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How did you chose?
I'm in Afghanistan now..and I'll be coming home in a few months.
I have a 2 and a half year old daughter, and she'll be an only child for a while so me and my husband are thinking of getting a pet. But we dont know what type so I'm coming for advice.
I love cats, but my husband is afraid of the cat scratching Jay by accident. He's afraid of her going into the litter box, and he is afraid of the smell.
I had a persian cat for about 4 years before I joined the Army. She didnt smell. She was disabled (one eye and no claws) she was only high maintenance about half of the time.
I also have had a few dogs, a yorkie, shih tzu, westie, lhasa apso.
I love shih tzu's but I'm not sure if we have the resources where we lived to get that type of dog groomed.
we want a small to medium sized dog. We are pretty active..have a house with a back yard. The only downside is that my husband and I are both active duty. So it would have to be a pet that can deal with being alone for the majority of the day.
I would like to adopt a dog. But I know sometimes older dogs are set in their ways.
Does anyone have any suggestions for me? Thanks in advance.
Re: How did you chose?
I'm not sure if I can offer advice but I know when DH and I went to look for a dog, I kept looking at one dog, DH was looking at another and kept going back to her. The counselor told us about any problems (the dog I liked has a thing for running away and as she was telling us this, I heard someone yell that Dory, the dog I was looking at, chewed thru her leash and ran off so that went that, another one didn't like kids, etc etc).
The only dog we intereacted with was the one DH kept going back to, took her on a walk and I just remember walking behind DH and her about 10 feet back with the counselor and he's looking down at her smiling and she's looking up at him and knew this was the one..the very one in my siggy.
So in the end, I think it has to be a family decision and make sure you are both comfortable with whether it is a cat or a dog, and talk it out together and make sure to bring your little girl to make sure the animal seems to get along with her.
With regards to cats,there is definitely a chance anyone could be accidentally scratched, but it isnt such a big risk, ya know? I would keep litter boxes in areas away from a child or lots of noise and commotion. I think most cats like privacy for little box use. They do have top entry litter boxes so that can help deter children getting in them. There are tons of ideas though for where to put them. In terms of smell, if you scoop daily and change litter weekly you should not have an issue with smell. I'd just want to make sure everyone felt comfortable with the responsibilities and willing to work with any pet if things pop up- behavior issues, sickness etc. Cats do fine left alone for a day but they do actually need interactive play time and places to get away from young kids like cat towers etc. If you do decide to go with a cat I would maybe look at adult cats- less likely to bite or scratch and less likely to damage furniture etc. You could go to a shelter and see if there are any that you really like. I think the important thing is that everyone in your family is on the same page.
Thank you both for the advice. I will try to see if there is a shelter in tacoma or around here. I do think I want to adopt an older pet. I love cats so much...but my husband doesnt really care for them, and my daughter has never been around a cat before so her interacting with ANY pet before we decide is probably best. I hadn't thought of that until you guys suggested it.
Suze, your dog is soo cute too and I love the story.