I'm a cat lover. I love my kitty. I clean his litter 2x/week, and he sits in my lap every night after munchkin goes to bed. And purrs. And purrs (he wakes me up purring in the morning, and is purring until after I fall asleep at night). So wonderful, and so sweet to my munchkin.
Dogs? I'll never own one. Ever. WAY too much work!
Dogs, cared for properly, are WAY more work than cats, cared for properly. Stand your ground. DD has the rest of her life to get a dog. Don't take on another living thing if you will resent caring for it!
I am a dog lover, expecially tiny dogs because they are much easier to take care of than large dogs, even as puppies. My husband however, loves cats, which I hate. Right now, we have a cat and a ferret. Personally, from my experiance with ferrets, they are by far the better pet over both dogs and cats and I have had a ferret since my son was a newborn, with no issues. A majority of them are litter box trained, you can keep them in a cage at night so you know they arent getting into things and they can catch mice. They are smaller, and you do have to do some upkeep, like bathe them every two weeks, clip their nails and the scarest thing about them is when they jump around as they play. Mine actually hates jeans so whenever he sees them, he attacks the jeans, even if the jeans are on the floor. He has never bitten my kids or anyone else just for the fun of it, and when we rough house with him, his bites don't hurt, unlike a puppy or older dog. He's not roudy like a dog, and he dosent just sit there all day like a cat. He is very active, and lieks to paly games such as hide and seek, and tug of war with my kids who was 3 and 2. Also ferrets don't need all the immunizations dogs and cats do. They only need two, rabies (all animals but lizards, birds and fish need that) and the Canine Parvo shot. Most are already fixed when bought. You do have to worry about how your child treats it, as it is smaller than a dog and cat and can end up injured if thrown or dropped. At first they are expensive, but if you go and adopt a dog or cat at the pound, with all the shots, etc you have to pay for upfront, and you risk the chance of it attacking your kid unprovoked, i'd say ferret. Much better, and they are alot of fun watching their 'war dance' playful pounces and they make some odd noises but are relitively quiet.
I know people are going to say it will bite a baby for milk/ smother it, but cats and dogs do the same thing. Ferrets just happen to be highly misunderstood as they are not the generic pet.
Makes me want to get a ferret!! They sound great!
To the OP, honestly, I'd recommend letting this dog opportunity go (there will be plenty more cute dogs around the corner) and asking a friend with a dog if you can "adopt" their dog for a few days or longer if possible. Once you have it in your home, let DH & DC take on ALL the responsibilities to care for it, and make sure to remind them when they forget. Maybe after a few solid days of caring for the pet, they will realize that it is a lot more work than they envisioned and they will know that you mean it when you say it is their responsibility and not yours to care for the dog (since you'll be in charge of the other pets).
I'd vote against that - the novelty and excitement will make it seem easy, or at least less of a chore. What they need is an instant helping of, say, five years of drudgery, but unfortunately that can't be had.
Just say no.
It is okay to say no.
I've had both, and I'd say maybe 8-10 cats = 1 dog in the amount of work. I would not have a dog over here with the large family I have, taking on a puppy is like taking on a toddler. They're so destructive and need constant guidance and vigilance.
Right now I have three cats, and I feel lazy with the amount of work they take in comparison to what it was like growing up with dogs. The one thing that is great is that you can be gone for a whole day or two even and not really worry about them, just put out that extra food and water and they don't need to be boarded, etc. My kids help with the feeding/watering and put it lots of rubs/playtime so that leaves the litter and grooming to me, which isn't that bad (well now dh since I'm expecting). I have scratching posts for the cats and have set up a happy home for them so no litter box/other issues.
Aside from the fact that dogs are a lot of work (sometimes the smaller ones more so than the big ones), your fear of dogs should really be addressed completely before you even think about adding a dog to your household. If you even have lingering fear, the dog will be able to sense it and it will make it MUCH harder for you to properly train it.
Is it possible that you and your dd can walk or pet sit neighborhood dogs instead? This would help you get more comfortable around dogs as well as give your dd interaction with them without having to add one to the household. I'd say volunteering at a shelter would be an option as well, but at most places you need to be at least 16.
