The Childfree Life

My apologies if I offend anyone here. I have never been a dog person (have had cats since I was born), I don't like dogs that much, and don't understand dog ownership any better than I do parenthood. Dogs smell, they bark, they whine, and they need.

I've been between homes since August and have stayed in three house with dogs. UGH! They are so needy! The one at my current home follows me around and seems to think I always have something for her. She jumps on me and paws at me and I fight the urge to push her away. In October, I rented a room at a house where giant something-or-other lived, the dog probably weighs 90 lbs. and has long, sharp nails. He'd jump on me so hard, I'd nearly fall over. Which brings me to my title about dogs and children. Dog owners can be just as remiss as parents. If your dog is in my face (or other body parts), discipline it. Don't allow the mutt to almost knock me down and scratch me. Don't allow it to harass me when I'm trying to get dinner together.

OK. Rant over.

I can empathise, but as usual it's down to the wrangler.....just like you get breeders who take no responsibility to train and educate their kids, you get the same with some dog owners.

I can't look at a slobbery dog without gagging, same as I can't look at a snotty or food encrusted kid.

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Too bright to breed

I could introduce you to my dog, Esme. She doesn't whine, bark or smell bad. I mean it about the barking -- maybe once a week she'll give one quick yap about something like a noise outside.

She isn't needy: although she loves meeting people, she'll leave you alone if you don't pay her attention. She sleeps most of the day -- I hardly know she is there. She doesn't like to get out of bed much before 10 am, so no nagging to go out. I can leave her home all day, and she's happy enough. She doesn't beg for food at the table, because she has never been fed tidbits. She doesn't get on the furniture.

She's not really got a lot of personality, but she's very easy to have around.

I'm a dog owner and love dogs in general, but I ge where you're coming from.

Whether it's kids or dogs or 18th century velvet frock coats, if you're not interested in it or bothered by it, then you're not and that's that.

Dogs are a lot of work, some of the same work that's involved with kids. Yet, somehow, I hate kids and I love dogs. Go figure.

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"There is no bad weather, only bad clothes." - Unknown

Yes, my issue is with their parents. If you can't discipline, don't have a dog, or a child for that matter.

Being followed around by the dogs I've met these past few months is like getting attention from a guy I'm not interested in. What part of 'go away' do you not understand? I know --dogs are not people.

I'm not a mean person by nature and am a vegetarian because I love animals. But somehow, I get an almost savage pleasure from ignoring dogs and in shutting the door on this one when I retreat to my room. It's quite similar to when I was younger and turned down the guys who asked me out, ones I'd never date in a million years. Maybe there's a lesson to learn here?

I'm 100% all in when it comes to being CF. However, I would hands-down spend a day with kids over a day with dogs.

Oh I dunno, at least you can slap a dog on the nose with a rolled up magazine, do that with a kid and see what it gets you......Even though I'm not a fan of pets in general, I'd much rather smack a kid with a couple of pounds of 'Vogue' than I would a dog.

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Too bright to breed

Dogs...I have nothing against them as a species, but like children most are under-trained and poorly mannered, and it's usually the fault of the owners. Dogs need (and subconsciously seek) education and firm leadership, and that takes a ton of time and energy.

I sometimes like other people's dogs. My friends' dogs are good. They're fun to play with and hang out with. I also just now realized that just as I gravitate away from people with poor parenting skills, I also avoid those who have poor dog-raising skills.

But I don't want the amount of work required, especially for puppies. If it's not toilet trained, I am not the person to be in charge of it, regardless of species. For my own elderly cat I pretty much feed her, water her, and clean her litter box. Oh, and I brush her sometimes but even that's not too bad. She has a short coat and she's still flexible enough to groom herself quite well.

BUT...if I had to spend the day with either a dog or a kid, I would probably choose the dog. I would definitely take dog-sitting over kid-sitting, though I don't do either one for free.

I think I'd spend a day with kids because I am more comfortable with them than dogs. I've never wanted to kick a child other than my uncle's younger son but have wanted to kick plenty of dogs. Kids for the most part don't bother me. I get along with ones whose parents have raised them well (I do know many who have and have cool kids). I grow tired of people giving me the stink eye because I want them to tell Fido to stop jumping/pawing/ripping at me.

I would spend a day with dogs over kids any day of the week. Dogs, like all animals, get a pass because they are not humans. They probably have very good reasons for doing certain things based on dog logic. Children, on the other hand, are human. They fully understand what "Sit the fuck down and shut the fuck up" means, yet many still don't listen. It's a far worse transgression than a dog not listening. A dog may not understand. A child is just being a willful little shit.

^^^ Animals are about as honest as it gets. Any misunderstanding between an animal and a human, IMO, the fault lies with the human.

That's one of the things I like about dogs (and animals in general); they live in the moment and behave pretty much in a way that serves their needs right then. There's generally no duplicity. It's why, when I'm feeding my dog, she tries to eat the food right out of the container while I'm serving her. She's not being greedy, nor is she being helpful; she just sees food and she's hungry, so she thinks, "I'm hungry, there's the food, nom nom nom!"

I can deal with that a lot better than some chocolate-stained kid telling me to my face they didn't get into the cookies.

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"There is no bad weather, only bad clothes." - Unknown