[JoyStick]

I most likely won't do this but it have cross my mind especially when my dogs are being little shit heads. I love my dogs but I'm tired of the responsibilities that come with it. Have any of yall given away any pets?

[ryanf]

No, but I purposely avoid having pets. I love dogs, but I can't even get a moment's peace on the toilet when they are around. It's hard to be spontaneous in life when you own a dog, I suspect this is similar when you have kids. I have several friends with dogs. They constantly have to be worried about feeding it, letting it out, etc. They can't just randomly go to the beach, drive a couple hours to the mountains for a weekend, go hiking, many of the things we otherwise like to do.

It would be tough to give them up if I had them though, I get really attached to pets. Especially dogs. Very loyal.

[roberto]

Yeah. When I was younger I got a dog cause I worked on the farm. Big mistake, even with a country lifestyle like that it was too much hassle. I'm too selfish to look after anything else. I gave him away after about two months, never had pets since.

[Cr33pin]

Yeah I gave my dog away before I left for Asia in 2011. Was the best dog I ever had or every could have. Went everywhere with me, loved going swimming, hiking, out on the boat up at the lake, or just laying around the house. Would bark when someone knocked on the door then once I opened it he went back to doing his thing around the house. Never jumped on people or other animals. Could walk him off his leash and soon as I said his name he was right back standing at my side. He was big and orange and everyone loved him and wanted to pet him (specially girls)

I gave him to one of my old girlfriends who loved him to death. She takes good care of him and spoils him so it made giving him away easier. At the time I planed on traveling extensively for a few years and knew I couldn't take the dog. I miss him sometimes but I just look back and I am grateful for the years I got to own him.

[Rutting Elephant]

I actually told my broker the other day I would consider paying 60K for them to take a charter plane with me. Cargo is unacceptable.

[Suits]

I love dogs, but they are a lot of work. I'm considering getting one or two in the next year when I'm back in China, since I'll be hiring a personal assistant that can handle a lot of their care, but I'd only go for it if I new that I wouldn't be doing extensive travelling in the next few years. Even then, dogs easily live more than ten years, so it is a serious commitment.

I don't like the idea of having to give a pet away after forming a bond.

That being said, provided he isn't abused and doesn't have to sit in a tiny house all day, I don't think the dog cares where he lives.

[mikeymike]

This actually makes me sick, responsibility is always a hassle but if you can think about giving them up and not just a passing thought if you can seriously envision getting rid of them you should never have gotten them in the first place. I volunteer at a shelter and see so many amazing dogs come in from owners who think they did the dog some big favor, gave him a good few years before they had better shit to do, yeah well they formed a bond and you dont see the misery they go thru when the life they knew is over and you go off to have fun. If youre not prepared to make a 15 year commitment, foster, where you know your time is finite, or just dont be a selfish dick and realize you have other priorities and thus dont get a dog in the first place. Cr33pin was lucky to find somebody who would give it a great life but most dogs arent so lucky. I travel frequently, I have people who will step up and take care of them or I use a kennel, its pricy but I can check up on them 24/7, I dont get to travel endlessly months on end but thats the commitment I made. If I do go on an extended trip id take my dogs with me.

[MHaes]

I'm with mikey on this, it's pretty fucked up to get a dog without being able to handle the responsibilities of caring for it.

A lot of guys like to shit on single moms going out to to clubs a lot or whatnot while leaving their kids alone at home, to me this is pretty much the same thing. Just as fucked up to do.

[Flavius Aetius]

While I strongly disagree with your thought process of dog=too much responsibility so get rid of dog, please do not take the dog to the pound to die. You can work with no kill shelters/dog rescue non-profits in your area to help place the dog. PM me if need any assistance.

I have 3 dogs and yes the require a lot of attention, but they give you back much more in return.

[KorbenDallas]

Dogs are great, number 1, number 2, dogs help get you laid.

[dads]

If only dogs could understand what "I'm going to give you to the pound" means.

[teh_skeeze]

I hate leaving my dog home when I go to work 5 days a week, I could never give her away. She's the only bitch that doesn't go away when shit hits the fan.

[big poppa]

I think a lot of you guys are exaggerating the responsibility it takes to look after them. I've trained my dog up quite well, can walk him without a lead, he won't go on the roads, and he's ok being left alone for 12 hours at a time if he has to be (although he almost never is left alone for that long).

In fact, I picked him up from a family who were going to drop him at the pound because they didn't know how to train him and he was peeing all over their house. He had deep psychological issues from what I assume was abuse, but I fixed him up with some training and patience.

Basically, if you train them up well from the start they really aren't anything but a great companion and certainly aren't a burden. Particularly if you have a family member or friend nearby to look after them should you go away somewhere.

Giving them away to someone you don't know, or a pound, should be an absolute last resort. I don't think I could live with the guilt

[nek]

From what it looks like it seems hard to do.

[caracal]

I have a cat and a dog and I couldn't give either of them up. A dog becomes part of your pack, will always have your back and be there when no one else will. My cat is quite loyal too (which I know isn't common for a cat) My cat and dog will stay with me for life and I will stay with them for life (personally I don't care if they're cheating on me by being fed by other people on the side)

[JoyStick]

Thanks everybody for your feedback. I'm not going to give up my dogs.

[MidniteSpecial]

My boy let his dog go free in a park once. Pretty fucked up.

