Are You Ready for 15 Years of Dog Love and Responsibility?

I wasn’t sure what to write today. I have a list of helpful ideas for dog owners—but my heart’s not in checklist mode right now.

 

So I’m writing from the gut. No polish, no SEO. Just the truth:

 

All I want is for dogs to have a shot at a good life. Period.

River, the German Shorthaired Pointer

Yesterday, all I could think about was a female German Shorthaired Pointer who was “urgent” at the local animal shelter. Allegedly, someone saw her being dumped out of a car near the river. This witness picked her up and took her to the shelter. Of course, you can never really know whether she was truly dumped or if her owner was the one claiming to have found her as a stray. 

 

In the photo, you can see that her toenails are dangerously, uncomfortably long. The look on her face in the shelter photo is absolutely heart-wrenching, her eyes big and scared, her expression and body language submissive.

 

The shelter also said she was “covered in urine staining, so she may have been crated/kenneled chronically.” They were calling her River because she was dumped by the nearby river. River is a perfect name for a GSP, but it’s so heartbreakingly sad all at once. 

 

This afternoon, the dog has officially been sprung from the shelter and is now in the custody of a local birddog rescue. This means that she is safe and will go to someone who understands the breed and what she needs to thrive as a dog. She will go to someone who will not let her nails grow excessively long or keep her in a crate so long that she becomes stained with urine. 

 

In some ways getting abandoned was the best thing that could have happened to her. Except, her life did not have to be that way. Multiple people failed her to get her to that point. 

 

River’s story isn’t rare. That’s the most challenging part. It’s one of hundreds I see every week on social media—and it’s why I write. It’s why I wrote my book, and why I was so harsh about what being a dog owner truly means. 

The Other Side of Dog Ownership

While thinking about River, I am also thinking about two friends of mine who don’t know each other, who live in opposite parts of the country, who both lost their senior Labrador retrievers in the last few days.

 

Both of them are utterly heartbroken. Both of them did everything they could to save their dogs. Numerous vet visits, medicine, supplements, tests, and trying to feed them anything they could to entice them to eat.

These are the dog owners I surround myself with. The ones who fight, grieve, and love with everything they have. It is a stark contrast from the abandoned dogs, the neglected dogs, the maltreated dogs. 

 

I think about how hard I fought to save my sweet Tinkerbell earlier this summer. Cooking her turkey, eggs, chicken breasts, broiled flounder, ANYTHING that was low in copper that she might eat. How I would sit on the kitchen floor with Tink, hand-feeding her tiny pieces of whatever she would eat because large bites were too much for her. How I pretended to eat it myself, and fed her off the human plates when she snubbed her bowl. I did everything short of baby-birding the food for her, because she was both my best friend and my responsibility. 

 

I’m often afraid of sounding too preachy. I am by no means perfect. I am a very flawed human.

 

However, having dogs is one of the greatest joys of my life. It’s an honor and a privilege to be trusted with their care. It’s the ultimate compliment that they love me back. But make no mistake, it’s not always easy. It’s not all naps and snuggles. There are frustrations, setbacks, heartbreak, and more training than you ever thought possible. 

 

I don’t know how to get the word out to the people who are not committed, dog-obsessed humans. I wrote a book about it, but then stopped promoting it because a woman I barely knew said it was too harsh. Except: I MEANT for it to be harsh. I wanted to save dogs BEFORE someone failed them. 

 

I don’t mean the evil people, like the people who intentionally torture animals. I am not naive enough to think that a “consider this before you get a dog” message is going to have an impact on them. 

 

I want to impact the ones who get a dog and then don’t take care of them, who re-home them without a second thought, or lock them up in a crate for their entire life. The ones who ignore them or get angry with them for acting like dogs even though they were never taught the expectations of how to act. 

 

I would sit potential dog owners down during the decision-making process and ask them to really dig deep and go through some soul-searching questions. Nobody wants to read that they should NOT get a dog in the first place.

 

Having a dog is part of the American dream. Grow up, get a job, get a home, find a partner, get a dog, maybe have kids. Live happily ever after. But I would ask people to consider that it might not be the right fit for them, and that if they really love dogs, they will choose not to get one. 

Here’s what I want potential dog owners to consider:

• Where do you see yourself in 10-15 years? Dogs are a 10-15-year commitment if you’re lucky. Are you willing to keep the same dedication to your dog that you have today for the next 10-15 years? Through child rearing and job demands, changes to your residence, and to your own health? Are you willing to make provisions for them in advance in case something happens to you while they are still alive? 

 

• Are you willing to train the dog, build a bond with them, and show compassion for the fact that they are different from you? Dogs are thinking, feeling, sentient creatures. If you do not teach them the expectations of life with you, they will figure it out for themselves, and I am confident you will not like their solution.

 

• Are you willing to spend quality time with your dog every single day? Not just next to them while you doom scroll on social media, but actual time with them. Walking, training, playing, interacting. Can you commit to not just locking them up in a crate their entire lives, or “putting them away” in the next room so you don’t have to deal with them? Do you want to really spend time with them, like you would with a friend or family member, because they are a blend of both, and they need and deserve that time with you? 

 

• Are you willing to make sacrifices for them? To choose the pet-friendly housing instead of re-homing them. To skip the after-work drinks because they are waiting for you to go to the bathroom? To turn down job opportunities if they cannot go with you? To go without something yourself because the vet bill was outside your budget? To have your life inconvenienced because they come first? 

The Vow You Make To Your Dog

For a long time, I had a vow to your dog on my old website, like a marriage vow.

 

I take you to be my dog. 

To have and to hold from this day forward. 

In good times and in bad. 

In sickness and in health. 

For richer or poorer. 

To love and to cherish

As long as we both shall live. 

 

I took it down because it seemed cheesy and silly. But it’s what we should be promising every single time we bring a dog into our world. 

If you’re thinking about getting a dog—or if you’re already in the thick of it—I hope this post gives you something to sit with.

 

Not shame.

 

Not judgment.

 

Just a reminder that dogs are not accessories. They’re family. They’re work. They’re joy. They’re our hearts. They feel. They love. They need us to be in it for every day of their lives. 

 

To donate to the rescue group who is in the process of saving River the GSP and other gun dog breeds, click here: https://www.illinoisbirddogrescue.org