Okay so I just couldn't stay away. Even though I'm pretty sure my last post was not even an hour ago now. So I thought I'd post about something that's been on my mind, particularly today. So as I mentioned in my last post, I'm obsessed with dogs. Well actually, I'm pretty sure I said love but in reality it's more like an obsession. My family currently has three little dogs. Zoe, our 11 year old Bichon , Esme our 3 year old rescued Teddy Bear, and Rylee our crazy 6 month old back toy poodle.
Now I love all dogs but I'm definitely a big dog person. So having three little ones, the biggest at 16 pounds, just doesn't do it for me. I'll be quitting my job soon to go to college and I won't be getting my big dog fix. This created a problem. And I have a crazy solution. One of the things I do when I'm really bored is to go online and research certain breeds, and try to find potential breeders and rescues to go back to when I'm ready to get a dog. So naturally I've found a few puppies and dogs from breeders and rescues that I've just fallen for, but not like this week. This past week we had a St. Bernard that went home, she's so sweet and I absolutely fell in love with her. So I wound up online, yet again, just looking around. It was all a far far dream until I saw a little girl nick-names Sweet Cheeks and I was done for. I don't know what it is about her that I love so much but there is something that just got me about her. Now I've always pictured my first dog being a big black Great Dane, coming to me after college of course. Now, for some reason I'm so in love with this little St. Bernard and I really want her so badly. (Before anyone thinks anything, yes I know this seems completely irrational and I know and understand the responsibility of having a dog as well as the having one in college. I am not in denial and will elaborate that further below.)
Obviously, this is a big problem but is most likely to never going to happen. But maybe this post will snap me out of my love and crazy notion that I can get this dog. I know that it would definitely be a huge challenge in the next few years which is why it would be a terrible idea. So the problems:
1.) I will be living in the dorms, at least for my freshman year. Solution= My parents and two siblings would have to take her. I already told my sister that I'd be willing to pay her monthly for taking care of her. However, I know my mom doesn't like big dogs and will not like the shedding or drool that St. Bernard's have. Convincing my mom would be a huge thing, and I know, even if she said yes, that she would only be doing it out of love for me and not the dog. Not the best situation, plus I'm pretty sure my dad would be the one to really put his foot down. Plus I would feel so guilty if I got a call regarding my dog that wasn't good. I'd try my best to get her fully trained before leaving, by myself because puppy classes were $175 at the place I would have taken her. That's the biggest obstacle that I face.
2.) Dogs are expensive. I'm paying for college by myself, which is why I got my job at the beginning of senior year. I wanted to start saving now, and work throughout college years, so I could pay off my debt as soon as possible. While I definitely have more than enough money to pay for her, it's a huge expense. After initially paying the breeder, which is already expensive, there will be the next few set of shots and then I'll get her spayed. A lot in vet bills right there. Then there's her food, crate, bed, collar, leash, toys, etc. It all adds up so fast. I added everything up today, well an estimate that I tired to price a littler higher to get a higher accurate reading and it was about $2,000+ just for the first year. Like I said I have about double that saved up so it wouldn't be a big problem but it would screw with my plans of paying off my college debt. Solution= I will be paying a much lower car insurance rate for the next few years because my driving will be minimum, because of that my gas expense will also be cut significantly. However, I know that I may not get as many hours as I did before at my college job. I will also want to spend money on food and other things. I don't think that all my money will be going to other things and that I'll be saving most of it. So I could realistically afford her. At the very least I will be paying for her food and my sister for taking care of her. But that's at the very least.
Those are my biggest problems, at least the money is. I know people who've said that living on campus is more expensive than living off campus so I was going to look into that anyway, if I got a dog I would definitely be looking into it for my sophomore year and beyond. But I would also need to find an apartment that allows big dogs and roommates that wouldn't mind having a dog around. Or I could find a dog friendly place by myself, but it would be more expensive. Plus all the bills that come along with off campus living.
Those are the problems, and I have solutions to all but they all require sacrifice. I'm not a partier and would love to have a dog and devote my time to her/him, I'm willing to sacrifice a to have her/him. However I don't want to put my parents out and make life harder for them, I know that they say that three is a lot already, even though they're small. The money also proves to be a huge issue. I just don't know if I can personally justify spending half of my earnings on my dog while previously having a concrete plan to save save save and then get those bills paid.
I did look online searching "college and dogs" and found that there are many people saying it's a bad idea, while a slim few say that they did it or knew someone who did and it worked out fine. I know that anyone could do it, but the right sacrifices are needed, social outings (late night parties), putting your parents out, the money. And in the end is the dog going to be happy? I thought about that one too, and came to the conclusion that our dogs are locked up for 7 hours a day while everyone is gone. Classes aren't too long and there would be breaks in between classes and work to spend time with the dog. I'm not a partier and much prefer to hang at home with a good book, and a dog.
In reality I know that if I save now and wait that I will probably be in a better financial spot to own a dog after college. I also wouldn't be putting my parents out and I'd be saving money! Yet I find myself in love with this dog, I know that's crazy because I haven't even met her but I just am. In the end I know that there's a 99.99% chance that this will NOT happen, and it may be for the better. Well, even though I'm sad I think I talked myself out of it. Now I'm a little depressed but I'll get over it, and who knows there is a very slight possibility that it could happen now or sometime during college. I guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens! :)
A history on my obsession for those who are interested:
I was born. Ever since I can remember I've always loved animals. I had always wanted a horse, which I was privileged enough to have, but we had to sell him due to my going to college and other expenses. Another thing I've been so privileged to have is dogs. We had my first Bichon Frise that died when I was little at 14. A few years later we got our current Bichon, Zoe. A few years ago my mom decided to play a prank on me saying we were going to adopt a dog because she thought she was the cutest thing. Needless to say, I was mad because I was really excited so I thought I'd play on the moment and guess what, now we another adopted Teddy Bear, Esme. Yes, like from Twilight, that's the name everyone liked, it fits her, although Emmit would fit her better. I understand this is getting long. So then I got my job right at the beginning of senior year, which only enabled my love and obsession further. So I found out about this pet expo and took my family. Now in the car ride their I got a whole lecture about "we are NOT adopting any dogs UNDERSTAND!" Blah Blah Blah, "yeah I got it". Well guess what happened, THEY fell in love with this tiny little "yorkiepoo" (She was not a yorkiepoo) and after spending a couple hours with her put in an application. You can imagine my horror when they broke the rules. Anyway long story short we went to their open house a week later to ask if we got her and they said that it was between us and another lady but the other lady got her. I felt bad because my mom was upset and so was my dad, which I couldn't believe. So the hunt was over for a day but the new dog excitement was too much and we started looking for another dog, eventually settling on a black toy poodle, Rylee. For the record, I did not want a poodle.
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