Pet or Potential Spouse?

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Gojira

Guest
#41
#41
Billyd said:
My EX DIL lives with 27 (according to my grandson's latest count) house cats. Explains why she has been an EX for the last 40+ years.
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:eek:
 
Lynx

Lynx

Folksy yet erudite
#42
Aug 13, 2014
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#42
GaryA said:
If you could train a cat - like you can train a dog - to not go certain places, get on things, etc. - it might be a different scenario...
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Oh the dog goes where you told it not to go too. Dogs are smarter though. Bigger brains, y'know. They wait until you're gone.

Don't believe me? Put security cameras up around your house. (They're cheaper than ever.) You'll see it happen.
 
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Gideon300

Well-known member
#43
Mar 18, 2021
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#43
MsMediator said:
If you had to pick one, would you choose your pet whom you have raised and grown to love or a potential spouse who you like but he/she doesn't like pets and doesn't want one and asks you to find a new home for the pet? Also, he/she doesn't have a valid reason (such as being very allergic) other than pets are a nuisance, unnecessarily responsibility, dirty/unclean, fur everywhere, hates cats, etc.

For me, I would definitely choose the pet. I read a post elsewhere where someone put all sorts of restrictions on the woman's cat, and also declared no more cats after the current one. I found this to be extreme. No quite the same level, but this is similar to disagreement on whether to have children.
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People need to accept each other as they are. It should be the first principle of a relationship. I don't particularly like dogs. Smelly, noisy, dirty, clumsy and overaffectionate. It's like having a tipsy teenager around. However, I married my wife in spite of that. It's not that hard if you really care for someone. We also have a cat. Sometimes noisy, demanding, fussy eater and sheds fur. She keeps me awake at night. We would not dream of parting with her.
 
Lanolin

Lanolin

Well-known member
#44
Dec 15, 2018
23,460
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#44
I think ppl need to accept each other, and whoever lives in the house already. Cats usually come with the house and are there to catch the mice, dogs usually guard the house on the outside.

You can train cats and dogs, but usually from young and they will bond with you. If you cant handle animals then dont live in a house, you are probably better off in an apartment. I think people that abuse animals dont make good husbands or wives, that is a sign they dônt respect Gods creatures.

Imagine if Noahs wife just refused to get on the ark because of all the animals she had to help look after.
 
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seed_time_harvest

Senior Member
#45
Dec 9, 2011
14,142
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#45
Lynx said:
To me pets are for outdoors. I've driven the church bus for years and picked up way too many kids who smelled like dog. And good luck making sure your cat will stay off the table while you're gone.

So if a potential spouse made me choose between her and my OUTDOOR pet, I'd need a pretty doggone (pun intended) reason for it.
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Will you be leaving your pet outside In the freezing winter?
 
moondancer

moondancer

Member
#47
Dec 24, 2022
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#47
Lynx said:
Nope, that was literal. They literally smelled like the dogs who stayed in the house with them. Everybody else could smell it, but I doubt they themselves knew that they smelled like dogs. After a while your nose gets used to it. But everybody else could tell that dogs stayed in their house and nobody ever gave the dogs a bath.
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I can vouch for that too. when my dog died I never got another one. I one day went to a friends house who had 3 dogs and I couldn't believe it stank so bad of dog. A bit like when I stopped smoking. Cigarette smells on people clothing started to make me wonder just how I had once smelled to non smokers.
 
Lynx

Lynx

Folksy yet erudite
#48
Aug 13, 2014
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#48
seed_time_harvest said:
Will you be leaving your pet outside In the freezing winter?
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I live in Tennessee. Also he has a doghouse. Also when it gets cold (well, as cold as it gets here in Tennessee) I put his doghouse in the garage and redirect his run wire into the garage.

If I lived in Wisconsin it would be a different matter. I would either have a dog with much thicker fur, let the dog stay indoors in winter or just not have a dog.
 
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Gojira

Guest
#49
#49
moondancer said:
I can vouch for that too. when my dog died I never got another one. I one day went to a friends house who had 3 dogs and I couldn't believe it stank so bad of dog. A bit like when I stopped smoking. Cigarette smells on people clothing started to make me wonder just how I had once smelled to non smokers.
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Not all dogs smell like that. I think some breeds have problems, but I think there are dietary solutions.
 
Moses_Young

Moses_Young

Banned
#50
Sep 15, 2019
9,989
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#50
Lynx said:
Oh the dog goes where you told it not to go too. Dogs are smarter though. Bigger brains, y'know. They wait until you're gone.

Don't believe me? Put security cameras up around your house. (They're cheaper than ever.) You'll see it happen.
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You can train a dog for that, too. Be watching the camera when he thinks you're gone, and when he breaks the rule, storm in and catch him breaking it, along with administering the penalty. Pretty soon, that dog's gonna be obeying the rules whether he thinks you're gone or no. :p
 
moondancer

moondancer

Member
#51
Dec 24, 2022
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#51
Gojira said:
Not all dogs smell like that. I think some breeds have problems, but I think there are dietary solutions.
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Hi Gorija. ( like your name what does it mean if you don't mind me asking?)

