Dogs. . . They aren't "Property" to be Divided. . . Then Taken to the Pound

So the two of you are in love. You date, decide that you are good together so you rent/buy a house together. You are still in love. You get a dog. A lovely dog, one who is black and brown, of indeterminate breeding, but definitely a loving, smart, playful mid-sized dog. You love the dog, both of you. You take the dog on hikes, you make sure she has her shots, and proper health care even though you don't really think the laws make sense, you get her her legally required shots, and paperwork. 

Then you fall out of love. Girl moves out. Boy stays in the home, and decides he wants to keep the dog. Girl relents because she loves the dog, and doesn't want to subject her to numerous moves while she figures out where she is going to live. The Boy loves the dog. He bathes the dog, sleeps with the dog, walks the dog. But really, the dog starts reminding Him of Her. Then it become resentment. He starts feeling that he's 'stuck with the dog'. He can't go anywhere without finding someone to take care of the dog, and he has to vacuum a lot because the beautiful dog is shedding. Poor dog didn't do anything to be resented, though so Boy decides that rather than destroy the dog by resenting it to death, he'll get rid of the dog. 

So, Boy takes the dog to the SPCA. But with a little bit of spite, so he doesn't tell Girl that he's done it. But her friends find out, contact another friend who works at the SPCA and arranges for her to re-adopt the dog that he and she adopted a few short 8 months ago from the same SPCA. Only she isn't going to be home for the next two nights, and she doesn't want to just adopt the dog and ditch her. So she finds a friend who will take the dog for two nights.

Poor baby dog. She's just been fixed because that's what the SPCA does, and she's confused, tired, achy, has no medicine, and she just wants to go home to bed with her Girl, and sleep. But she's relegated to someone's apartment with some young boy who dotes on her, worries about her not eating, worries enough about her going up and down stairs that he carries her halfway up, and then makes her take them one at a time. This younger boy has fallen in love with this dog, and she's going back to her Girl's house in the morning. Poor baby dog. Poor boy. 

All of this could have been avoided, had Boy simply called Girl up and said, "Hey, I hate you, but I love our dog, and I can no longer stand living with her in the same place as me. Can you come get her?" Sounds simple, right?  But Boy and Girl are only 19 and 20 years old, and can barely figure out how to get up, go to work, come home and tend to the responsibilities that the beautiful dog brings to the table. It takes maturity to raise, care for, and feed a dog. Beautiful ones like her, and ugly ones too. 

Remember, if you rescue or adopt a dog whether as a pup or already grown, you are really adding a child to the mix in your home. Are you ready for a furry child? If not, go to the SPCA and volunteer to be a dog walker. Volunteer to be a sitter-with-cats. Volunteer to do something with the SPCA or BARCS until you can have a dog. Dogs are like children. Wonderful, loving creatures who bring joy and pain into our lives, but we have to be comitted to caring for them and caring for them consistenly. If you are ready, check out the following sites:  http://www.mdspca.org/adoption/index.html  and/or http://baltimoreanimalshelter.org/;