Seven thousand conversations

A dog will turn your house into a prison

Warden Bea, fierce as usual.

It might not come as a surprise to you, but Maddy and I have had this dream of sharing our lives with a dog ever since we were little kids. I’m sure some of you have had this dream as well or are living it as we speak (or rather as I type). Good for you! 

Why is it that so many dream of getting a dog, but only so few actually go through with it? Because some of you haven't completely lost their minds yet and want to enjoy their lives without this crutch called dog. Sure. And those of you who feel addressed by this have an absolutely valid and sane point. A dog will turn your house into a prison. You won’t be able to go anywhere anymore without having to make sure this pile of fur gets to go outside, eat, drink and a minimum of action every 4 or 5 hours. Who in their right mind would want that? Right. 

Let's talk

So are Maddy and I insane? Yes. Yes, we are. But not as insane as you might think. Because we actually did a hell of a lot of research (by which I don’t just mean googling!). First we had around 7000 conversations about the pros and cons of getting a dog. After that I need roughly 3557 more conversations pertaining to that topic. Then we talked to people who already share their lives with dogs and we talked to our family. All of those people made it quite clear that they don’t think getting a dog is a good idea (remember that, it’ll come up later in this blog). For various reasons each and everyone tried to talk us out of it. Some were cautious because we just came out of this plague that had us by our collective throats for the better part of two years. Others tried to shed some light of the responsibility that comes with a living creature. Some were afraid because of our occupations. The list goes on. We listened. We heard them. And we had 201 more conversations. During the 202nd time we discussed our lives, goals, visions and wishes, we stumbled upon something like an epiphany. All the opinions we had heard came from individual standpoints that included individual fears, experiences, thoughts and concerns. Of course they did and in hindsight it’s blatantly obvious. But when you’re in the thick of it, it’s quite hard to see the trees instead of only the forest. And then we stopped talking and listened to ourselves. Our hearts. 

List up!

Let me just tell you this. Do as much research as you can. Make 5000 lists, have even more conversations. Learn as much as possible. Rehearse having a dog for a week and see how it goes. Do all that and whatever helps you find at least a small amount of certainty. Overload with information. It cannot be too much. And then, when it seems overwhelming and you’d rather never think of pets ever again. Stop. Breathe. And listen to your heart. 

We want to make sure to not just share our journey but also our findings with you in order to help you guys out. So here’s what we did: We tried to split the topic into smaller chunks that can be handled a bit easier. So we came up with two sections. The first is the make or break section, that helps you find out whether getting a dog is generally possible at all. The other section will help you figure out what kind of dog might be a good idea, we call it the personal preferences section. We’ll be talking about the question in this section in the next post. Right now, let’s check whether you can get a furry friend in the first place. These are yes or no questions and if you find yourself saying no to even just one of those, you should be honest with yourself and understand that getting a dog might just not be for you. Here we go: 

1. Can you imagine walking your dog every single day without fail for the next 15-20 years?

2. Are you allowed to have a dog in your apartment?

3. Do you have a minimum of financial stability that guarantees the dog access to food, water and medical treatment when needed?

4. Does your significant other also want the dog? 

5. Will you have support from friends or family that will take care of the dog when you for whatever reason can’t do so?

6. Do I have a dog allergy?*
   

There are probably very important question that are not listed above, so understand that by no means this is an exhaustive list. Feel free to add your own! 

I asked myself these questions and made sure that I could answer all of them with a firm and honest yes. And then I tried to forget all of it and listened to my heart. And when I did, my heart was pounding, screaming this clear and bright and warm and uplifting YES. Yes, Max, you absolute tool, stop fiddling around and do yourself this one favor. Get a friend. Get a buddy. Get this freaking dog now, will you!?

If you experience anything of that sort after going through this ordeal of research, then by all means, go get this freaking dog now, will you!?

As soon as I actually knew that it was time for a dog, that it was go time, everything else came to us quite easily. Especially the questions on what kind of dog to get. Read the next post to find out about these questions. We found twelve!

More questions?

I'm sure this is very discussable topic. So if you have any other thoughts or questions, please let me know. I'm curious to find out about your ideas!

*Note: There are of course breeds that will not trigger allergies. But know that these will not come cheap.