Any Advice On This?

JiminDenver wrote:
As with anything in life, having a pet has trade offs. They are not a toy that you can put on a shelf when you don't feel like playing with them.

You will loose some freedom, you will incur expenses, (wait till you see the vet bills), you will have to put effort into training, exercising, grooming and cleaning up after them. You will have to modify your behavior and choices around them. Finally there will come the day all pet owners dread and your heart WILL be broken.

All you get out of all of that is this tiny fuzzy ball of fur with the biggest brown eyes you will ever see. When you come home the wiggle will start in it's tail and grow until the whole body is shaking with excitement and the affection just explodes out of it. You are home and all is right with the world again.

When you are ill, they will know it and you will see the worry in their eyes. When there is a threat big or small, they will stand their ground and protect their master and their home. When they learn a trick, the joy in your face will be more reward than any treat you may give them.

Our schnauzers bark at everything and because of it we avoid campgrounds. The upside is we boondock in the most spectacular places and never have to put up with others dogs, generators, kids, music, parties etc.
Because of them we have a much larger rig than we wanted originally. Now that we have it we appreciate the extra space.
We never leave the trailer without them, it would kill me if something happened while we were gone. Then again our sight seeing is driving the 4x4 trails and they love that too.

Our dogs give us a reason to come home, not because the need to go potty but because our companions are waiting for us. (they also make a excellent excuse to get going when the in laws are boring ;)) They fill what was a empty dark house with life, affection and purpose. They are our babies after all. We don't look at things like walking, grooming, caring for as things we have to do but rather things we get to do because we have pets. We just lost one to illness and what I wouldn't do to get to walk her or groom her or love her up just one more time.

BTW we said no more after we had to put the last two down 12 years ago. 6 months later we were driving half way across the state looking for just the right pups. In the 11 years since we haven't given up more to have them than they give us everyday. I'm sure there will be more after these to fill the holes they will leave in our hearts when they are gone.

Only you will be able to decide if what you will get out of having a pet will be worth the effort and expense.