Feb
2013
Responsible Pet Ownership Month. I’m A Work In Progress.
February is Responsible Pet Ownership Month.
Not only is this the month that celebrates all of us who are responsible pet owners and those of us who take the care of animals serious, but it’s also a great way for pet owners to step back and take a look at how they are doing at being a responsible owner.
I decided to take a step back and look at how responsible I am as a pet owner by using some of the common steps that I found on the web that fall into the “responsible pet ownership” guidelines.
Common Responsible Pet Ownership Guidelines
1. Spay and neuter you pet.
2. Provide proper identification for your pet through microchips and/or ID tags
3. Provide your pet with proper nutrition.
4. Train your pet well.
5. Provide proper veterinarian care for your pet, including routine check ups and following proper vaccine protocol.
6. Provide a safe environment for your pet to live. Pet. Proof. Your. Home.
7. Provide proper exercise for your pet. Get out there and MOVE IT
8. Love your pet. Unconditionally all the time, just like they love you.
9. Provide proper grooming for your pet. Brush um, bathe um, brush those teeth.
10. Clean up after your pet. Scoop the poop!
The list can go on and on but these the top guidelines I found.
How did I stack up in the responsible pet ownership category?
I failed in 3 of the more important areas.
Here are my failures:
1. Spay and neuter your pet. FAIL. 3 of my 4 pets are not altered. Sherman, Leroy and Gibby are all intact. Sherman and Leroy are intact because they are/were show dogs. Gibby is a guinea pig. He has no girlfriend and he won’t be looking for one anytime soon. Am I responsible with my intact pets? Absolutely, but by “socially correct” guidelines I am a failure. Don’t worry, I’m not offended.
2. Train your pet. FAIL. My pets are trained by the basic means of training but there is plenty of work to be done and this is all on me. One thing we really need to work on is recall. I learned this at my sisters the other day. Sherman has a great recall, but it’s nothing we’ve worked on it’s just him. Leroy’s recall sucks. Don’t get me wrong, he’ll come when he’s called, as long as there is nothing better going on.
3. Scoop the poop! My dogs normally only poop at home and I scoop that. They don’t poop on walks or hikes or when they are visiting someone else’s house. Except…………. one time last summer when we were out walking at the park and Sherman pooped!!! I had nothing, nothing I tell you, to pick it up with. Why? Because my dogs poop at home only, ever, for as long as I have known them! I didn’t pick it up. I left it and I felt very bad about it and I had nightmares about someone seeing it and cursing me. My only saving grace was that I thought maybe someone would think it was horse poop instead of dog poop. Don’t worry, I learned my lesson, I have poop bags now. Poop happens, unexpectedly. Got it.
Here are my excels:
1. Proper Identification. All of the dogs are microchipped and registered. Gibby is not, but maybe he should be since his little disappearing episode last year.
2. Provide proper veterinarian care. I think I need bonus points for this one, or maybe some type of pet perk, one that takes money off my vet bill.
3. Provide proper grooming. Consumes most of my life. Enough said.
4. Love your pet. More than words can say. Another bonus type situation. Maybe a few pet perks for this too?
The other areas I think I am just average on.
1. Provide proper nutrition. Doing this to the best of my ability and research but continues to be a work in progress.
2. Provide a safe environment for your pet. I do my best but with Leroy I guess this is on a as needed basis. Remember the rocks? Leroy all of a sudden thought they would be a great snack. He ate um so we removed them.
3. Provide proper exercise. I am trying my best with this, but there is room for improvement.
I guess that makes me an average responsible pet owner, maybe a work in progress?
Being a responsible pet owner is a subject that is important to all of us, but we need to keep in my mind that different pets may require different responsibilities. I may have failed at some of the basics but I’m not afraid to admit that and take responsibility for it. That counts, right?
How about you? Do you excel in more areas than some in being a responsible pet owner or are you a work in progress?
Daisy
February 19, 2013 at 2:39 am (121 days ago)Ummmm…number 4….train your pet well. Maybe we have to take off the ‘well’. We’re usually good, but you add a cat and the well just goes. Otherwise, SHE’s a responsible pet owner.
XXXOOO Daisy, Bella & Roxy
Long Life Cats and Dogs
February 19, 2013 at 5:03 am (120 days ago)I think you are a fabulous pet owner. If they are show dogs then the neutering bit falls away. One accidental poop is hardly any way to judge anyone. I officially pronounce you a responsible pet owner
Eva or sometimes Priscilla
February 19, 2013 at 6:48 am (120 days ago)Your post reminded me that it’s time to take Eva and Mika to the vet for their annual vaccinations. Thanks.
