Digging the Dirt – The Truth about Dog Owning

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a family in possession of a dog, must be in want of a busy life. That is one thing I have discovered in nearly a year of being a dog owner.

This is Liberty.  She is a black Labrador who was our first family dog and she turned one year old (in human years) last weekend.  We adore her.  After years of deciding whether or not to have a dog, she has bought so much happiness to our family and if life was ever dull before, it certainly is not now.

She is into everything.  And I mean everything.  She is constantly on the go and wherever we are and whatever we are doing, her little nose will be there snuffling it to be a part of it.  It has been a huge learning curve for us being first time dog-owners, so I thought I would share some of truths about owning a dog.

You have a constant companion

Whilst I love the name Liberty, we should have called her Shadow as she is my little shadow.  She follows me everywhere.  I think she is asleep and I pop out in the garden and she is there, seeing what I am doing.  If I am eating, her head is on my lap, nudging me to let me know that she is still there. She lies on the sofa with either a paw or her head on your lap. She is by your side to great anyone who dares to ring the doorbell.  She even sits with her head cocked to one side as if she is really listening to me when I am ranting about one of the children to her.  She really is a great companion.

The one weird side to this companionship is that Liberty even follows me to the toilet.  I read somewhere that this happens because in the wild, dogs protected each other whilst they went to the toilet as they were vulnerable.  I have no idea if it is true but Liberty always opens the door and comes and lies at my feet until I am done.

You will walk miles

This is possibly dependent on the breed and size of dog, but Labradors in particular need a lot of exercise.  Liberty also likes her main walk early in the morning and so you will find myself or my husband out treading the local pathways, earphones in with her each morning.  As much as her earlier mornings (sometimes 5 am!) make you feel tired and grumpy, a walk out in the fresh air while everything is still quiet, works wonders and can really help to give you a much needed lift to start your day.

And of course, all of that walking is making you healthier too which definitely makes it a positive.

You will love your dog even if he or she drives you to distraction

I often liken having a dog in the house to having a rather naughty toddler. I seem to spend my whole life saying ‘no!’

The problem is that when Liberty is being naughty, it is the cutest thing.  She waits until you are busy doing something and then she will pounce on something she knows she shouldn’t have.  It could be a sock out of the washing basket, something she has managed to pull off the table or her current favourite, some ground solar lights in the garden. She grabs them and then waits just out of your reach with the offending item in her mouth, a very naughty look on her face.  When you go to grab the item, she goes off like a whippet. Tail between her legs, head down around and around the garden like a mad thing.  It would be highly entertaining if she it wasn’t important to get the thing off her.

But in spite of the insanity and the constant chewing, she is part of our family and we love her to bits.  The children adore her and we are even considering getting a special pet portrait done to add to our family photo collection to cement her part in our family memories. Vector Pets offer an amazing service where you can upload an image of your dog and they will create an illustration of your beloved pet in detailed or cartoon form and at a really great price too.

Dogs will eat ANYTHING

I actually think that Liberty would eat me if I tasted like bacon.  She loves her food.  If we are eating and she isn’t, she sits there with these big eyes and actual drool coming out of her mouth.  You could be fooled into thinking that she hasn’t eaten for days.

And she loves chewing. She will try anything that is edible, including plants, branches, socks, blankets and absolutely anything that is plastic.

Don’t ever drop or leave anything lying around the house that you want to keep safe and in one piece. She also has ninja stealth skills and the minute something interesting has been dropped on the floor, she swoops in and it is in her jaws before I even realise it is on the ground.

You will spend a lot of time picking up poop

I really don’t need to say a lot on this one, except do buy in a lot of poo sacks and don’t ever leave the house without them again. Ever. Also be prepared for them eating their own vomit.  Yes, it makes me shudder with horror too, but apparently this is perfectly normal dog behaviour.  Labrador’s are well-known for it due to the fact that they are happy everything and anything.

Dogs come with their own personalities

Liberty is one of the family and like us all, she has her very own personality.  We have done a lot of training with her and in many ways, she is really well-behaved.  However, she is so stubborn. She knows her own mind and if she doesn’t want to do something, it will take a whole lot of persuasion and several chunks of cheese to get her to do it.  And even then, sometimes it won’t happen.  She is an early riser and no amount of persuasion gets her to change that habit and at certain times, she loves her own space and will take herself off to bed just to get away from it all.

Your priorities have to change

A change in work patterns?  A day out with the family? A holiday? Visitors?  Whatever is going on in your life, you have to also think about your dog.  You can’t just go out for the day and leave the dog behind.  If you are going on holiday, you have to decide if you are taking the dog and if not; who will look after the dog while you are away.  Visitors to the house can be quite unsettling for dogs, especially new ones.  It might also be that your visitors might not be a fan of dogs and I know from experience that some children are very uneasy around dogs

There are lots of things to consider when you are becoming a dog owner and not all of it is pretty but on the whole, after a year of having Liberty in  our lives, the good definitely outweighs the bad and our lives have been enriched by having a dog and.

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