Cat, Dog, or no animal person?
I never had any pets growing up — well, except for those goldfish that live about five days — so needless to say, I don't consider myself much of an "animal person."
So you can imagine my reaction when my boyfriend said he had a "surprise" for me, and the informed me that he had picked up a dog at a shelter. I laughed — mainly because my first thought was, "This is no surprise for me!!" : ) Slowly, I came around, which was important when he added a second dog to his household. And these two dogs are wonderfully sweet.
I got fairly lucky, but what do you do when you love dogs and your BF or GF is allergic? Or if one of you likes dogs and one likes cats? Is it difficult to maintain a relationship with one animal lover and one not-so-animal lover? For me, I actually spent time with the first dog the week my BF picked her up, so she grew on me. But if I hadn't liked her, I can imagine a sense of friction would soon follow.
How do you handle an "animal" situation?
So you can imagine my reaction when my boyfriend said he had a "surprise" for me, and the informed me that he had picked up a dog at a shelter. I laughed — mainly because my first thought was, "This is no surprise for me!!" : ) Slowly, I came around, which was important when he added a second dog to his household. And these two dogs are wonderfully sweet.
I got fairly lucky, but what do you do when you love dogs and your BF or GF is allergic? Or if one of you likes dogs and one likes cats? Is it difficult to maintain a relationship with one animal lover and one not-so-animal lover? For me, I actually spent time with the first dog the week my BF picked her up, so she grew on me. But if I hadn't liked her, I can imagine a sense of friction would soon follow.
How do you handle an "animal" situation?
posted by Anonymous at 9:44 PM
3 Comments:
I'm a "no animal" person for the most part. Like, a "not-even-a-fish" person because I hate it when they die. I like small dogs OK, but I'm afraid of big ones, so they're no good. And I recently realized that I'm not a huge fan of cats (probably because I never grew up around them because my mom and sister are allergic).
If I'm not living with my signifcant other who has pets then I'll keep my mouth shut. It's his home, and he can have whatever he wants in it. However, if we started living together, we would have to compromise in some way. Of course, I would never make him give up an animal he already had, but there would be no getting new ones.
On a side note, I like the freedom of not having an animal to worry about. I watched my parents' doggy for two weeks when they went out of the country, and I felt like I had a child! It's a lot of work, making sure they eat, get enough exercise and don't poo in the house.
I had two very big dogs when my husband and I first started dating. And for me, if he did not get along or did not like my dogs, then he would have been out the door. On our second date, he came over to 'meet the dogs'. Now my female dog did not like to many men, and really did not like men in hats. So when my now husband got out of the car and my female dog ran up to him and not once grawled or barked (first time ever for her) I knew he was a keeper. Because if my dogs 'approved' (and I know they have a keen sence)then there must be something go this guy! And of course they where right. Now we are a happy family of not only 2 dogs, but also 2 cats.
Well said.
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