2 brown dawgs
February 19, 2013 at 7:35 am (120 days ago)Pet proofing….yeah make sure all throw rugs are pulled away from the crate.
Freighter’s darn chip moved over to his shoulder. Bother bother. Can’t get that redone since he has already started getting health clearances linked to his permanent ID chip.
The spay and neuter one bothers me. More and more research is out there showing the health risks to early spay and neuter. I hope whoever makes that list rethinks that one to make it less absolute.
Taryn
February 19, 2013 at 7:41 am (120 days ago)If you had asked this question a couple of days ago I would have been all smug. But yesterday we lost Wilson for about 45 minutes after he chased some deer! I lived my worst nightmare! Ordinarily he’ll chase deer for 100 yards and realize he can’t catch them, and turn around. Yesterday for some reason, he just kept going. My neighbor finally found him about a mile from home, on the other side of a busy road. So….
EPIC FAIL!
emma
February 19, 2013 at 7:43 am (120 days ago)Mom did well on all but train your pet. Actually she gets compliments all the time on how well behaved we are but she is way too easy on us with things like barking and jumping and walking correctly. It works for us, just causes issues when others are taking care of us but hey, no one is perfect!
houndstooth
February 19, 2013 at 8:29 am (120 days ago)I’m a work in progress, I’d say. We have one unaltered dog here, and that is because we want him to grow to his full potential and we’ve been told that working dogs have a better work ethic when intact. Whether he will remain intact after he grows up remains to be seen. Training your pet well is an area I need to work on. They’re trained, but don’t like to admit it all the time.
caren gittleman
February 19, 2013 at 9:47 am (120 days ago)my worst one is the proper exercise and I am often guilt-ridden by it. Our dilemma is that Dakota HATES walks and since we live in an apt/condo building we don’t have a yard of our own, just a courtyard.
I often feel as if we are doing him a disservice but he seems totally happy. I often think it is because he is with Cody (our cat) who doesn’t go out, so Dakota thinks he is like him.
One of my goals this Spring is to try and take him to more places and get BOTH of us moving!
Wonderful post!
Dawn
February 19, 2013 at 9:48 am (120 days ago)#8 is the most important. If you follow #8, it’s likely that you’re doing what you can to meet the other ones. Not everyone has the means to meet all these, especially the ones that cost money. I know some people who can’t afford the best food or meet all the veterinary guidelines, and perhaps they are not physically able to do all the training and exercise, but they really love their dogs and their dogs are happy. That’s what truly matters.
Jodi
February 19, 2013 at 9:58 am (120 days ago)I think you’re a great pet owner. As for the spaying neutering thing, I’m with 2 Brown Dawgs, I think sometimes we are spaying/neutering too soon, especially rescues. You can have an unaltered pet and still be responsible as long as you are monitoring those pets and insuring they don’t have the opportunity to breed irresponsibly. There are some people that wouldn’t fix their pets and still let them run willy nilly all over the place, that’s not responsible.
Cut yourself some slack, you are one of the best pet owners I know.
Peggy Frezon
February 19, 2013 at 10:20 am (120 days ago)I give you a gold star! I’m pretty bad at training them, I’m so inconsistent and they know it! I also don’t brush their teeth as often as I should, or as well as I should. I saw a video by Ted Kerasote and he actually flossed his dog’s teeth! Flossing!! Thanks for stopping by to say happy birthday to Kelly!
Misaki
February 19, 2013 at 10:22 am (120 days ago)I agree with the above, No 8 is the most important:-)
Although we do/have done most of those on your list, No 4 is still in progress (humans are soooo hard to train lol).
Two French Bulldogs
February 19, 2013 at 11:54 am (120 days ago)We sure wish every buddy would read these tips
Snuggles
Benny & Lily
snoopy@snoopysdogblog
February 19, 2013 at 12:15 pm (120 days ago)Haha, you got caught out with the poop mischief!! Otherwise you’re doing great
My Mum says she should train me more, I say I should train her more instead – Tee Hee
I hope you’re having a fun day,
Your pal Snoopy
jan
February 19, 2013 at 12:39 pm (120 days ago)While spay and neuter may be the advice of the day, I don’t think not doing it makes one irresponsible. I wish people would stop judging others who have reasons not to sterilize their dogs.
Jackie Bouchard
February 19, 2013 at 1:36 pm (120 days ago)We definitely have work to do in the training area as well. And I keep saying I’ll brush her teeth… and I almost never do. Great post.
