I needed a planter to transplant my basil plant to until I could finish my garden beds. My neighbor had one that has had a dead plant in it for two years now that a random person left in his yard. He was not home for me to ask, so I took it. I’ll tell him next time I see him.
My H would likely be horrified to know that in a pinch, I have used his electric razor to groom.
I have signed off on multiple clients to have emotional support animals because the animal was a cat. I would likely never do it for any other animal, including a dog. Liability for me seems much higher on dogs, etc than a cat. Plus, cats rule.
@kristahs15 I have a tenant who's support dog passed away. She's not a healthy person so isn't able to take the dog out as needed and such, so my unit is in bad shape. I actually asked the management company if we could deny a dog and push for a cat. They said no. Well, when she told me her parents recommended she get hamsters instead, I was on cloud 9! So, as a landlord, I thank you for that because dogs are bigger liabilities for us too.
I have a friend who just adopted a pit bull (speaking of liability). She's never had a dog before, and I'm worried she doesn't know what she's doing. Oh, and she lives in an apartment. I'm very much hoping she cleared the pit with her landlord... surely she thought of that...
@prpl11butterfly@jrm_14 Psh dogs are awesome. My confession is I've considered trying to have my oldest registered as an emotional support dog. But that's because I was taking her with me everywhere because of her anxiety, not mine. Although her anxiety made me anxious that she'd injure herself. Luckily it has faded with old age.
Second FFFC: I'm stuck at home waiting for a business package to arrive. I should use this time to clean the house and help H pack since he's working for me all day tomorrow then leaving for a business trip on Sunday. Instead I'm on TB watching Call The Midwife. With intermediate breaks to tan a bit in the yard.
@skilledsailor, I'm on season 6 of that show. I usually watch it while my daughter is napping, and I alternate between wanting to go pick her up and hug her, being repulsed and thanking Jesus that I am of child bearing age today and not at any time in the past!
@jrm_14, I feel like people are so abusive of having a registered emotional support/service pet. It annoys me because it is harmful to those who actually need one.
DD has a cat that we got for her purely for emotional support. He is awesome. He helps her go to sleep and calms her during meltdowns and anxiety attacks.
@holly321 Yes, people are abusive of ESAs. I won’t do the paperwork for every single person. When I do it, I only do it for cats partly because as they tend to be less abused as ESAs (and again, because- well, cats). Cats are more difficult to take in public, etc.
@wishiwaspreggo We have a pit bull mix. It pains me you’d worry about her based on the breed. Most pit bulls I have interacted with are very loving. As with any breed, it has a lot to do with the owner.
Cats rule. Totally support cats as ESA's. Mine are unofficial, i would never register them because I don't want to abuse the system, but they definitely work in that capacity.
@jrm_14 - YES. Lots of people I know have pit bulls and they're all the sweetest dogs. I really think it comes down to the owner and how they treat/train/handle the dogs. Same goes for German shepherds, etc.
We had a pit mix years ago, and she was so sassy, but IMO was because her mother was a Chihuahua. And our German Shepherd is so proteftipr and smart, it is amazing. He can be a bit rough and accidentally knock kids (and the other day, me over) but he is a big baby and doesn't realize his size.
@SkilledSailor I honestly wouldn't care if she had a dog if she was physically able to take the dog out to to it's business. She was when she first moved in but then her dog got sick and passed. She got a puppy and by that time her issues were getting worse and the puppy wasn't properly trained.
I don't judge the breed, I judge the owners. This maniac is Pitbull, Doberman, Rottweiler, and a touch of black lab. He's a big baby with a big bark. I think he could live up to his breeding stereo types but only if his people are threatened. ETA he thinks he's a lap dog. A 60lb lap dog....
I'm only supposed to wear jeans to work on Friday, but I wore jeans yesterday. I knew it wasn't Friday, but for some reason I just wore jeans without thinking about it. Oops.
