What do people think about your pets?

FRAN....I love you for bringing up this subject!! I have battled with my family ever since I moved out and got my first dog. I am now the proud mom of 4 dogs possibly soon to be 5 and yes, they all live in the house My family finally stopped the comments a while back after realizing that they are just wasting their breath. My Grandma still manages to be critical and disgusted at my "situation." I keep a clean house and we ripped out all the carpet and put in wood floors to compensate for having a lot of dogs. Now when they find out that we are getting another dog I get the comment "are you ever going to have kids?" It drives me crazy......hello, I can do both. I got to the point where I don't need their approval anymore, dogs are my hobby and my passion and I will always have a lot of dogs and that is just the way it is going to be! Now what really irks me is when my Grandma was trying to tell my 13 week old puppy not to lick my nephew in the face who was clearly enjoying it....sorry Grandma, but around here, dog kisses are not gross...hands off my pup!

Somehow I feel better knowing that it's not just me

We always had 2 cats when I grew up, never a dog. My parents loved travelling and were the very active kind (I say were, because my dad died three years ago), so a dog was out of the question. They got the first two cats as rescues (one they ended up keeping after a neighbor gave her up because she had a bad character - long story, the other one was in the street for 2 months in winter but sleeping in our basement, so we just let her stay in the house), and me and my sister insisted on getting the other two.. Now my mom doesn't want any more cats after them, because they are 'too much work' I miss them a lot, but couldn't take them with me when I left the house or I would have.

My sister has two cats that are real sweethearts, but her husband is totally obsessed with cleaning so I don't think they will get any other anytime soon lol. Other than that, nobody in my family has pets that I know of, so I guess I am a freak. I'm glad my husband is really nice though, he's always said that 3 cats is enough and he let me have two dogs Well I want more cats too, but the ones we got are used to going outside and it might be a problem if we get more as I don't want my future cats to go outside (I'm worried all the time as it is, even though it's totally safe here - it just takes one cat that isn't afraid of cars).

Anyway... I don't know when I will ever dare telling my mom about the puppy... I could wait until she visits in 10 months but somehow I think she would not take it so well either...

Growing up, we always had cats, guniea pigs, hamsters, newts, toads, strays, but as my sister and I grew older, we only had the kitty cats. At most, they have only had 3 cats in the house. I moved out on my own, and took in a stray dog (Rosco), then that led to my kitty (Lucas), who we rescued from a friend's home, she had too many cats and I wanted a kitten(boyfriend said no way jose on the kitten), so we ended up bringing Lucas home. My boyfriend has two corn snakes, a savannah monitor, and feeder mice, then we started up a fish tank and have a bunch of fishies, and then in Feb. we got the puppy. So total we have 2 dogs, a cat, fish, 2 snakes, and a monitor. My mother says my house is a zoo or a farm, which I don't think it is. The funny part is, X-mas eve, my boyfriend and I were at my parents house, with Rosco, and my mom and I got were on our 2nd bottle of wine, and we got into a pretty heated argument about getting the puppy. She said that I had too many pets, blah blah blah, it's so much responsibility, it's going to cost a lot of money and money is tight for me, blah blah blah etc etc etc. We both ended up in tears and I told her no matter what she says, I am getting a puppy. So my father, finding out what a large dog Zander is going to be full grown said that no monster is going to be allowed in his house so when I come to visit Zander has to stay at my house. I said yeah ok, so now, whenever I go to visit them or they come to visit me, my mother cuddles and loves Zander and spoils him rotten, he gets a new toy every time he sees her, and my father always says that Zander is going to stay with him and what a cool dog he is and how proud he is of Zander because he is such a good listener and can do so many tricks. It's funny All my friends say I'm crazy for having so many pets, but it's great because furkids love you no matter what kind of day you have had or how broke you are, they see you and their faces light up and you know you will always be loved Who cares what anyone says about how crazy you are or how many pets you have, you know that when you get home at the end of the day, you will be smothered with kisses and love.

I love it. I just dumped a boyfriend of 4 years because we could never see eye-to-eye on my love for dogs. If I heard "THEY'RE NOT YOUR BABIES!!" one more time I think I'll be sick. They ARE my babies. And it's especially weird since neither he nor I have human children... and he's got a little dog and a cat whom he loves. It's just so weird...

ELINHUNTER...it is smart that you let the boy go even over this subject. If dogs are important to you, and the subject has always been a source of tension then it's best not to waste anymore time with him. I am sure he is a good person and has his reasons, but the biggest mistake we make is trying to convince ourselves that people are different from the way they really are, just so we don't have to accept reality. Then, we are stuck with a constant struggle over the same old thing. That is what dating is for, to find out all that you want to know in order to be able to say "I DO" or "I DON"T" I am very blessed to have a husband that is as addicted to dogs as I am. All my show friends can't believe that he comes to dog shows to watch and help out. Their husbands sit at home and complain about their hobby. I picked the right guy, and you will too, because you are willing to admit and see the truth.

