Things to Consider When Choosing a Pet
Article courtesty of Animal Medical Center of Healdsburg
Presuming it is not your long term ambition to achieve local
fame as the Weird Cat Lady or Weird Dog Guy, it's a good idea to
give some sober thought to what your expectations are regarding a
new pet. Not to mention what you expect of yourself in terms of the
relationship. There are plenty of well illustrated books on cats as
well as dogs, but the bulk of them are more or less four-legged
versions of the Cherry Blossom catalogues, extollers of
appearances. And appearances cannot be counted on to be more than
skin deep.
Do you want a sentinel dog? Do you object to a cat sharing a bed
with you? Do you want a puppy or a more mature dog? Do you expect
your new friend to be trained or are you interested in getting
involved yourself with training?
None of these choices is a shoe-in for success and mutual
happiness. A sentinel dog may increase your sense of security, but
will he annoy the neighbors unto retaliatory acts of
un-neighborliness? What will happen to the cat if you turn out to
be allergic to her?
In the midst of these considerations (and many more like them),
a common and often more difficult to address dilemma may arise. In
the fun and intensity of finding a new friend, it often happens
that the prospective parent is seized by the notion that if One is
good wouldn't Two be better. The theory behind this, when it comes
to dogs, is that each would have a buddy and be otherwise less
exposed to alone times; there need be only one 35# sack of dog food
parked in the spare bathroom. Etcetera, etcetera.
The downside, and it's a solemn one, is that under the two-dog
arrangement it does not so much behoove the dogs to become madly
enamored of their people: after all, they have each other. If your
ambition is to have a tenderly devoted dog who KNOWS you hung the
moon, your objective will be better met if you limit your K9
companion to one. If later on you decide that you want a second
dog, one of opposite sex to number One is more likely to be
accepted and even, eventually, loved by his foredog.
Any and every pet who is part of your family is dependent upon
you. Their devotion to you is deep and unquestioning. Although
yours to them may not quite achieve parity, the best you can do is
no less than they deserve.
Ben Baldwin DVM MPH
Animal Medical Center
16085 Healdsburg Avenue, Healdsburg CA 95448
Phone: (707) 433-4493