@jrm_14 - Yes. I am worried about my friend as an owner. I'm less concerned about the dog's breed but I mentioned it's a pit because she lives in an apartment, and most in my town don't allow them. I'm worried because her lifestyle isn't conducive to dog ownership, much less a young working breed. She works long hours, lives in a small apartment, and I love her but she's lazy. She doesn't put any more effort into anything than absolutely necessary and I can't picture her walking/exercising the dog on a daily basis. I have a mini dachshund and while he doesn't require much exercise these days (he's 14 years old and paralyzed) he needed long daily walks when he was young and we'd play nightly games of fetch with him or else he'd get restless and bored. Dogs require a lot of commitment, energy, and exercise. I am afraid the poor animal will end up back in the shelter because she didn't really sit and think about what she was getting herself into.
I once saw two ESA's almost get into a fight at the DMV. If you're going to abuse the system so you can take your french bulldog every where with you, at least make sure they are civilized in public places...
And +1 to loving bully breeds. Our pibble mix is so sweet with our daughter and just the best dog ever. He's 7 now and I will be so sad when he eventually dies.
It makes me so sad when people get puppies, especially when they can't take care of them. Yes they are adorable, but there are so many dogs in shelters, and even puppies in shelters will most likely get adopted. We purposely got an adolescent dog and he's been the best dog ever. He was already house trained, leash trained, generally socialized, and unlike a puppy (who are ALL energetic) we could see his personality and decide if his energy level fit with ours. Especially friends with kids wanting to get a dog for the first time, I push them to adopt a slightly older dog and not a puppy.
DD1: June '16 DD2: March ‘19 :::: Married since 2011 :::: USN Wife ::::
@meggyme Not everyone who has an ESA is abusing the system. The behavior of the animals does not necessarily equate system abuse, either. I do agree for any animal to be in public they need to be well trained.
@jrm_14 I'm not assuming everyone with an ESA is abusing it. I suppose I'm confusing ESA with service animals in that there are training certifications required.
DD1: June '16 DD2: March ‘19 :::: Married since 2011 :::: USN Wife ::::
I once saw two ESA's almost get into a fight at the DMV. If you're going to abuse the system so you can take your french bulldog every where with you, ::snip::
@meggyme I read the above sentence read as if you were saying people with ESAs are abusing the system
@meggyme adopting animals is hard though. DH and I wouldn't be acceptable candidates because we both work full time. It's not acceptable to them to leave the dog home alone all day. I was a reference for my BFF when she got her first pooch and they grilled me hard about her and her SOs work schedule. If it were not for the fact that she's on day shift and he's night they wouldn't have been approved.
@prpl11butterfly, I agree, it is hard to adopt, the rules are too strict. When we were trying to get our dog, we were renting an apartment from DHs grandfather. (He owns many houses/apartments) our lease agreement specified no pets, a rule he did not enforce and told us to get a dog. Then most shelters required a fenced yard. We eventually gave up and found our beagle.
@jrm_14, I will post a picture as soon as I find it. Her mother we know was Chihuahua, the vet said she was mixed with pit and something else. When she ran, you could really see it in her face.
I couldn't think of a UO or confession before, but now I have one that sort of falls under both.
We want a dog in the future, and it's a 99% chance we will be buying a puppy from someone. Mainly because with small children in the house, I'm not risking getting an animal that has bad habits, snapping, biting, whatever already trained into it. I want to train it up from the beginning. I've had a number of negative experiences as an adult with shelter animals. There are rarely puppies at shelters, in my experience. I keep an eye on our local shelter's website that posts all the animals currently available for adoption. Nine out of ten say they can't be around young children! So there goes the vast majority of the pool to pick from right off the bat. And I'm also not risking a breed or partial breed that I'm not familiar with. I don't want to, surprise!, have a dog that needs significantly more attention or activity than I thought because it's a breed or partial breed that I didn't know about because the shelter people didn't know about it.
