Layout:
Home > Some things are worth more to me than $$$

Some things are worth more to me than $$$

March 5th, 2009 at 04:07 pm

Let me first preface this by saying, my DH and I do not have a very good track record for keeping pets that annoy us. Any bad behavior, its hard for us to work through.

Fast forward to now, we have a 10 month old golden retriever that we adore & feel is our PERFECT pet. I have absolutely nothing I could complain about of him.

So we are going out of town and thought about having a friend watch him.

DH took him over to the friends' yesterday, but their dog isn't fixed and marks (outside the house). Our dog doesn't do that, we neutered him early and he squats like a girl, no marking whatsoever inside or outside.

I don't think the friends' dog marks inside but I still don't want to give our dog any ideas.

DH was upset with me and saying I'm over-reacting. He doesn't want to spend $180 to board our dog when these people will watch him for free.

So he's upset and we're on opposite ends of the spectrum.

It took us 10 years to find the perfect dog. I don't want to have any chance or opportunity to mess it up, cause again, we don't have a good track record.

Sure our dog could go there for a week and not pick up the behavior and everything will be dandy. But if he does, we are either going to spend the $$ to retrain him or it will become such a headache we re-home our "perfect" dog. All over $180?

I'd rather just go with the safe bet and board him.

Maybe owning our golden has finally made us join that subset that views their pets like their kids. I don't remember ever being this picky before about where our pets stayed. But honestly, now when I look at potential friends to watch him - I want to make sure they have similar values/standards for their pets as I do with mine.

Maybe this is abnormal. But yeah, I don't want to risk it cause the worst case scenario is we could get so frustrated about a bad behavior we rehome him.

I guess this is like my DH's view on the stock market. He just wants to put his money in secured funds - even if that means missing on an eventual rally - I'm on the other end of the spectrum. So I'm not entirely risk averse... just when it comes to emotional aspects of my life.

4 Responses to “Some things are worth more to me than $$$”

  1. momcents Says:
    1236272743


    Be aware that your dog could catch fleas or other problems from staying in a kennel (even a reputable one). Flea treatments and shots for bordatello will add to your $180 boarding fee.

    I'm with DH on this one. All of your hardwork done with your pup won't be squandered and I don't think he'll up marking habits. Do a trial run for a few hours to see how the dog is after spending time with the untrained male at your friend's house.

  2. Ima saver Says:
    1236277332

    I love my dog so much, that I have never left her once in her lifetime. Could you consider have a pet service come over a few times a day to feed and walk the dog?

  3. Apprentice Fun-Frugalist Says:
    1236300052

    Marking is usually a sign of a dog marking his territory or leaving a scent for other dogs...

    If you dog doesn't do it in his own territory I don't think he'll start doing in another dog's territory...

    Let us know how it works out !

  4. AmbitiousSaver Says:
    1236309130

    I appreciate all the feedback. I have been so up in arms about this cause I just want him to go to a great place & be in great hands that match our style.

    But I did realize I have been soooo emotional lately thanks to midterms (I'm pretty sure I just aced my legal midterm tonight) and going to visit the inlaws & all else that finally I threw up my hands and said to DH "Ok, I know I'm being over emotional so YOU decide. You saw the two dogs together, you're in a better frame of mind, I'll trust you."

    So he reassured me 1) Its just a week 2) Our dog is still a puppy and 3) As Apprentice said, if he doesn't mark his own territory he isn't likely to mark another dog's

    Jeez, I would have never thought I'd be so up in arms over where I let my dog stay. There must be something about golden retrievers, I've never cared so much about a dog before.

Leave a Reply

(Note: If you were logged in, we could automatically fill in these fields for you.)
*
Will not be published.
   

* Please spell out the number 4.  [ Why? ]

vB Code: You can use these tags: [b] [i] [u] [url] [email]