I can't regret adding Cooper to our family.
Both of these things are true. I guess it's like saying you regret having kids. You're not allowed to actually say that because you love your kids and you can't imagine life without them and they are awesome. This is how I feel about Cooper.
You're not allowed to say you regret getting your dog. No one admits to it, but I know I can't be the only one. I love Cooper with all my heart but I know it was a dumb decision.
He is so much work, he costs so much money, I worry about him all the time and sometimes I feel like the payoff isn't worth it.
But, he gives me the warmest greeting I have ever gotten everyday when I get home. And when I hug him after a stressful day, all my stress and worry literally melts into the floor. And sometimes when I look at him I just want to eat him because he is so cute. And he makes me laugh from time to time. And when he crawls up onto the couch and lays his head on my lap and sighs a big doggy sigh, I am crazy happy.
I'm sure my facebook friends think I'm obsessed with him. I post ad nauseum about him and have a whole album with just pictures of him that I update all the time. And we are obsessed in a way. But he is a lot of work. A typical day with him looks like this:
Kurtis wakes up at 6:15 and takes him out for a pee and feeds him.
I walk him at 7:15-7:45 and then coax him into his room.
One of us comes home right at 3pm to take him on at least an hours walk/play.
The other walks him for half an hour after dinner.
The afternoon walker takes him out for a pee before bed and then coaxes him into his room to sleep.
So what right? But this is everyday! We can't just disappear for hours after work to go grocery shopping or go to the mall or out for dinner. We can't go away for a weekend or out all day long without finding dog sitters. We can't stay inside when it's piss raining or a snow storm or Hurricane Sandy. We can't come home after work and drop on the couch and have a nap.
We also have clean his feet off every time he comes inside and when he plays in the afternoon he is often covered in sand/mud so we have to hose him off in the bath and dry him which takes at least half an hour, if all goes smoothly.
And walks with him at the moment aren't a piece of cake. He has started to lunge at people/dogs when he is on leash or bark at dogs he can't meet. It's super embarrassing and we are trying to deal with it but it adds so much time and stress to our walks. And he tries to eat everything we pass on the street. It's so annoying.
Don't even get me started on the money issue.
The last thing that I hate about owning a dog is the guilt. I constantly feel like I don't spend enough time with him, or that he is unhappy in his life with us, or when we move, he won't have the same access to the beach and off-leash play and his friends here, or when we have kids, he will be ignored, or that we leave him alone too much, etc. It's constant. I KNOW he has a great life. I KNOW he is happy. But I always have that nagging voice in the back of my head.
But, when I even think about giving him away, for even a split second, I get so sick, my heart breaks and I know I can't. He is a member of our family. He loves us and we love him. We're stuck together.
And maybe I don't regret him, but maybe I regret the loss of freedom and the increase of responsibility that he represents. Maybe we are just two people who don't want to be tied down.
It doesn't matter. He is here, we love him. But I know I'm not the only person who thinks this. Maybe just the only person who will publicly admit it!
PS He just farted...
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