Someone was talking to me the other day about their dog. Sadly, having a dog hasn’t been the positive experience that they had hoped for and it made me reflect on having our gorgeous Labrador, Liberty. Unbelievably, she is now four years old and it honestly feels like the time has flown.
Liberty is one of the family. No question about it. We weren’t dog people before we had her. In fact, I never thought that I would ever even want a dog, let alone love one as I do now. Now I can often be found cooing over someone else’s dog or some random dog I see in the street. I love them.
We struck lucky with Liberty, because my daughter was so scared of dogs before we had her, we did our research and all of the recommendations pointed towards a Labrador. Easy going, nice natured, good temperament and she really has been all of those things. She is a really loving dog, she is so happy to see you when you have been out – even if you have only been gone for a few minutes! She enjoys a cuddle on the sofa at the end of a long day and to be honest, she spends a lot of the days now snoozing, her favourite thing to do once she has been on a long walk.
But there are some down sides to owning a dog. The expense is the biggest thing. Along with food, insurance, vet care (worming, flea treatments, vaccinations), doggy day care, equipment, grooming, it is an expensive thing to do. I know that not everyone opts to pay for insurance, but a friend once spent thousands on vet bills and I would rather avoid that and I know that Labradors can have hip problems later in life.
The other thing is the commitment to exercise. This obviously depends on which breed of dog you have, but Liberty is awake when the sun comes up and she is bouncing off the walls, waiting for her morning walk. Four thirty at the moment and that can be hard going. My husband is chief walker and he literally walks miles with her, which he loves doing thankfully. He also doesn’t mind the early mornings. But we do love family dog walks too, time to go out and get some fresh air and chat which is always a positive.
Overall, we have never regretted our decision to get Liberty, she really is one of the family and she has made our lives so much better. We have talked about getting a second dog, but Liberty is quite happy with us and to be brutally honest, I don’t think we could really afford two. But I do think we would always have a dog now, it is so rewarding and as the kids continue into adulthood, at least someone is pleased to see me when I come through the door, as the kids don’t move from their respective bedrooms.