SlimDoggy
February 19, 2013 at 3:45 pm (120 days ago)Like you I’m good in some areas…not so good in others. All of our dogs have been spayed/neutered – mainly because they are rescues. Many moons ago, we had an intact female that we bred a couple of times. I’ve also just started reading Pukka’s Promise by Ted Kerasote (author of Merle’s Door) and I know he has formed some VERY strong opinions about keeping pets intact for their health and longevity. I haven’t gotten fully into that part of the book yet, but looking forward to it. We’re better with the exercise than with the grooming – but their Labs…not much to do. I try really hard with the nutrition and know I should probably be giving them more raw foods, but just have no time. Love them? Absolutely…that’s probably gets the highest marks!
Gizmo (@GizmoGeodog)
February 19, 2013 at 6:00 pm (120 days ago)I believe I do well by Gizmo, but going by your checklist I fail a couple of areas…Giz does not get annual checkups or vaccinations…He has a 3 year rabies that we’ll redo when necessary. I do that not only to keep him legal but because we do get rabid animals in this county. I don’t do heartworm checks because he’s been on HW meds year round ever since I got him and he always will be. I also fail by many folks standards in that Gizmo is off leash most of the time…In fact I train him for that. I only have him on leash when absolutely required. Most of our outdoor time is spent, by design, in areas where he can safely and happily be off leash. But even with my failures he’s a happy and healthy dog so overall I give me a pass
Vicki
February 19, 2013 at 6:14 pm (120 days ago)Our Newfies have us trained, not the other way around lol. The other thing we don’t do is exercise them enough. We did more when they were younger. My husband works a rapid rotation and I cannot walk both dogs on my own. We were just commenting that we need to do more of this when the weather gets nicer.
All the other areas we are aces on. They are totally loved and spoiled. Both dogs are micro-chipped and registered. They just had their yearly checkup. They get groomed regularly, especially pawdicures. They get excellent food and snacks.
And both dogs are neutered. I grew up with a variety of pets in our house and we didn’t have one that wasn’t neutered except my Gerbil. I was always taught that unless you plan on breeding the pet, then the responsible thing to do is get them “fixed”. I realize there is differing thoughts on this. If you do plan on breeding, if you are showing your pet etc. For us, it was the right decision.
Kari
February 19, 2013 at 6:56 pm (120 days ago)I am a champion poop picker upper. Not quite so conscientious about training. We’re happy with them at home; I can say that for sure.
Kimberly, The Fur Mom
February 19, 2013 at 7:06 pm (120 days ago)Love the list. I’m perfect in every single way – LOL
Our training energy was mostly spent on Rodrigo who has a very curious nature and strong personality. Blue came along after we already had dogs so he caught it easy. He went to puppy class after a long morning walk each Saturday and was called the most mellow puppy people had seen – stop by my house in an hour.
I will admit that our dogs poop in tall grass when we go on trail walks, I don’t go into the grass hunting it down. But I do clean up their yard 2x a week.
Jessica
February 19, 2013 at 8:14 pm (120 days ago)I’m a pretty big failure on exercise. With Silas’s fear of cars, we’re extremely limited to where we can go, so we don’t get out every day. I try to substitute playing for walks, but it’s not the same.
I also don’t do a lot of grooming. I give baths when I must, but I don’t brush hair or teeth. I don’t trim nails often enough. Silas is low-maintenance, though. It’s not like his hair is matting or something.
Otherwise, I think I do okay. I’d give myself and A+ on nutrition, since I do better than I could imagine anyone else ever doing with Silas’s allergies.
Jessica
February 19, 2013 at 10:23 pm (120 days ago)Do you know who declared the month responsible pet ownership month? I would be interested to follow it up and write an article in the Newspaper that I work for.
Jen
February 20, 2013 at 3:18 pm (119 days ago)Hi Jessica.
There are a lot of medias that declare this responsible pet ownership month. There’s also a Facebook page for it: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Responsible-Pet-Owners-Month-Official/327841929597
Clowie
February 20, 2013 at 6:02 am (119 days ago)They keep working on my recall. I can’t see the problem – I always return just as soon as it’s convenient for me to do so! What more do they want?
Kristine
February 20, 2013 at 11:04 am (119 days ago)I totally fail at one of these as well. And I should know better. I grew up with a dog who consistently ran away, a dog who we would not have gotten back every single time were it not for her ID tags. And yet my dog’s collar is distinctly tagless. She doesn’t even wear her municipal tag as it kept falling off and I was tired of replacing it. We pay the license fees but she doesn’t wear the tag.
She is microchipped, does that count for anything?