Disclaimer: I am not a veterinarian or any sort of medical/health professional, so I cannot make recommendations about what kind of materials are the safest and healthiest for your dog or other pet to use for water and food bowls or containers. The information found in this article is based …
This summer I lost a dog whom I consider to be one of 3 family members I’ve lost in the last 14 months. After 13 years of her being in my life, I find I am still adjusting to life without her. Dogs have always been such a deeply important part of my life, that most people who know me immediately asked when I was going to adopt another dog. Thankfully, these people were also sensitive and understanding when I answered, “I don’t know.” Although the last few months I have been open to any unexpected circumstance that might come along where a dog would walk into my life and become my new canine companion, I’ve recently decided that I will most likely wait until springtime of next year (2024) to intentionally search for this this special dog.
There are many factors going into my decision to not intentionally adopting right away. One reason is I want to feel better with some of my own health issues so I have more energy for my new dog. Thankfully, this seems to be something that is currently improving. Another reason is I want to be in a better financial situation so I can be more confident I can provide all the care my dog needs without constantly worrying about whether or not I can afford a veterinary bill. Lastly, one of the biggest reasons I want to wait to adopt another dog is because I want to make sure I educate myself even more than I feel I am already educated on many aspects of dog parenting due to negative experiences and outcomes in recent years that I feel happened because I trusted so-called experts rather than trusting my own knowledge and intuition.
This might very well be my own subconscious effort to help myself have less anxiety about certain things by trying to have a bit more control in this important area of my life. However, even if that is true, I believe a responsible pet parent should do some amount of periodic research to keep updated in a lot of different aspects of animal care and wellbeing to at least help in making more educated decisions when experts do need to be consulted or when experts are not available. Plus, it’s been around 7 years since I’ve helped raise a puppy (one of my sister’s dogs), so if I do end up adopting a puppy or very young dog, I’m sure there are skills and information I need to brush up on.
Since my educational background does include dog and animal behavior, I’m excited to dive deeper into topics like training and enrichment. I’m also looking forward to learning more about things that might make certain aspects of puppy and senior dog life more convenient that I have either limited experience with or have never utilized before, like vehicle ramps or puppy potty-training pee pads. My dog first-aid kit also needs restocking, so that’s another opportunity for research.
I have a feeling that while completing this self-imposed dog parenting CEU, I might have moments of feeling disappointed with myself that I don’t know certain things, but right now I’m feeling more happy anticipation than anything else in having an excuse to spend more time learning about one of my most favorite and cherished living beings in the world – dogs. Along the way, I hope the information and insights I share in future posts will also be helpful to you and your current or prospective canine companion. Here we go!
Disclaimer: The contents on this page have been approved for reading by humans. The contents have not been tested or approved for consumption by artificial intelligence, or AI.