On top of that, I dislike a significant number of shelters' policies, as evidenced in part up thread. Such as not allowing you to get a pet if you're at work all day or requiring you to have a fenced in yard. The shelter in my hometown growing up wouldn't let friends of ours get a dog because they commented during the process that they would not allow it on the furniture!
@lovesclimbing I'm with you on that one. I think the people who adopt shelter pets are amazing, but it was just not the right choice for us. I wanted to be able to start from scratch, like you said, and I was so afraid of dealing with any aggressive or unfriendly behavior. Plus, my husband is allergic to several types of dogs, so we wanted to make sure to get a hypoallergenic poodle blend without having to wonder what type of dog it was. We got our dog from a breeder several years ago, and it was a good decision for us. Honestly, FFFC, I will admit I'm kind of a lazy person at home, so I knew I wouldn't have the energy to devote to a shelter dog that may or may have issues. I know not all dogs would have issues, but it's just what I've seen from almost all of my friends who have dogs from shelters.
UO: I don't get the hype with the royal family or why so many people are obsessed with them. I can see why people in the UK would be so interested in them, but I don't understand why so many people in the U.S. are. It's hard to avoid any news about them lately! To each his/her own though. I know lots of people don't understand my Disney obsession.
I have zero issues with people buying puppies/dogs from breeders, as long as they're from reputable breeders. Not people who have an oops litter and then want to sell them for $100 a piece because they spent $20 on their first series of shots, or people who are basically puppy mills and let their dogs breed every heat so they can sell their AKC registered dogs, who haven't had any health tests done, usually aren't of good temperament, but they still get sold for $500 because they're registered...
But, on the subject of shelters: When we were looking for our first dog together as a couple/family, I searched through every shelter and rescue within a 60 mile radius of our area. There was usually one of two things that kept me from going with one of the organizations: their requirements for adopting (fenced in yard, someone home all day/not being left alone for more than 2 hours, no kids under the age of 7/9/13), or their fees. I found a lot of dogs that I would have loved to have gotten to meet and potentially adopted from two of the rescues in our area, but their fees were outrageous. $800 for a puppy? That's about as much as I'd pay for a purebred dog from a reputable breeder, depending on the breed. I had one organization tell me they wouldn't adopt to us because of me being a college student. Despite the fact that I was ~23 at the time, married, we owned our own home, and both of us had jobs... They wouldn't adopt to a college student period. And they knew I was a student, so they wouldn't adopt to MH, either...
I get wanting the perfect home for an animal, but, for some of these places I felt like they really just wanted one type of household and nothing else would work. It got pretty ridiculous pretty quick.
I get a little sad when people are anti REPUTABLE breeders entirely bc I would be sad if all purebreds went away completely. That said, a lot of breeders are just puppy mills and that makes me so so so sad. When we got our dog as a puppy we visited her three times (for multiple hours each time) before we took her home. And our dog is family. Like, I take it really seriously that she is a living creature and I am her voice. That doesn’t mean she gets everything she wants (just like a child doesn’t) but she gets everything she needs, and she’s loved and valued as family is.
That makes me sad that so many of you couldn't adopt from rescues because of their stringent requirements. We couldn't adopt from the Corgi rescue because we were TTGP and they don't adopt out to anyone with kids younger than 6. It's a nipping habit apparently. But the Aussie rescue was great and we got a pre-screened, house trained dream of a dog. No fenced in back yard, multiple days a week where they're alone 8+ hours (although not every day), planning on kids. It's frustrating when rescues make their requirements so strict that perfectly loving homes end up passing on working with them.
Re: UO+FFFC 4/27
My H would likely be horrified to know that in a pinch, I have used his electric razor to groom.
I have signed off on multiple clients to have emotional support animals because the animal was a cat. I would likely never do it for any other animal, including a dog. Liability for me seems much higher on dogs, etc than a cat. Plus, cats rule.
Second FFFC: I'm stuck at home waiting for a business package to arrive. I should use this time to clean the house and help H pack since he's working for me all day tomorrow then leaving for a business trip on Sunday. Instead I'm on TB watching Call The Midwife. With intermediate breaks to tan a bit in the yard.
