Well, I still have plenty of economic questions, but today I don’t have much time to read and comment on the answers, so today's blog will be a bit lighter.
Yesterday Baseball boy and I scanned the internet to see about getting a new dog, since our beloved rottie passed away last month.
It is an exciting process, to pick out your new family member and anticipate all the precious memories you will build together.
I started out with the criteria that I want a guard dog. As I get older, and see more things going down around me, my "fear of the world" instincts have risen. I am too aware of being alone in underground garages, driving through hostile neighborhoods, and being alone in new apartments while baseball boy is on road trips.
Our rottie gave me the security due to her size. With her by my side, I knew no one would consider approaching me to do harm. But even she had her shortcomings. She was just the most people loving dog I have ever met. If someone actually did try and enter our apartment, I have a suspicion she would be the type to wag her little tail nub at them and follow them around trying to entice the intruder to pet her.
So new criteria, a dog that is a bit more aloof. A one man only dog. I have the years behind me to deal with a bit more of a guard dog than a lap dog.
My other criteria are to get the dog at a rescue. For me, the idea of buying from a breeder just means you are taking a home away from a dog sitting in a shelter cage, or abandoned on a road somewhere.
And ideally we want a dog that is around 1 years old. Our rottie was about 9 months when we got her and we lost sunglasses, a baseball glove, a retainer (ewww), and carpeting due to her chewing.
I have an application in to a swiss mountain dog rescue but since those dogs are not typically the type that needs rescuing, I could be on their waiting list a long time.
We looked at rottie rescues, but found a lot of half breed rotts, or rotts that were marked as not getting along with other dogs, kids ect. Plus, looking at some of the rottie faces- just opened up the wound on my heart from our last dog. I don’t know if I could bring another rottie into our house, let it sleep on our bed, eat from our dog dishes, and sleep on our couch without feeling I have replaced our previous dog.
A different breed seems like a different experience and a new dog. Not a replacement dog. Baseball boy has his heart set on another rottie though. I think he feels that no other breed will give him as positive an experience as our last dog did.
And then we looked at dog shelters in the surrounding area. We came across a few pit bull terriers that are definitely worth considering. The pit bulls are not very big, they average about 50 lbs, but I have met plenty of pitts and love their personality. I know that they look intimidating even though they are smaller.
A few problems with the shelters. Most won’t adapt to people who live 60 miles outside of their radius. I don’t know if Baseball boy and I count because we are here now, but will be moving cross country at the end of August.
Second, the adoption fee for one dog we really liked is $310!!! Oh Boy. For that price I could go to a breeder! I understand the cost of food, vets, housing and would gladly pay the organization in exchange for what they do to help the animals. But in another breath I really wonder how much of the general population they are turning off from adoptions?
Baseball boy and I ran the numbers, and $310 adoption fee, plus $50 to take new dog to the vet for a check up, plus $30 a month in food, plus $50 in dog toys/treats- that’s one hell of a start up cost to get a dog.
We decided to shelve it and wait until the season is over to re-asses our situation.
on a lighter note~
July 17th, 2008 at 03:59 pm
July 17th, 2008 at 04:23 pm 1216308203
July 17th, 2008 at 04:50 pm 1216309850
A friend of mine had a bull mastiff which was a big wuss, but appeared very aggressive by his barking and body language, but once you got close to him he would actually run (not from me of course, but he did that to my husband who he did not know as well).
Good luck with finding a good fit for your family.
July 17th, 2008 at 05:56 pm 1216313810
Bloomberg recently posted some news on the FOMC (Federal Open Market Committee), the guys who raise or lowere interest rates, meeting. They basically said ``with increased upside risks to inflation and inflation expectations, members believed that the next change in the stance of policy could well be an increase in the funds rate.''
July 18th, 2008 at 01:29 am 1216340992
May I make a recommendation? How about a little yippy dog? You already have brutish looking dog. Now, you just need one that will bark at just about anything to get the big dog's attention and join in the party. Being a smaller dog may also be easier to take care of, and without having seeming like you're replacing your friendly first dog.
You know, for your dog to be so sweet probably means that you're a very nice person in real life. That's a good thing. I really like nice people the best.
July 18th, 2008 at 04:51 am 1216353095
July 18th, 2008 at 03:39 pm 1216391985