wademh: I got a call the other night about my dog, pneumonia and something called megaesophagus. I'm working in Australia and he was back in the US. Was and I had about 90 seconds to make the fatal decision.
Why do we put ourselves through this because we always wind up with broken hearts?

I'm sorry for your loss. At least you have all those happy memories he gave you.

my mom got one of these dogs as a replacement for me when I moved out. It is amazing the health problems a dog can have when the owner is bored and trying to find fulfillment through the relationship.

SpacemanSpoof: Let's see. Adopting a dog: walk into a pet store that's having an adoption event, sign some papers, pay a little money, walk out with a dog.Search "Free puppy *town name*" on internet, two e-mails and a text message, drive to house, best dog ever

My Judith

I love dogs, especially my little mini doxie, but dog fetishizers kinda freak me out.

cryinoutloud: SpacemanSpoof: Let's see. Adopting a dog: walk into a pet store animal shelter that's having an adoption event, sign some papers, pay a little money, walk out with a dog. Adopting a kid: find an agency, go to months of classes, have a home study, pay tens of thousands of dollars, sit on a waiting list for a year or two, maybe wind up with a kid at the end of it all, then sit through a few more years of follow-up visits. Yeah, that's exactly the same.

FIFY......Please

Hypothetical Imperative: The entire Internet out there and the one pic that makes you "homicidal" is an image of a lady with a pug in a stroller?
Alrighty then.
That said, braces and such for dogs is kinda ridiculous.

Nah, dog in a stroller just makes me wish the owner would get cancer. But if she'd been giving that dog bottled water---death is too good for her.

Mine get bottled water whenever we travel, to avoid lovely things like ghiardia.

hbomb1129: Yeah but you can't put kids in a crate.

Sure you can:

SharkTrager: I love dogs, but people who refer to and treat their dogs as their "children", not so much.

The two are not remotely similar.

For starters, you can't shoot your kids to put them out of your misery.

Khazar-Khum: Mine get bottled water whenever we travel, to avoid lovely things like ghiardia.

I can see how this would be a problem. If you live in Cambodia.

Last night my pit mix hopped the cinderblock fence so she could jump infront of the window I was doing dishes by to get my attention.

/CSB

Cost to euthanize and dispose of our 23 year old kitty was $290. It was worth every penny to know that he wasn't mishandled or in pain.

/pet dental care (teeth cleaning, removing bad teeth) is a necessity if you want your pet to live a long, happy and pain free life. If your cat or dog has knock you over bad breath they might have an abscess or a tooth that needs to be pulled.
// Good vet care isn't cheap. We opt to save $100/pet/month instead of insurance
/// my employer is considering offering pet insurance as a benefit:) We have a dog friendly office.

doglover: The problem with adopting a kid is that someone else's kid will never, ever love you half as much as a dog.

How farking needy are you that you require so much farking love that all your friends and family provide insufficient quantities?

\People who love animals so much more than people totally creep me out.
\\You sound like you belong on some sort of registry.

Several years ago somebody came to our house & sees our Lab/mutt (80 lbs) sleeping in a snowbank on the deck.With absolute horror in their voice they say "OMG,how can you let your poor dog sleep outside like that?!?"

So I opened the door & said "Hank,wanna come inside?"

He just looked at me & went back to sleep.

Person (friend of a friend) says "I still think it's cruel".Told the farking idiot that the dog absolutely loved the snow & cold & took every opportunity to get out in it,would scratch at the door & bark when it started snowing.

/me & the wife love dogs
//well taken care of,but not pampered

Grave_Girl: hbomb1129: Yeah but you can't put kids in a crate.

Sure you can:
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[i15.photobucket.com image 400x400]

I think those are just to keep the bugs in.

Cat owners get a bad rep, but dog owners have become more weirdly obsessive.

Though I'm not crazy about dogs. Or children. And I'm a terrible significant other. But the lazy tabby flopped to my left is OK.

Premium food, a little 'nip and being allowed on the bed keeps her happy.

FizixJunkee: doglover: The problem with adopting a kid is that someone else's kid will never, ever love you half as much as a dog.