Dogs are a lot of work!
Maybe you can volunteer as a foster home for a rescue organisation, that way you will get a dog for long termishh stay couple weeks+ and your family can experience everything that is envolved without 10+ years of commitment.
Thanks for the replies. We have an end of the story, at least for now.
After all the emotion settled (and the dog Dd liked was on it's way to a new home probably as I was writing), I figured out that our problem was really animal deficiency of a general nature, which I could remedy by letting the cats have more access. We allowed them into areas of the house where Dd tends to be, as well as made her bedroom cat friendly for the nights. Yes, we've had a few litterbox accidents which I take to be protests when Dd's not keeping up with the box in her room. They have earned nearly free run of the house most of the time and they are lovely to have in our midst.
Best of all, they follow Dd around, always happy to have a scratch between the ears. One in particular never lets her out of his sight, so her yearning for the companionship of a dog had been satisfied by the cats.
I still have to deal with the fish tank, but I wanted to report back on our progress. Thanks again for all the advice.
I am a dog lover, expecially tiny dogs because they are much easier to take care of than large dogs, even as puppies. My husband however, loves cats, which I hate. Right now, we have a cat and a ferret. Personally, from my experiance with ferrets, they are by far the better pet over both dogs and cats and I have had a ferret since my son was a newborn, with no issues. A majority of them are litter box trained, you can keep them in a cage at night so you know they arent getting into things and they can catch mice. They are smaller, and you do have to do some upkeep, like bathe them every two weeks, clip their nails and the scarest thing about them is when they jump around as they play. Mine actually hates jeans so whenever he sees them, he attacks the jeans, even if the jeans are on the floor. He has never bitten my kids or anyone else just for the fun of it, and when we rough house with him, his bites don't hurt, unlike a puppy or older dog. He's not roudy like a dog, and he dosent just sit there all day like a cat. He is very active, and lieks to paly games such as hide and seek, and tug of war with my kids who was 3 and 2. Also ferrets don't need all the immunizations dogs and cats do. They only need two, rabies (all animals but lizards, birds and fish need that) and the Canine Parvo shot. Most are already fixed when bought. You do have to worry about how your child treats it, as it is smaller than a dog and cat and can end up injured if thrown or dropped. At first they are expensive, but if you go and adopt a dog or cat at the pound, with all the shots, etc you have to pay for upfront, and you risk the chance of it attacking your kid unprovoked, i'd say ferret. Much better, and they are alot of fun watching their 'war dance' playful pounces and they make some odd noises but are relitively quiet.
I know people are going to say it will bite a baby for milk/ smother it, but cats and dogs do the same thing. Ferrets just happen to be highly misunderstood as they are not the generic pet.
ack dont bathe your ferret every two weeks, you will make them more smelly not less smelly!!! very bad for their skin, they should be bathed only if they need it. Also FYI ferrets end up being much much more costly then most dogs or cats, as most ferrets are from breeding mills in north america they are almost guarenteed to get one form of cancer or another, insulinoma, adrenal disease or lymphoma, all of which are very costly. You have a very high liklihood of having to spend hundreds if not thousands on care, plus with these diseases ferrets in north america have an average life span of 5 years. Ive owned 5 ferrets over the last 7 years, 3 died of these terrible diseases (the other 2 are still alive) I also wouldnt recommend for them to be out and about in a house with free run there are way to many ways for them to hurt themselves or get lost/escape.
eta ferrets can also get canine distemper so if you vaccinate them you should include it.
Yes, dogs are more work than cats. And puppies are a HUGE amount of work, they need to be housetrained, exercised, socialized... It is not reasonable for your dh to ask you to take on a puppy...unless you are happy about it.
This. Dogs are a ton more work than cats. Puppies even more than dogs. Especially the main caregiver needs to be 100 fully on board before welcoming a new family member for the next 10 plus years that will take a lot of love, patience, time, training - both manners training and house training, resources, money, walks, socialization, attention, and all the other things they require.
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