Things you dislike about owning dogs

[Zhucca]

- Getting up early. Thank god, Duke loves to sleep. But when I have other dogs that is my #1 pet peeve - morning dogs.
- The shedding.
- Poop
- I can't just go out with friends whenever I want. No spontaneous trips or anything..
- My dog is a walking accident and there's no worse feeling than a injured dog.
- Kibble. I am forever switching food.

[Kimbers]

Not being able to travel much. Schaffer always gets sick or goes on a hunger strike if we leave him for more than three days.

Dealing with sick dogs.

The fact that most of the breeds I like shed, like, fifty pounds of fur every day.

[ravennr]

Most of the things I hate are outside influences. I hate listening to people give me the advice they learned from their Petsmart groomer, I hate listening to people give me nutrition advice from their Hill's sponsored vet, I hate listening to people give me their opinion about whatever dog I own (I have a family member that believes I shouldn't own a large dog because I'm 5'6" and 110 pounds). I REALLY hate mediocre owners telling me how I should raise my dogs. In person, though, I am too sheepish towards strangers to tell these people to pop off somewhere else.

As for the dog itself... I hate grooming, and yet I seem to prefer breeds that need a lot of it! Chows, Akitas, Malamutes, it's not the shedding that gets me, it's just the act of regular brushing. I hate even brushing my cat, if we're being honest. I hate brushing my own hair, too.
I hate shopping for food, too. Whenever we get a dog, I'm going to be buying dog food in as bulk quantities as possible. I hate going to the pet store or grocery store in the pet food areas and seeing people grabbing bags of Disney brand dog food, or Ol Roy or Science Diet. It bothers me more than it should, I know, but ever since learning about pet food I feel sick when I know a dog is being given a horribly low quality food (or any animal for that matter).
I hate vet visits. They scare me. No matter how mundane a vet visit is, for some reason I get horrible anxiety and prepare myself for some incredibly horrible news. "Good news is we got your buddy's nails trimmed and teeth nice and clean. Bad news is we found fourteen cancerous tumours and a set of silverware in his stomach." I'm a paranoid parent, no bones about it.
I love drooly dogs, I really do, but I HATE drool. While spending some time with a Saint Bernard named Pippa, I stepped in multiple giant PUDDLES of drool. I already have a very weird cat food syndrome on non-carpeted floors (it's worst on kitchen floors, where spills are so common or food is usually found), but the idea of stepping in, or slipping in, a puddle of dog drool just EUGH.


Man, reading through this I feel like I should go see someone, LOL.

[JustaLilBitaLuck]

Originally Posted by MericoX

I hate dog food. I really do. I dread any time we have to do a food switch. I sometimes want to just feed Purina and be done with it.

Also agility politics. I now get somewhat of what people that show their dogs have to deal with.

See, and dog food/treats/supplements is one of my favorite parts of owning dogs! Which is a good thing, I suppose, considering where I work...but yeah. I love it.

I can say in honest, I don't dislike anything. I don't mind the shedding, or the picking up of poop, or the money spent, and other things mentioned ...

[SpringerLover]

Diarrhea!

[Doberluv]

I hate when they get sick, seeing them miserable. I hate the vet bills and worst of all, I hate when they die. It is the worst. All the other little things like poop eating (Jose`)and too much licking (Chulita), the hassle of going out and having to be careful to not leave them alone too long, stuff like that is obviously worth it or I wouldn't have dogs. But having to say "good-bye" to my best friends when they come to the end of their life is so horrible that I sometimes can't understand why I keep doing it. I've gone through that so many times and yet...

[Aleron]

Lifespans but more so, how within a year's time a dog can go from happy and able bodied to...old. Worrying about health stuff is rough too.

Making choices about breeding seems to get harder and harder instead of easier.

A lot of the stuff mentioned here like the cleaning up and hair and what not, I guess having pretty much only worked at dog-oriented jobs, I've become pretty desensitized to this stuff. Cleaning up poop/pee in inappropriate places, releasing anal glands, getting covered in hair, washing filthy dogs, etc is pretty much a daily routine for me. It's gross but it's all in a day's work. The daycare was a bit easier but lots more poop to pick up and lots more dirty dogs plus more worry about the dog's safety.

Oh and I manage to make all of my dogs late sleepers LOL

[AussieAshley]

Currently living in the city, so finding rentals that allow pets is the big one. They are out there but its hard to find a nice one, but I would rather live in a less desirable neighborhood with my dogs then without them, so oh well. The other one is dealing with people whilst walking the dogs, especially walking the big guy. People say the most insane and rude things sometimes! We have had numerous people yell PITBULL!! and drag their dogs across the street when they see Duke (who fyi is an English Pointer who LOVES other dogs more than cupcakes and sprinkles and is trained to sit politely while they pass) stupid comment on so many levels