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It's official, I'm never having kids

Having this dog in my house for the last day and a half has been exciting for all of us, but as the old adage goes, everything is better in moderation. This much constant excitement has been exhausting. And messy. When dogs get excited, they start drooling, so now I have two dogs drooling over me, my clothes, my sheets, each other, and just about everything else. I can't even pet them without getting my fingers sticky.

And you might think giving them some toys to play with would get them to settle down, but it doesn't help that much. Despite having over a dozen toys to choose from, the only one they want to play with is the one the other dog has. As I quickly found out, he's just as possessive as she is, and as such, they argue all the time. Probably to the annoyance of all my neighbors.

Even though they have each other to play with, they're never really in the mood. Not at the same time. There's a nearly constant back-and-forth with each other when one wants to initiate play and the other wants to be left alone. All this means is even more barking at each other.

Turns out they mostly want to play with me, which makes it really hard to do my civic duty of reuniting him with his family since I can't even get through a single webpage without one of them coming to me for attention.

Oh, and they get jealous of each other too. Whenever I start petting or playing with one, the other starts demanding attention by whining to me or literally jumping over the other one to get to the front of the line. Dude, I can't even.

And to add to my misery, he decided that my apartment smells too much like her so he tries to mark his territory whenever he thinks I'm not looking. So now I have to hide my clothes and lock my bedroom door so he doesn't decide to water anything I might wear. Remember the drooling I mentioned earlier? It dehydrates them a lot so they have been soaking up water like two furry sponges. So now I'm constantly vigilant and taking them out for twice as many bathroom breaks as before because I don't want to live in a toilet.

That's the other thing too. Taking them outside is such a hassle because they both want to be the first to go out. As soon as I try to put a leash on one, the other one senses what's going on and decides to get right in my face so that I can take them out first. And if you haven't guessed already, that's just more arguing I have to put up with. It now takes approximately 5 minutes to do something I used to do in 5 seconds.

And you know how in the cartoons when multiple people get jammed up trying to squeeze through a door at the same time? I didn't know something like that could happen until I tried to walk them yesterday. Now it happens every single time.

The operative word in that last paragraph was the word 'tried', because it's really, really difficult to walk two dogs when they both move at different speeds and drift in opposite directions trying to smell what's out there. At this point, I've relented to taking them out to a nearby field where they could just run around and let me have a few moments of peace.

I truly thought that would wear them out enough to get some rest, but as soon as we're back home they want to play again. Grrrrr! I've had to sleep on the floor the last two nights because the only way I can get this lost puppy to sleep is by laying down with him. Otherwise both dogs would be fighting for prime real estate on my bed, and then nobody gets any sleep.

Just yesterday I had to stop a toddler from walking out into a busy parking lot while his mom was picking up some food for them, and it was as his mom scooped him up with one hand with their food in the other that I felt that I could finally relate to a middle-class housewife. We only have two hands, and when they're both full, everything becomes a juggling act.

Don't get me wrong, I love my dog. And I love this new dog too. And they seem to love each other for the most part. I still kinda wish I could keep him. But man is this kinda life demanding. I had to leave work an hour early yesterday because I was afraid I'd come home to the suburban equivalent of a warzone, but thankfully not much has happened. My dog had some drops of blood on her lips and the remnants of a chewed up shoebox were strewn all over my living room floor, but that's way better than I expected.

I haven't had any luck so far finding his owners, but if they never turn up, I think I'll try to keep him. He's young and energetic, but with some training I can get him to mellow out. He's already made a lot of progress in a little bit of time. My dog was the same way when I first brought her home too. It's probably just all nerves from such a new experience. Regardless, it's been testing all of our patiences? What's the plural of patience? Idk. It's a crazy life.

Carla · 61-69, F
So kind of you to keep him from the shelter.
My gut says you'll not find his owner.
Your pup will appreciate the company. And things will calm.
Getting him neutered if he isn't, may help with the marking.
TinyViolins · 31-35, M
@Carla True, they have his photo and description, but I actually don't know what breed he is. He's clearly mixed breed, but I just don't know with what. I figure that maybe they'll be more diligent than I am in finding out in order to match him with his owner's description of him.

I live in the suburb of a major city, so there are a lot of lost pets in my area. My guess is that the local animal shelters are likely swamped with missing pet notices and probably not paying much attention to mine given that he's safe and being taken care of.

It's true that dogs get abandoned for a variety of reasons and people can be incredibly petty, but he's a friendly, trusting, and playful dog. My gut tells me that a dog like that doesn't come from a cruel household.

