Posted on 09/07/2013 8:32:55 AM PDT by Kaslin
I recently began walking around my neighborhood carrying a bag and picking up animal waste. Which is to say, “we got a dog.” Or maybe she got us.
It has been several years since we had a pet. And it’s not as easy to get, or keep, a dog as it used to be. Time was, you waited until a neighbor’s dog had puppies and you took one home. That’s how literary heroine Emily Elizabeth got Clifford the Big Red Dog, for example. Not anymore.
Daisy is, of course, a “rescue dog.” Because every dog these days apparently has to be. And like the rest of American life, dog ownership has become amazingly bureaucratic.
Before you can rescue a dog now, you have to prove your family is worthy. Fill out forms. Host a home inspection. Visit a doggie open house at a warehouse in a somewhat dodgy section of town to meet the dogs. They are, of course, staying with “foster” families. If the dog seems to like you, and the volunteers agree, you can start negotiating to take her home.
Once you get the dog home, of course, you’ll probably need to hire a trainer. If you don’t, you’re sure to be stopped on every walk by busybodies with plenty of “advice” about how to treat the dog. Animals today apparently aren’t property, they’re adjunct humans.
In a recent survey by Psychology Today, four-fifths of dog owners “consider their dogs to be true family members, equal in status to children.” More than half of owners consider themselves “pet parents,” not “pet owners.” At the same time, these “parents” recognize that things were different in their own childhood. Almost two-thirds acknowledge that their current dog is more important than their childhood pets were.
“The reason for this change in status, with dogs becoming virtual children, is not directly addressed by the survey,” Stanley Cohen writes in Psychology Today. “It is likely however, that one reason might be because more North American couples are childless, or have fewer children.” Forget about leaving Fido at home while you go to work; you’d better be ready to provide a dog walking service if you’ll be gone for any length of time.
Life is better for American pets, in fact, than it is for many humans around the globe.Atlantic magazine notes that’s more than we spent buying Starbucks and bottled water. Combined. Frighteningly, that’s more than the value of everything produced by everyone in Uruguay that year. The United States is wealthy beyond imagination. It’s a great place to be a dog, and an even better place to be a human.
For example, American pets can not only fly, some travel even better than first class. At least one company offers pets charter flights on private jets. When they pass on, many are buried in one of 700 pet cemeteries nationwide. Members of the family, indeed.
Of course, the trend in pets mirrors the trend in American life generally. Bureaucracy abounds everywhere. For example, where it used to be fairly easy to start and run a business, today’s entrepreneurs often find themselves tangled in reams or red tape. From ObamaCare to Dodd-Frank, from the EPA to the IRS, businesses large and small are being smothered in bureaucracy. No wonder the economy is struggling to add jobs.
So you’re free to spoil your dog. No harm there. For our part we plan to give Daisy plenty of TLC, even if she has to ride in the car instead of a plane. Still, she’s no child -- we’ve got enough of those already.
But there’s plenty we could do to make this a better country for humans. Let’s get to work cutting bureaucracy, and getting people back to work.
Our last 2 dogs have been rescues...same breed that we’ve always owned, and in our opinion the traits of the breed are so predictable you sort of know exactly what you’re getting.
But 1st rescue was from the SPCA, and this past time was from one of the breed specific rescue organizations.
If/when we adopt another dog, I’d use the breed specific rescue organization again, even though it is a bit of a hassle (as the writer says, there’s applications, home visits, a higher fee than the shelters.) But the advantage is the dog’s been vetted by being fostered and you know what issues the dog does or more importantly doesn’t have. An SPCA or county animal shelter can give you a little info, but not the same as getting the info from someone who has fostered the animal.
Just witness this labrador's love for her returning soldier.
In a recent survey by Psychology Today, four-fifths of dog owners “consider their dogs to be true family members, equal in status to children.”
That's just going a bit too far. I have a problem with that.
Agreed. I love animals, but I don’t confuse them with humans.
Sounds like the dog is saying I love you. Did you notice that?
My wife said the same thing when we first saw the video!
Especially when the dog means more to the spouse then wife or the kids do
We love our dogs but they are not human. We have 1 at a time and they live in the house with us. I even make their dog food but I’ll be darned if I would go through home inspections, etc to get one. There are just too many needy dogs out there to subject ourselves to that.
I wish I could have a mutt again, but my apartment building doesn’t allow them, and I get too good of a deal on the rent to give it up just yet.
My downstairs neighbors have a tomcat that has taken a liking to me and greets me at my back door every morning when I leave, and every afternoon when I get home, demanding my attention. Not as good as a dog, but it’s something, I guess.
We have found that there is a strong commonality with rescued dogs in that they seem to understand the favor you have done for them and quite often become obviously loyal and appreciative.
If you are considering adoption and have a secure yard, you may want to look into an agency that places dogs who have been trained as service companions, but didn't make the grade for what is usually a very simple flaw such as a tendency to chase squirrels which makes them deficient as a guide dog.
Doggie ping...
Thanks goodness for that!
It's not any American dog's fault that the economy of Uruguay is in the toilet. It's their fault for electing people who don't understand how economics works.
Our adoptions have been Weims. And quite frankly, knowing the breed, I can understand the home inspection, and info about lifestyle because I know the breed.
At the SPCA, we adopted an AKC Weim because he wasn’t what the family “expected” after he grew out of his cute puppy stage. The SPCA was very direct in asking questions about our home, our family situation, etc.
We love the breed, and their “characteristic” personalities, but evidently there are a lot of folks that don’t.
My niece has some pets like that. They're birds.
Doggie ping!
We are Boxer people. Unfortunately we find them at the animal shelters here quite often.
Buck Laughlin, Best in Show
"That's just going a bit too far. I have a problem with that."
A teenager v a dog? I'll take the dog everytime. My pets are picked up off the streets who wander up to the house. Current crop consists of 2 mutts and 1.5 cats. There's a new stray cat I'm leaving food out for.
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