{"id":181,"date":"2011-02-13T18:14:12","date_gmt":"2011-02-13T23:14:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tessier-silky-terriers.com\/?page_id=181"},"modified":"2011-08-01T07:40:20","modified_gmt":"2011-08-01T11:40:20","slug":"what-makes-a-responsible-pet-owner","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/tessier-silky-terriers.com\/?page_id=181","title":{"rendered":"What Makes a Responsible Pet Owner?"},"content":{"rendered":"

I heard a story the other day from a friend who volunteers at the local animal shelter. We were having a coffee, when she turned to me.<\/p>\n

\u201cI gotta tell you what happened yesterday.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cRight before closing, I had this lady at my counter with a small black dog.<\/p>\n

\u2018It\u2019s not my fault,\u2019 the lady told me. \u2018This dog is obviously over-bred. I was promised that he wouldn\u2019t shed, but he does \u2013 everywhere. And he pees everywhere too.<\/p>\n

\u2018The kids begged and begged for a dog. I gave in but I told them, you\u2019ll have to take care of him yourselves. And of course they agreed. But did they? Of course not! It all got dumped on me. As usual. Never wanted the stupid thing in the first place.<\/p>\n

\u2018Last night I got up to get a drink of water and stepped straight into a big pile of dog poop. That was the final straw.<\/p>\n

\u2018I\u2019m sure you understand I did all I could. The dog is obviously over-bred. It\u2019s not my fault!\u2019<\/p>\n

My friend gave a deep sigh. \u201cThe woman so floored me, I couldn\u2019t think of what to say. I came through the counter, took the dog\u2019s leash and led him away. He\u2019s a sweet little boy and no trouble at all. I took a long walk afterwards.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow can people get it so wrong<\/em>?\u201d<\/p>\n

I shook my head. \u201cNo one ever tells people how<\/em> to be a good dog owner. Instead they get their ears and eyeballs filled up with stories of Evil Breeders. Victimhood is so much simpler than to stand up and take responsibility.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s way too easy to put a solitary bulls-eye on all breeders as the blanket cause of shelters full of abandoned animals.\u00a0 A good, responsible dog breeder is definitely part of the solution, but so is a responsible dog owner<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe popular press is curiously silent about what makes a good dog owner. It is loud on the subject of titillatingly horrific videos of stomach-turning breeding facilities, and we hear a lot these days about \u201cover-bred\u201d problem dogs.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut what about the other side of the coin?\u201d<\/p>\n

I thought about our conversation over the next several days. It was easy for me to think of what makes a responsible breeder. But what exactly is a good dog owner?<\/p>\n

Basically, I figured there were ten things to watch out for.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. A good owner is not in a rush to get a dog.<\/strong> She knows that she is purchasing a companion who will be with her for the next 15 years. She does not try to get a dog for under the Christmas tree or for a birthday.<\/li>\n
  2. She never gets a dog only \u201cfor the kids\u201d. <\/strong>She knows that at least one adult household member must be willing to be fully responsible for the animal.<\/li>\n
  3. Unless she plans to be a responsible breeder, she does not breed her dog and spays her or neuters him. <\/strong>She never wants to \u201cjust have one litter\u201d so the kids can see \u201cthe miracle of birth\u201d.<\/li>\n
  4. She realizes that even with busy modern lifestyles, dogs need exercise.<\/strong> This is includes regular walks. She knows that many canine behavior problems can be eliminated or at least mitigated with sufficient exercise.<\/li>\n
  5. Whenever possible, she takes her dog with her.<\/strong> She knows that a happy dog is a dog with lots of stimulation and interaction.<\/li>\n
  6. She microchips her dog and has him registered with one of the lost and found organizations.<\/strong> She also has him licensed with her county.<\/li>\n
  7. She keeps up with her dog\u2019s health.<\/strong> She checks him weekly for possible health issues and makes sure her dog gets regular wellness exams.<\/li>\n
  8. She trains her dog. <\/strong>This can be in formal classes or from a book, but dogs love to learn; they become more sociable and excellent companions through training. If her dog has behavior problems, she is persistent in looking for help and answers and keeps going until she finds workable answers. She also realizes that if there is a persistent problem, most likely there is something that she is doing that is perpetuating the problem.<\/li>\n
  9. She continues to educate herself as an owner for the life of her dog.<\/strong> She continues to learn about her breed, possible health issues and the latest in training protocols.<\/li>\n
  10. A good owner knows that once she has made the original commitment, her dog is her responsibility for life.<\/strong> Like a child or a marriage, there are no give backs because the dog is no longer convenient or entertaining.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    I gave my friend my friend the list. \u201cWhat do you think?\u201d<\/p>\n

    \u201cI\u2019m framing this and putting this on the wall behind the counter.\u201d<\/p>\n

    \u201cThat would be great; if it just helps one person, it\u2019ll be worth it.\u201d<\/p>\n

    I’ve heard about the excellent responsible pet ownership program they have in Calgary, Canada. Maybe that’s why that city has the lowest kill rate (how many pets are put to sleep) in North America?<\/p>\n

    Maybe this is the missing puzzle piece in the problem of pets in shelters?<\/p>\n

    Just maybe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    I heard a story the other day from a friend who volunteers at the local animal shelter. We were having a coffee, when she turned to me. \u201cI gotta tell you what happened yesterday.\u201d \u201cRight before closing, I had this lady at my counter with a small black dog. \u2018It\u2019s not my fault,\u2019 the lady […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":2,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-181","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tessier-silky-terriers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/181","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tessier-silky-terriers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tessier-silky-terriers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tessier-silky-terriers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tessier-silky-terriers.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=181"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/tessier-silky-terriers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/181\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":226,"href":"https:\/\/tessier-silky-terriers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/181\/revisions\/226"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tessier-silky-terriers.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tessier-silky-terriers.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=181"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}