DD has a cat that we got for her purely for emotional support. He is awesome. He helps her go to sleep and calms her during meltdowns and anxiety attacks.
@wishiwaspreggo We have a pit bull mix. It pains me you’d worry about her based on the breed. Most pit bulls I have interacted with are very loving. As with any breed, it has a lot to do with the owner.
@jrm_14 - YES. Lots of people I know have pit bulls and they're all the sweetest dogs. I really think it comes down to the owner and how they treat/train/handle the dogs. Same goes for German shepherds, etc.
Married: 2016
BFP #1 4/23/18, blighted ovum 5/29/18
BFP#2 7/14/18, DS 4/5/19
And our German Shepherd is so proteftipr and smart, it is amazing. He can be a bit rough and accidentally knock kids (and the other day, me over) but he is a big baby and doesn't realize his size.
I don't judge the breed, I judge the owners. This maniac is Pitbull, Doberman, Rottweiler, and a touch of black lab. He's a big baby with a big bark. I think he could live up to his breeding stereo types but only if his people are threatened. ETA he thinks he's a lap dog. A 60lb lap dog....
And +1 to loving bully breeds. Our pibble mix is so sweet with our daughter and just the best dog ever. He's 7 now and I will be so sad when he eventually dies.
It makes me so sad when people get puppies, especially when they can't take care of them. Yes they are adorable, but there are so many dogs in shelters, and even puppies in shelters will most likely get adopted. We purposely got an adolescent dog and he's been the best dog ever. He was already house trained, leash trained, generally socialized, and unlike a puppy (who are ALL energetic) we could see his personality and decide if his energy level fit with ours. Especially friends with kids wanting to get a dog for the first time, I push them to adopt a slightly older dog and not a puppy.
@jrm_14, I will post a picture as soon as I find it. Her mother we know was Chihuahua, the vet said she was mixed with pit and something else. When she ran, you could really see it in her face.
Honestly, FFFC, I will admit I'm kind of a lazy person at home, so I knew I wouldn't have the energy to devote to a shelter dog that may or may have issues. I know not all dogs would have issues, but it's just what I've seen from almost all of my friends who have dogs from shelters.
UO: I don't get the hype with the royal family or why so many people are obsessed with them. I can see why people in the UK would be so interested in them, but I don't understand why so many people in the U.S. are. It's hard to avoid any news about them lately! To each his/her own though. I know lots of people don't understand my Disney obsession.
DD1: 8/2014
TTC #2: 6/2017
BFP 8/3/2017 | CP 8/4
BFP 10/16/2017 | CP 10/21
BFP 12/18/2017 | CP 12/28
BFP 2/15/2018 | EDD: November 2nd | It's a girl!
DD2: 10/2018
But, on the subject of shelters:
When we were looking for our first dog together as a couple/family, I searched through every shelter and rescue within a 60 mile radius of our area. There was usually one of two things that kept me from going with one of the organizations: their requirements for adopting (fenced in yard, someone home all day/not being left alone for more than 2 hours, no kids under the age of 7/9/13), or their fees. I found a lot of dogs that I would have loved to have gotten to meet and potentially adopted from two of the rescues in our area, but their fees were outrageous. $800 for a puppy? That's about as much as I'd pay for a purebred dog from a reputable breeder, depending on the breed.
I had one organization tell me they wouldn't adopt to us because of me being a college student. Despite the fact that I was ~23 at the time, married, we owned our own home, and both of us had jobs... They wouldn't adopt to a college student period. And they knew I was a student, so they wouldn't adopt to MH, either...
I get wanting the perfect home for an animal, but, for some of these places I felt like they really just wanted one type of household and nothing else would work. It got pretty ridiculous pretty quick.
Me: 30 | DH: 34 | DSS: 14 | DS: 4
PG #2, EDD 10/12/2023