Pets
Related: About this forumThe Life I Never Intended to Love: Dog Owner
I am not now, nor have I ever been, a dog person. One of my earliest memories of a dog is from when I was around 5 years old and a neighbors golden retriever knocked me face-first into the concrete. As an adult, I harbored both a mild fear of dogs and a major irritation at their seemingly entitled owners who would bring them into places they dont belong, let them invade my personal space and then say, Shes friendly!
This made it all the more curious that I should become, during the pandemic, the sole caretaker of a German shorthaired pointer named Bo. He has proved to be an inexhaustible and exhausting daredevil, prone to illness and injury, a chronic whiner who relentlessly demands my attention and takes up most of my time and energychallenges I hadnt considered or in some cases even knew existed. He cost me a fortune in medical bills and made me spend days disinfecting my apartment. Weirdly, he also turned out to be the surprising way I filled a hole in my life that I never knew existed.
A GSP, as theyre often called, isnt a starter dog like a golden retriever or a bernedoodle. Its a dog bred for hunting, with so much energy its hard to imagine it unless youve spent real time with one. A dog that during its adolescence, according to a popular meme, resembles the velociraptor portrayed in Jurassic Park as an absolute terror. The websites of rescue organizations looking to rehome GSPs describe them with words and phrases like exuberant or able to sail over a 6-foot fence, offering some clues as to what owners can be in for.
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Around the time that Bo hit adolescence and seemed to forget all the training wed done, he started having consecutive bouts of a parasite, which required me to sanitize my entire apartment. I lost count of the vet trips, canceled vacations and the number of times I stood alone on the streets of San Francisco at 3 a.m. with him wondering why I had ruined my otherwise responsibility-free life. GSPs can be a vocal breed, and Bo whined constantly, no matter how much I seemed to do for him. Some nights the whining got so bad, Id go sit in my car and cry.
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Bo will turn 3 years old in August and just like the meme indicated, he has become less like a velociraptor and more like a dog again. We are back to trail running and long walks on the beach. Hes not perfect, but hes an exceptional dog, well-behaved enough to go anywhere with me (and he does). It is a strange thing at this stage in life to have discovered a new kind of love. If I have a good day or a bad day, if I am cranky or if I am sweet, it doesnt matter: In Bos eyes, I am worthy of only love. And in my eyes, despite everything weve been through, Bo is the best dog that has ever lived.
https://archive.is/8zuAi
https://m.wsj.net/video-atmo/20230724/1d86ec78-a777-4089-9119-80e8d50e002a/1/doglife_1920.mp4
Doc Sportello
(7,962 posts)It's great that you discovered what these wonderful creatures can give to us humans.
niyad
(119,487 posts)iscooterliberally
(3,007 posts)Same colors and everything. The neighbor got so frustrated trying to train him that the dog ending up thinking his name was "Dammit". It was the funniest thing watching the neighbor out there yelling "Come here Dammit!!"
I miss my dogs. They all got old and went over the rainbow bridge. Someday we might get another one, but the house we're renting now doesn't have a fenced in yard. Good luck with Bo!
Ferryboat
(1,005 posts)Recently retired, found a shelter dog to take home. Gets me out the door and I have lost 26 lbs since February.
Joey sets a stiff pace on dayhikes, likes to investigate anything on the ground, smeller the better. In general is responsible for getting my head out of my ass.
From the perspective of a supervisor, dog owners as a group SEEMED to be more responsible than those without.
Good on you for taking on the challenge of dog ownership. The benefits are more than worth the trouble.