Yes I agree. Not all dogs smell... well, what I mean is they don't all smell bad. My boss has 2 Northen inuits and they don't smell at all. They are really furry and friendly and he feeds them a very strict diet, and they don't even have a bath but they go in the sea everyday. He cares for them like children. They live in his house. His house does not smell bad at all come to think of it..... So I think you could be right about the dietary. regime. He feeds them on a special diet. On the other hand, my dog was always in the water, but she was given anything and everything to eat, she was such a greedy dog. we loved her like one of the kids but she begged and we couldn't resist lol. I never really took the time back then to understand a dogs true dietary requirements ( if they have one)

Do you have a dog ? what kind?God Bless
 
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Gojira

Guest
#52
#52
moondancer said:
Hi Gorija. ( like your name what does it mean if you don't mind me asking?)

Yes I agree. Not all dogs smell... well, what I mean is they don't all smell bad. My boss has 2 Northen inuits and they don't smell at all. They are really furry and friendly and he feeds them a very strict diet, and they don't even have a bath but they go in the sea everyday. He cares for them like children. They live in his house. His house does not smell bad at all come to think of it..... So I think you could be right about the dietary. regime. He feeds them on a special diet. On the other hand, my dog was always in the water, but she was given anything and everything to eat, she was such a greedy dog. we loved her like one of the kids but she begged and we couldn't resist lol. I never really took the time back then to understand a dogs true dietary requirements ( if they have one)

Do you have a dog ? what kind?God Bless
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Gojira... allow me to introduce you to.... me...

 
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Gojira

Guest
#53
#53
I have no dogs currently. However, we had a terrier mix when my wife was alive, and while she had a good personality, she had a body odor problem. We did not take the dietary advice given, to the best of my memory. We should have tried.
 
Lynx

Lynx

Folksy yet erudite
#54
Aug 13, 2014
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#54
Side note: Every time I see that thread my brain reads it totally different: "Is he/she your pet or your spouse?"
 
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Ruby123

Guest
#55
#55
I have to say that dogs do smell. I go for a walk most days and come across people walking their dogs. Sometimes the dogs run up to me and try to jump up for a pat and I come home smelling like dog :sick:
There is one particular dog that I do like and when I see her she comes over to me and demands a pat and I do. Who can resist her plea for fus. I have to wash my hands with strong smelling soap to get rid of her doggy smell :sick::sick::sick::sick:

I am more of a cat person. They usually dont smell.
 
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Gojira

Guest
#56
#56
Ruby123 said:
I have to say that dogs do smell. I go for a walk most days and come across people walking their dogs. Sometimes the dogs run up to me and try to jump up for a pat and I come home smelling like dog :sick:
There is one particular dog that I do like and when I see her she comes over to me and demands a pat and I do. Who can resist her plea for fus. I have to wash my hands with strong smelling soap to get rid of her doggy smell :sick::sick::sick::sick:

I am more of a cat person. They usually dont smell.
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Ooohhhh yes they do LOL
 
hornetguy

hornetguy

Senior Member
#58
Jan 18, 2016
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#58
It would depend on how serious you are about the "potential" spouse. If you love him/her, then choosing an animal over them should be a huge red flag to the potential spouse. Animals are fun, loving, yada yada..... but choosing an animal over a human being that would become one flesh with you? Shakin' my head.
 
MsMediator

MsMediator

Well-known member
#59
Mar 8, 2022
1,170
772
113
#59
hornetguy said:
It would depend on how serious you are about the "potential" spouse. If you love him/her, then choosing an animal over them should be a huge red flag to the potential spouse. Animals are fun, loving, yada yada..... but choosing an animal over a human being that would become one flesh with you? Shakin' my head.
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To me, it would depend on the reasons why he doesn't want pets. If he simply doesn't like animals I'd wonder why. If someone is making me choose that would be a red flag, I'd think he is the jealous type. Just like I wouldn't marry someone who generally doesn't like other people.
 
hornetguy

hornetguy

Senior Member
#60
Jan 18, 2016
7,181
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#60
MsMediator said:
To me, it would depend on the reasons why he doesn't want pets. If he simply doesn't like animals I'd wonder why. If someone is making me choose that would be a red flag, I'd think he is the jealous type. Just like I wouldn't marry someone who generally doesn't like other people.
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Yes, I agree. That's why I asked "how serious is he as a potential spouse"
My main point is that we should not value animal lives over human.... if I was seriously considering marrying a woman, and she told me she couldn't stand my pet.... I'd move the pet along to someone that could care for it... a human relationship is more important to me than a pet relationship.
If it was just a dating relationship, getting to know each other.... I'd try to work something out. Like you said, depends on the reason for the intolerance.... I wouldn't give up my pet for someone I was simply dating.

I love dogs, and like cats pretty well.... I had to put down my little buddy Duke, a Yorkie that was part of the family for 15+ years, just a few months back. He was definitely "Dad's dog"....
I would like to have another dog, but my wife says "no way".... too big a chance of tripping over it and breaking bones, at our age.
 
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