But yes, I hope for the same. Something tells me this dog is loved, and so his owners are probably out there somewhere
Carla · 61-69, F
@TinyViolins they may well be.
But i will tell you...
I am on many rescue sites. And the sweetest, most forgiving dogs are often found on the streets. Some having lived there for months, or years.
Ive also seen the emotional damage done to dogs taken and left at shelters.
Even if you just foster him. A new owner may step up.
Still my hope is you will be a foster fail and will give him a forever home.
Your pup might just love you more for it.
TinyViolins · 31-35, M
@Carla Those are all fair points. My dog was almost zombie like when I got her from the shelter. It took a while to get her to warm up, but now she smiles at everyone she meets. My neighbors love her.

It's only been 4 and a half days, so it's still too early to tell what to do right now. I'm mostly just thinking long term as a what-if scenario. I don't want to assume that he has been given up quite yet
Piper · 61-69, F
I hope things have settled down some, with the four-legged 'kids'. The marking issue is no joke to deal with, I know. Not that any of it is, but that can be [i]really[/i] bad.
TinyViolins · 31-35, M
@Piper Yeah, they're doing much better. They just needed time to get used to things. Dogs need routine, so it takes a while to build that into them.
Piper · 61-69, F
@TinyViolins Good [b]news[/b]. :)
Zaphod42 · 46-50, M
They’re adorable!!! And yeah, dogs are a handful…my GF, her daughter and I all have our own and they love to rough house with each other. But even with the mess they make, they still make our lives better for being in them 🙂
TinyViolins · 31-35, M
@Zaphod42 Those dogs are cute, especially Falcor. He's like a Build-a-Bear.

But they're so much smaller that the two I have right now that you don't have to worry too much about injury. My dog is 60 lbs and this new puppy is at least 80. When they start running around I'm half afraid they're going to bust a hole through a wall or body slam each other into the floor.

I'm letting them get as much exercise as possible to avoid that, but it's tough trying to break these two up when they're getting a little too rowdy
Mellowgirl · 31-35, F
Awwwww....
I won't lie I found this entertaining but also nerve wracking since I really want a dog.
Anyways they're so cute...
Enjoy them whilst you still have both together...
(secretly hoping he gets to stay)
TinyViolins · 31-35, M
@Mellowgirl It's funny only because they just don't know any better. They're both very sweet dogs who only want to have fun and share their affection, but when I'm around it's almost a competition between the two and that gets tiring fairly quickly. It's basically the dog equivalent of a sibling rivalry.

I highly recommend getting a dog. It's going to be a learning process for the both of you, but it's been the most rewarding part of my life thus far by a mile. Getting to see yourself and another sentient being grow at the same time is unlike anything else I've ever experienced. I can definitely see why people choose parenthood despite all the drawbacks.

And he seems quite at home here with us, so worst case scenario I might end up keeping him. He's such a good boy that I can't imagine anyone just abandoning him. I'm sure someone out there is looking for him. Either way, he has a place he can call home
RedBaron · M
And you took a lot of words to tell us. TLDR.
Carla · 61-69, F
@Piper i appreciate it though, pipes.
Sometimes it takes more than one voice to drive a point home🙂
RedBaron · M
@Carla Enjoy your self-righteousness.
Carla · 61-69, F
@RedBaron you come on to a post that you claim you didn't read to criticize the op for writing it. You don't comment on the topic, claim it is of little relevance and interest to "us" , and you call me self righteous?
Massageman · 70-79, M
Bring them to a "no kill" shelter in your area if possible: they will do their best to find a suitable home if you can no longer deal with them.
Chickie · F
I can't keep a dog, they are gross.
TinyViolins · 31-35, M
@Chickie Eh, most things are gross when you think about it. We sustain ourselves with food that grew in dirt, got chewed by bugs, and probably nuked by pesticides. We also eat the flesh of unbathed creatures and season it with salt that came from either dusty rocks or the same water fish take dumps in. And all of that got processed along the line by people who don't wear gloves.

You know all those salmonella outbreaks and food recalls you keep hearing about in the news? This
Chickie · F
@TinyViolins I understand what you're getting at but that's not the point I was making but whatever.
TinyViolins · 31-35, M
@Chickie I get it. Some people are more sensitive about germs and bodily fluids than others. Some like things neat and organized while some could care less.

I'm just one of those people that think purity is an illusion and that there's an ugliness to everything. I tend not to be bothered so much by it, although I am getting pretty damn tired of all the drool

 
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