I am a 21 year old undergraduate female and eternal dog lover. I always had dogs growing up in Nigeria (West Africa) and I have waited a good 6 -7 years since coming in the UK, to feel ready to adopt a dog again.
I love this forum because you guys are so vocal about how much you love your cocker doggies and I don't at all feel cookie about my longstanding, passionate yearning for a dog when I read your posts. So I know you guys will give me the best advice.
I recently came to the conclusion that I was ready to adopt a dog. I did alot of online research about owning dogs including long term financial costs, travelling abroad with dogs (something I will definately be doing a lot of in the future), caring for dogs on a day to day basis and research into a breed of dog that matches my life style e.g. living in busy cities (London), living in a flat, no being too noisy, easily transportable, sturdy and can withstand a fairly active lifestyle with lots of change and new experiences, intelligent and easy to train, fairly reasonable grooming requirements, little shedding, friendly and loving. I fell in love with the cocker spaniel.
Please, please, please advice if you think that I am leaving any important considerations out of my decision to get a puppy! As an undergraduate, I won't be in school all day and I know I would take the dog with me whenever I could (I want to get it used to new environments from a young age). I am planning to work and travel as a freelance journalist when I finish my degree which again means flexibility of time. But I will have to travel alot - is this cruel for the dog or would it, if properly trained, come to love travel like me? :? I am also going to move to a house which I will be sharing with 2 female friends of mine, who are happy to help support me in caring for the dog (although they are not massive dog lovers), it will most likely have a garden but even if we got a flat, there is a lot of green in the area with are moving to, so a park would be easy to find.
Some friends have suggested I wait and not get it now, but my question is when is the time ever perfect to get a dog? I don't see my life ever being ideal in the sense that I will always have things going on, but the point to me seems to be how ready a person is to make a commitment to a dog. And not a commitment for right now - while my life is right - while I can accommodate one - while things continue to fit the ideal dog family picture - this to me is the fundamental fault in this line of thinking. Shouldn't the emphasis pressed to a potential dog owner be - Don't get a dog until you are ready to make the necessary changes, adjustments and accommodations to fit one into your life as it is now and in all the different ways that life can unexpectedly change?
I know that a dog would be a life long companion for me, one that I would appreciate having in the rather lonely world of travel and writing. I feel ready for one now, and don't personally see what there is to gain in me waiting. But I understand that my thinking may be biased by my desire for a dog, so I hand the decision over to you guys to make.
I am running a poll for 100 days. I will be ready to buy my pup in August 2004, you guys please decide for me whether you think I should get one or wait. Remebering that the price if you get it wrong would be one more homeless dog in a shelter, but if you get it right ... :mrgreen:
Thank you! Please help!