This month I am working with my humans on a presentation of dog stories from the rescue for their big fundraiser. Which brings me to this: DO NOT GET A DOG UNLESS YOU ARE REALLY PREPARED TO TAKE CARE OF IT! And I mean for it’s whole life, not just a couple of weeks while it still seems cute. A dog is a living, breathing and most importantly, feeling, animal. It needs the basics like: good and sufficient food and water, a safe place to live and sleep, medical attention when needed, regular grooming and most importantly, love and attention. If you can’t do that for the ENTIRE life of the dog, then don’t get one. Dogs DO NOT like to be: tied up all day, abused, neglected and starved. Seems simple right? You’d be shocked how many “humans” (some are more like monsters) forget or worse, don’t care about these basic things. Just look at the accompanying pictures. These are real goldens that the rescue saved. Puppies are cute but they grow up quickly, sometimes into ugly dogs, but hey,they are still beautiful on the inside. Big dogs need to have exercise or they go nuts and chew or dig or bark constantly. When dogs act bad it;’s because they have crappy guardians. Don’t blame the dog, yell at the guardian. And, dogs are not fashion accessories for tough guy wannabes and spoiled bimbos. Granted the spoiled bimbo dog probably has it slightly better but it still doesn’t get to be a real dog.

People see me and say “Oh, he’s so beautiful and calm, I should get a golden.” Nope, not if that’s why you want a dog. I need to play and run and walk everyday. I need to be brushed everyday, feed twice a day and I need a lot of attention. Think of me as a slightly better behaved 2 year old human.

So, really think hard and long before getting a dog. And if you do think you have the right stuff to commit to proper care, adopt! There are far too many good dogs that need a decent home to buy from puppy mills and breeders. You’ll be saving a life and that dog will reward you for it a million times over everyday.