How farking needy are you that you require so much farking love that all your friends and family provide insufficient quantities?

\People who love animals so much more than people totally creep me out.
\\You sound like you belong on some sort of registry.


There is no such thing and too much love, and a dog will never think of you as "needy". If a person's family or friends consist of people like you, someone prepared to describe a person who wants love as "needy", then it is perfectly obvious why that person would love dogs.

Very few people are better than my animals, because so many people are assholes. If people were less assholey maybe I'd like them more.

instantkarma78: I have been thinking of getting my dog's grille fixed. She lost a couple of front teeth in the line of duty. Neighbor's stallion got in her pasture and was terrorizing my cows, chasing them around, running them away from the feed trough and just being a dick in general. I went to run it back across the fence and my dog only went after the horse after it stomped its hooves and started to charge like it was gonna get me. She took a hoof to the mouth, yet encouraged the horse to leave anyhow. Impervious to the fact that she took a pretty serious kick, had 3 front teeth knocked loose and dangling from her mouth and was blowing blood and snot bubbles out of her nose, the very first thing she did was come to check on me and make sure I was alright.


That's a real dog. We have some too, but their job is different.



\we also have two furry children along with the 40 or so real dogs

We just spent over 5,000$ on our girl over the past half year.

TPLO on both back legs but worth EVERY single penny to see how she is now.

She gets to start training in October, two months ahead of schedule from recovery on her most recent leg (normally 6 months but she's already 90+% healed that they like to see before light resistance can start - last xray showed she's already there)

TeamOllie: Our dogs are working dogs too. We have two malamutes - central to our business and our lives. Nothing like it. Good to know that, in an emergency, they can be our tow truck, transport, carry the load, etc.

SpacemanSpoof: Let's see. Adopting a dog: walk into a pet store that's having an adoption event, sign some papers, pay a little money, walk out with a dog. Adopting a kid: find an agency, go to months of classes, have a home study, pay tens of thousands of dollars, sit on a waiting list for a year or two, maybe wind up with a kid at the end of it all, then sit through a few more years of follow-up visits. Yeah, that's exactly the same.

That said, braces and such for dogs is kinda ridiculous.

You'd be surprised (or not?) at how many people are trying to make adopting an animal as expensive, time-consuming, and humiliatingly invasive as adopting a human child. The No-Kill shelters are the absolute worst, they're practically animal hoarders who will make up any reason to not have to part with their precious charges.

dickfreckle: Alexander Mouse: If you want to be worshiped, get a dog, if you want to know your place in the world, get a cat, a very humbling experience.

You enjoy being humbled by an animal that licks its asshole? You're a grown, human being, capable of complex, rational, and abstract thought. You can create. You can use tools to mold the world around you. We even sent a man to the moon.

But being humbled by a cat is awesome? Do you also enjoy your close friends/romantic interests ignoring and/or using you? Aaaaah, now I get it. You're one of those types.

OK, carry on then.

Thank you for the kitty hate. If enough of us rise up against our feline masters America can be strong again.

i upped my meds-up yours: dickfreckle: Alexander Mouse: If you want to be worshiped, get a dog, if you want to know your place in the world, get a cat, a very humbling experience.

You enjoy being humbled by an animal that licks its asshole? You're a grown, human being, capable of complex, rational, and abstract thought. You can create. You can use tools to mold the world around you. We even sent a man to the moon.

But being humbled by a cat is awesome? Do you also enjoy your close friends/romantic interests ignoring and/or using you? Aaaaah, now I get it. You're one of those types.

OK, carry on then.

Thank you for the kitty hate. If enough of us rise up against our feline masters America can be strong again.

It's not kitty "hate." It's the owners who consider their cat's aloofness and mood swings as markers of superiority that baffle me. The cats themselves are pretty cool. It's just being a cat, and I'm down with that. Just not down with the whole, "Oh yeah, you think your dog is special? My cat ignores me and only shows affection when it wants something! That caustic urine smell is just the mark of superiority!" crowd. As if that's somehow awesome or something.

/most cats are cool, but cat people who idolize them for being dicks aren't