With that post title it sounds like I broke up with my girlfriend, but not at all, she’s a keeper! I’m talking about my dad’s and brother’s dog, named Tip, Crystal, or Sasha(that’s the name that I gave her). I kept on going back and forth with my decision. I thought of the positives and cons of taking care of a pet that would only give love and affection, while I was living on my own.

Why did I want a dog in the first place?

I felt that my father and brother weren’t taking care of the dog or didn’t give her enough attention. My dad would come home, relax on the couch, drink alittle, and then proceed to watch television for the rest of the day. My brother was even worse; he would go to school to please my parents and would play atleast 10 hours a day of Warcraft on his computer. My mother doesn’t care for the dog because she doesn’t like pets. So little Tip, by my brother and Crysta,l by my dad would roam the big old house with no attention or affection. Where she would find places to piss and shit, lay down and be bored out of her mind, dodge my mom because of her negative attitude toward her, and get a minute or two of petting and looked at from the men of the house. So me living by myself thought that I could provide her with a better home.

So how was my week with the Sasha?

When I was deciding to move into my apartment I wanted another being there; to help with the loneliness that I was going to have from time to time because of living on my own. If I wasn’t spending time with my girlfriend, after my day job I would either be working out, reading, writing, or watching a movie. That is quite a bit of time being by myself and after awhile I would get bored and go crazy. But, as I saw Sasha beg for ALL of my attention when I was relaxing or doing the activities that I was passionate about it got annoying. Since Sasha was a chi-weenie (chihuahua and dotson mix), I knew by asking people she required tons of walking to calm her down and some how get rid of the energy she had while being locked up in a cage, I mean crate all day long. Damn it seems like she was locked in jail and was told to be bored, similar to what many people go through everyday at their 9-5’s. So I walked her, I walked her for 30-45 minutes 4 times. That little rascal still had too much energy and still required me to spend more time with her. So instead of focusing on my passions or simply relaxing for the rest of the day I was a baby sitter. Many people told me that taking care of a dog will get me ready for taking care of a kid. That is absolutely fuckin true, but a kid grows up and eventually becomes self-sufficient at the age of 5. Whom would require the minimum amount of supervision, while the t.v. and video games will play the baby sitter (lol, just kidding, but a kid can be productive reading a book or putting a puzzle together to stimilate their minds). 

The good times with the critter…

Not all of the time spent with Sasha was bad. During the walks were the best times that we had with each other. She ran when I ran, jumped high when I stopped, and the fur on her back puffed up because  of other dogs barking, taking a shit, or walking with their owners. She didn’t like being man-handled by me with the leash, but did so and lived up to the typical “Man’s Best Friend” role. However, on our last day of walking, I let Sasha roam free because I wanted to play with her before we went in for the day. We played for 5 seconds…she paused…looked at me…and took off, there was no way I was going to run after her. Then she got near the stairs of her very temporary home, ran up and then came back down half way up as if to tell me that she has had enough walking around and was ready to relax for the rest of the day. I will never forget that moment! I think that the memory will stick with me because I could truly tell that she loved living in my apartment and more importantly that she really appreciated the love and attention that I was giving her. 

Don’t you want some kind of responsibility?

Being the age of 27, barely able to take care of myself and didn’t want to become skinny due to walking the dog every single day, I decided to take her back. Yes I took an absolutely selfish approach to my decision. Why not? If I don’t want to fully commit myself to taking care of a pet, then I don’t have to. She was taking up too much of my time and wouldn’t listen to my orders (she started to shit and piss inside the apartment). I know in a couple of years I will be married and then have a kid or 2, and will have all of the responsibility that I could handle. However, for now I just want to worry about taking care of myself and to enjoy my freedom of living on my own. As I started to dream of the apartment with me, the only sole in it, I couldn’t wait to take Sasha back. Also, I knew the treatment or care that I was giving her wasn’t fair to Sasha. I know there are many people that would give the dog so much love and attention that it made logical sense to give her away. So for the meantime I took her back to my parent’s place, told them that if they don’t give her what she needs then I would take her away and give her to a family that would love her (of course they said that they would change, but I don’t believe them at all).