A Pet's Ten Commandments...

[tstone]

1. My life is likely to last 10-15 years. Any separation from you is likely to be painful.

2. Give me time to understand what you want of me.

3. Place your trust in me. It is crucial for my well-being.

4. Don't be angry with me for long and don't lock me up as punishment. You have your work, your friends, your entertainment, but I have only you.



5. Talk to me. Even if I don't understand your words, I do understand your voice when speaking to me.

6. Be aware that however you treat me, I will never forget it.



7. Before you hit me, before you strike me, remember that I could hurt you, and yet, I choose not to bite you.

8. Before you scold me for being lazy or uncooperative, ask yourself if something might be bothering me. Perhaps I'm not getting the right food, I have been in the sun too long, or my heart might be getting old or weak.

9. Please take care of me when I grow old. You too, will grow old.

10. On the ultimate difficult journey, go with me please. Never say you can't bear to watch. Don't make me face this alone. Everything is easier for me if you are there, because I love you so.

Mom sent me that. Got a bit of a lump in my throat...

[MPG]

While I am not exactly a PETA member, some of these items mirror my feelings regarding pet ownership. I think I would have replaced point 1 with "Don't leave me alone for more than one hour in a boring environment (= your house/apartment). Yes, your house or apartment might be interesting to you, but it is boring to me. I can't operate your DVD player and I can't pick a book out of your book shelf."

Really, I don't understand people who have a dog and then go to work for 10+ hours each day while the dog is alone in the apartment. What is the dog supposed to do all day? Dance the flamenco with his imaginary friend? There are only so many corners in each apartment where a dog can sniff, only so many times that the dog can listen for some noise from next door. A dog might not be as intelligent as a human, so he can deal with being stuck in a "dumb" environment for longer times, but I just don't think that a person who goes to work while leaving their dog at home alone can truthfully claim that they love their dog. They just love having a dog.

As far as locking up dogs for punishment goes: Yes, that's stupid. You either punish an animal immediately or not at all. If you lock your animal in as punishment, it will have forgotten after a minute why it is actually locked in, and then the punishment is more for the owner's satisfaction than to get the animal to learn anything.

[tstone]

Yeah, it's the "you made me mad, now I must give payback" vs. constructive attempts to problem solve, which is frankly how too many problems are dealt/not dealt with in our world.

[WISEGUY562]

I think people that love animals should have them spayed or neutered. With all the animals in shelters we have no shortage of possible pets when it comes to dogs or cats. Not that folk shouldn't breed their animals but do it responsibly.

Make adoption your first option if possible and you're not set on a particular breed.

Don't abandon your pet if ownership doesn't turn out to be what you expected. Take him to a shelter or try to find a loving home.

And possibly the thing that upsets me the most aside of neglect and abuse, make sure your pet is properly enclosed. It makes me sick to see all these signs of missing pets. Most are never recovered and end up as road kill because most don't know how to survive on their own.

Be responsible, pets are not toys, they're loving dependent creatures

[neglet]

Make adoption your first option if possible and you're not set on a particular breed.

Even if you are set on a particular breed, be patient and you'll find it at a humane society or a breed rescue group. People decide they want a breed because of the way it looks, discover that the dog's behavior doesn't match their lifestyle, and then turn it in to a shelter. I volunteer at a local shelter weekly, and we get purebreds all the time. Cats, too; in the past year I've seen Siamese, Persian (unfortunately as strays, so they had to be shaved), and even an Abyssinian.

Or think twice about that purebred or designer pet. Purebreds can have health problems caused by inbreeding. Designer mixes have unknown problems that don't manifest because the mix is so new. I've heard of "designer" breeders who promise things that aren't true about a mixed breed (like mixing one breed will take away the rambunctiousness of the other breed), or who won't even reveal what breeds go into their mix. So-called "mutts" often make healthier and happier pets than purebreds. I know the mutt I had growing up was one of the smartest and best behaved dogs I've ever met.

[Woodwraith]

1. My life is likely to last 10-15 years. Any separation from you is likely to be painful.

2. Give me time to understand what you want of me.

3. Place your trust in me. It is crucial for my well-being.

4. Don't be angry with me for long and don't lock me up as punishment. You have your work, your friends, your entertainment, but I have only you.



5. Talk to me. Even if I don't understand your words, I do understand your voice when speaking to me.

6. Be aware that however you treat me, I will never forget it.



7. Before you hit me, before you strike me, remember that I could hurt you, and yet, I choose not to bite you.

8. Before you scold me for being lazy or uncooperative, ask yourself if something might be bothering me. Perhaps I'm not getting the right food, I have been in the sun too long, or my heart might be getting old or weak.

9. Please take care of me when I grow old. You too, will grow old.

10. On the ultimate difficult journey, go with me please. Never say you can't bear to watch. Don't make me face this alone. Everything is easier for me if you are there, because I love you so.

Mom sent me that. Got a bit of a lump in my throat...


How weird. I just got that E-mail yesterday. The sad thing is my 1 year old black lab past away 2 weeks ago from a very rare form of cancer called nueroblastoma. :(

[tstone]

:(

Sorry to hear about that, Wood.

[WISEGUY562]

Sorry to hear that also.
Cancer is becoming a regular thing with dogs and cats, mostly because they live longer. No one expects it at that age.

I try to enjoy my time with my dogs because they're both up there in age. My Samoyed already has trouble climbing 3 steps to get in the house. So I try to prepare for it and at the same time I don't want to think about it.
Where does the time go

[neglet]

Sorry to hear about that, Woodwraith. At least you know you gave him a loving home during his short time here, when so many animals don't have one.

My kitty Antonio the mighty mouseslayer died of cancer almost ten years ago and I still get teary when I think of those last days. Pets are family (except more loyal), don't let anyone tell you differently.

[Al-Dog]

I bought a Shih-Poo (part Shih Tzu part Poodle) puppy for wife and family over the weekend. She’s the cutest little thing, only seven weeks old, and already taking over.

This isn’t her, but it’s pretty close to how she looks.
http://breederinfocenter.com/images2/20070302002458_222316_3.jpg

[Woodwraith]

Thanks for the kind words guys. IT's been kinda weird coming home in the morning after work the past couple of weeks without seeing those excited eyes staring up at me. Of course, I'm referring to the pooch not the wife, althought I get that from her too. :D

[Bill_the_Pony]

Ahhh, Wood, I'm sorry. :( I love dogs and cats so much.... and I don't know if I'll ever have another. My last one ended up with the ex, and the last time I saw him, he was crying and howling like crazy to get to me and he wasn't allowed. :(

I have a friend whose had a cat for the last 24 years.

24 years. :eek:

He's got his routine, get up, walk the backyard, come in and nap, and a series of naps and cuddling for the rest of the day. He takes medications for a number of old age things, but overall, he's doing pretty good and seems happy. When the time comes, I just can't imagine how it will be for them to deal with.

[Woodwraith]

Thanks Bill. You know, I never really knew cats can live that long. 24 years is amazing. I thought it was amazing that the last dog I had lived to 16 years.

Anyway, my wife and I were talking about looking for another dog. But it turns out neither of us are ready yet. Jubilee (the name of the black lab) was quite unique. Not to mention smart too. Training here was real easy. We only had to work with her 2 or 3 times on a trick from then on she'd pick it up. Another neat thing was that she would watch tv/movies with us. one night we were watching Never Cry Wolf and she would sit there and watch the wolves there on the screen. And when the wolf would walk off screen, Jubilee would run to the otherside of the tv to see where it went. :lol:

Ah well. Good times.