[jamaicabound]

I'm not one of these animal crazy people who think animals are as important or more important than humans or anything like that. I also realize there's some circumstances when giving a dog away is a selfless thing to do if you can't provide the time and attention to the dog. That said I also think it says alot about a person integrity, loyalty, manliness, etc if they can casually just get rid of a dog because they don't feel like having a dog anymore or find it to be an inconvenience.

I have two dogs. Yeah having dogs can be a pain in the ass. I oftentimes can't do long weekend activities with friends cuz i have dogs, I oftentimes can't stay out all night cuz I have dogs, and yeah they can be pains in the assess and expensive and frustrating. That said I love dogs, love my dogs, I feel like they add more to my life than they take away.

I think when you buy or adopt a dog you are making a lifelong commitment not be my friend until your an inconvenience. I routinely see people on craigslit like I'm moving to a new place and they don't accept dogs so I have to give my dog away. If you have a dog you purposely don't seek out apartments that have no pet policies.

My gf is super allergic to dogs, whole body will breakout in hives, can't breath, runny nose, puffy eyes, etc. For the first few months we dated she played it off and didn't tell me. After a while she told me she was geting weekly allergy shots and allergies really bothered her. It didn't really used to be an issue as my dogs stayed down the street at my parents most of the time however they moved and I moved into their place and had my dogs fulltime so she was around them all the time. She had sorta tried to get me to toy with the idea of sending them down south to live with my parents. I made it clear that wans't happening. I told her I'd buy a better vacuum, and try to accomodate her by keeping the dogs downstairs not lettting them upstairs in the bathroom. I have a chair thats hers that the dogs aren't allowed on. I have made concessions and tried to make things easier on her and its a bit of a pain but I'm wiling to do it. I made it very clear to her however that I had the dogs first and the dogs weren't going anywhere. If she made me choose between her and my dogs she was going to lose.

I'll get off my soapbox but thats my 2 cents.

[Horus]

If you are in your 20s, feeling pretty settled and looking to get a dog, please think really hard. In a few years you will be on a completely different path in life and your dog may not necessarily fit into your plans. Kinda like a woman. Do you really think you will be in the same house/city/country in ten years time?

[jamaicabound]

(02-08-2014 02:03 PM)mikeymike Wrote:  

This actually makes me sick, responsibility is always a hassle but if you can think about giving them up and not just a passing thought if you can seriously envision getting rid of them you should never have gotten them in the first place. I volunteer at a shelter and see so many amazing dogs come in from owners who think they did the dog some big favor, gave him a good few years before they had better shit to do, yeah well they formed a bond and you dont see the misery they go thru when the life they knew is over and you go off to have fun. If youre not prepared to make a 15 year commitment, foster, where you know your time is finite, or just dont be a selfish dick and realize you have other priorities and thus dont get a dog in the first place. Cr33pin was lucky to find somebody who would give it a great life but most dogs arent so lucky. I travel frequently, I have people who will step up and take care of them or I use a kennel, its pricy but I can check up on them 24/7, I dont get to travel endlessly months on end but thats the commitment I made. If I do go on an extended trip id take my dogs with me.

(04-22-2014 11:11 AM)Horus Wrote:  

If you are in your 20s, feeling pretty settled and looking to get a dog, please think really hard. In a few years you will be on a completely different path in life and your dog may not necessarily fit into your plans. Kinda like a woman. Do you really think you will be in the same house/city/country in ten years time?

Definatley some truth to this. I got my first dog in my early 20's was like okay I got my own place, I like dogs, I'm gonna get a dog. At the time I dind't really have money to travel nor did I really have any desire to move.

Fast forwards a few years, had an opportunity for a promotion but required alot of traveling. Now granted I probably wouldn't have wnated the job whether I had dogs or not but having dogs made it out of the question. I would either have to get rid of my dogs or I would have had to spend hundreds of dollars a week boarding them and at that point whats the point of having them anyway.

Also, considering looking into moving out of the country, dogs make that muchmore compliated and expensive. Considering moving places, wellt hey better allow pets. Heck, even just a simple vacation for a week I have an extra $300 I have to spend on boarding a dog so now a trip that costs $1000 is gonna cost me $1300. Fortunately I have a friend whoh likes my dogs and will dogsit for a few weed candies but otherwise it would be costly

[Cr33pin]

(04-22-2014 11:11 AM)Horus Wrote:  

If you are in your 20s, feeling pretty settled and looking to get a dog, please think really hard. In a few years you will be on a completely different path in life and your dog may not necessarily fit into your plans. Kinda like a woman. Do you really think you will be in the same house/city/country in ten years time?

You hit the nail on the head! Thats what old people would say.

When I got my dog I was in my midish twenties and didn't have any interest in travel and had lived in the same town all my life except for my airforce years. I ended up moving two 4 or 5 different houses when I owned him and he moved to all of them with me. Then I discovered the RooshVforums and herd all these fantastic tales of travel, hot women, and overseas shenanigans. Fast forward 3 or 4 years and I was done with the USA and ready to travel. Theres no way I could have seen it coming when I made the decision to take the dog years before.

Again I did have a wonderful place for him to go with one of my ex girl friends who loved him more then she liked me. I still keep tabs on him and see tons of pics of him on her facebook and he is doing great. So I don't feel to bad about having to part with him.

[Glaucon]

My dream for when I am retired to have a cabin in the mountains, and have two german shepherd to go hunting with.

I will be the alpha of the pack for sure.