Thanks, Showpug. And the "boy" is 47! So, you know he won't change in his ways, anyway. And I'm at a ripe old age of 41 and know that I'm not about to compromise for ANY man for the lifelong love... of dogs. If they "don't get it" (their downfall, not mine), then so be it!

It's funny, one of the reasons it didn't work out with my first husband was because he didn't like pets much either (especially cats, and I love them). As I said, I don't have kids myself, and it's probably because we've been trying for two years without success (long story, not going to go into details about it) that I like to get surrounded by so many pets. I also call Boris my baby all the time Although I'm sure that when I finally have kids I will still want more pets too...

The ex-bf always tried to play the "it's me or the dog" or "it's me or the cat" card - if I really loved him I'd give up the dog and/or cat to please him. I always patiently explained to him that if he really loved me he wouldn't ask me to do something that would cause me so much pain. He never did figure out how to squirm his way out of that

Fortunately, Charley's as bad about the dogs as I am. He even patiently explains to people that they are 'his children.' Do you know how funny it is to hear that coming out of an ex-fighter I don't think of the animals so much in those terms - the relationship is actually something entirely different - more of an indescribably deep partnership. They rely on me to navigate through the part of the world that is my area of expertise safely and I rely on them to navigate through the parts that they are better equipped for, and the dogs and I know that should it ever be necessary, we'll stand back to back - I won't desert them and they won't desert me . . . no matter what comes. There's not a human being alive that I trust to the depth I trust my dogs.

My parents knew where I stood as to my Goldens....When husband Tom went through allergy tests back in the 60s when we had 4 dogs sleeping with us, he asked " what if I'm allergric to the dogs" .... I said , hope you'll be happy in your new home.....Well, he wasn't and we made it to almost 50 yrs. before he died.

Well, I don't get along with most of my family--for various reasons. The only people I will even talk to are my dad, my brother, and my aunt and uncle-along with their children.

That's it. But yeah, my uncle told me that he's going to get big and that he needs to be outside, I pretty much ignored it, he could tell I didn't like the comment and never said it again.

My dad also mentioned it but he understands my passion for Rocky and dogs in general I got into sort of a debate with him and I said, "what exactly is the point of having dog if it's going to be outside?" I mean, if you want a companion dog unless you're outside a lot he won't be much of one. If you want a guard dog, if he's tied up outside he won't be much of one. He couldn't really argue with that.

So he understands.

I also asked him about having another dog, that convo ended quickly.

And considering my dad had a bad experience with dogs--long story-- I can see him starting to kind of enjoy Rocky's company. He's starting to really like him. And he even said, "You never know, I might change".

So... I guess I can kinda relate.

Well, my family isn't really critical, but they do think I'm crazy for loving dogs and every other kind of animal alive. lol They also think I'm crazy becaue I love Rotties and Pitties. And then my mom thinks I'm crazy because I like all of the "ugly" animals and that I also like the "dumb" animals (she would swear on her life that Boxers are as dumb as a box of rocks...they are NOT, but she won't listen. lol).
So ya, to sum it all up, my family thinks I'm crazy. lol When Mom says, "Andrea, why do you like that thing? It is so ugly!" I counter with, "It is what is on the inside that counts." So now she has a firm belief that my husband is going to be ugly, but he will be the sweetest guy ever. lol And I didn't comfort her when I also said I happend to like the "bad" boys that are in the movies and the "bad" breeds of dogs. So then she said, "Great. Your husband is going to be a crook and ugly!" lol That's Mom for ya....lol But I guess I'm just more attracted to the misunderstood people/breeds.
Anyways, that was really off subject....lol

Most of my family does think I'm a little kooky, because I'm basically obsessed with animals, mostly dogs. I subscribe to two dog magazines, am on a bunch of dog forums, I am totally obsessed with how my dogs are. Going on vacation, I'm always all worried about them being alright. Abbie doesn't think I'm crazy, though, LOL! She's the only one I can talk to in family about dog training and health and all that, she doesn't get annoyed or bored by it.

That sounds like me. lol The person I talk to about the dogs is my little brother. He loves dogs too, so he'll actually listen to me. lol But then, I have to listen to my brothers going on and on and on and on about Basketball players and stats, and just about everything else (they could tell you how tall Foster (or anybody really) is, how much he weighs, who he plays for, how long he has been playing, and his shoe size. lol ) so they have to listen to me blab on about dogs. lol

everyone think my dog is way to hyper which he is. but I have to love him.

whats the family think of Strider, our German Shepherd? my brother and his family, my parents, my friends, aunts, uncles etc all love him. my wifes older brother adores him, as do her aunts, uncles, cousins, friends etc. the only family member who doesnt like him is my mother in law. but then she doesnt like much of anyone or anything.
as for strangers? most common responses when they see him are "ooh, he look like he want to eat somebody!!!", "wow, thats a big dog", "he is so beautiful", or "look at that wolf", "what do you think your doing bringing such a dangerous animal/wolf out in public?"