want him to know how worried I was, and yet we couldn't find her and NO ONE posted seeing her on Facebook or twitter. So hubby left work and drove home and came looking for her. He drove around in his diesel truck and had essentially done the same track I did but couldn't find her and was going to give up, when he noticed a flick in his rearview mirror. He was surprised, but there she was, she must have heard his truck and came home to him. Yes she prefers my husband to me, but he's a dog person, and she's a terrible flirt!!
So her going missing and me not knowing what had happened to her reassured me that i still loved the big giants that are my dogs (the other is a St. Bernard). I would never want anything bad to happen to them ( dog fighting rings and that sort of stuff) but I won't allow my pet family to get any larger then what it is. So for now we are a 5 person family with 3 pets!! And eight is our limit!!
I am very truly glad my puppy is safe and sound back at home where she belongs. And I fixed the hole in the fence!!
After we didn't have a pet for a long time, we tried another cat but Chandler's allergies flared up so severely that we had to find that kitten a new home. So then we thought we would try a dog. I did some research, because taking on a dog was a HUGE responsibility. I mean I can raise kids but I had killed every plant I'd ever owned up to that point so getting dog was a huge undertaking and as Chandler was only 10 at the time not something that could be saddled on him full time.
I needed a dog that would have an easy going personality, a dog that wasn't going to need two long walks every day and a dog that was cute. I had considered a King Charles Cocker Spaniel, but they are quite high energy and very expensive so as much as I love the looks of them I had to pass until I knew I would like being a dog owner. So I considered a Chihuahua, or a Bichon or even a Pug but at the end of the day I didn't feel any of those would be a good fit for my first dog. Then I was reading the classified and there was a picture of this adorable black and white spotted half Great Dane, half mastiff in the paper. It was so cute, and at first I said no, I wasn't going to look at them, but then two weeks went by and they were still in the paper, so I phoned the number to ask to go visit to see the puppies.
Thus, my journey to dog ownership began... because I fell in love with the little clumsy puppy the minute I held her. Ask my husband, he told me as soon as I held her I was taken and he knew we would be taking the puppy home. And we did and I became the owner of a Harlequin Great Dane/ Mastiff puppy. She was so cute.
She was a very needy puppy at first, it was hard to leave her at home when I had to work but she adjusted and we adjusted. There were a few bumps along the way, nosey neighbours criticizing my schedule for work (not all of us have the luxury to take out dogs out everyday for three hours and sometimes a 15 minute wind sprint of running in the park is all we can do) and her tearing apart my house after she was altered (ate three packs of birth control pills, yup that happened) and she grew into a much larger dog than she was as a puppy, but she was still ADORABLE.In fact she is still adorable today, but here's what I have learned about myself, I'm a cat person. I love all animals, but I prefer if they are other people's responsibilities I will take on my 3 kids and a cat. We now have a cat and I love her, and she never gives me any anxiety, but my dogs (we now have two dogs, because my husband is a dog person) give me anxiety and stress. So I am a cat person, it is what it is. I love my dogs, (the second dog begrudgingly because he's pretty cute too) but even though you shouldn't play favourites I have a favourite and it's my cat, I just gravitate towards cats more than the dogs.But here's what my dog does that makes me realize that even though they get on my nerves and irritate me, I still love them. Over the past 5 years of us living in this home my dog Sasha has escaped our yard a handful of times (she squeezes herself out a small hole in the chain link fence). Each time she's done so we've learned about it on the radio or Facebook because some one has seen her and called it in. The first time hubby was asking me where she was and I was telling him, like he was an idiot, that she was obviously in the backyard, well didn't I look like an idiot when I looked outside and she was sitting in our front yard. She did this another couple times during storms (we now bring her in during storms and she sleeps through them, but if she's outside she gets a little manic) but each time before we could catch her she was back in the front yard looking at us like, what I just needed to have an extra run today. Now last week she got out of the yard again, I'm not sure how, but she was gone for 6 hours. I contacted all the radio stations, I drove all over the place looking for her and nothing, couldn't find her. Lil Man was getting upset because his puppy was not answering him when he called. I drove around with his window down and him yelling "Sasha, where are you? Come out, come out wherever you are? Sasha please come home." (Heart breaking just a little) But I couldn't panic because I didn't want him to know how worried I was, and yet we couldn't find her and NO ONE posted seeing her on Facebook or twitter. So hubby left work and drove home and came looking for her. He drove around in his diesel truck and had essentially done the same track I did but couldn't find her and was going to give up, when he noticed a flick in his rearview mirror. He was surprised, but there she was, she must have heard his truck and came home to him. Yes she prefers my husband to me, but he's a dog person, and she's a terrible flirt!!I am very truly glad my puppy is safe and sound back at home where she belongs. And I fixed the hole in the fence!!
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