lv4dogs
04-26-2005, 02:53 PM
Uuugghh I don't know what to do? I hate saying no!
My uncle is moving back up here to NY from Florida within the next 2-4 weeks. He will be living with my dad (his brother) until he finds his own place, which he wants to buy. He & I both think that it would take at least 1-3 months.
He has an old lab mix, female spayed, about 13-15 years old. He can not keep her at my dads house and no one else can really watch her either. He loves his dog & does not want to give her up at all.
He wants me to watch her. And I would love to... for the most part anyways, there are a few things though that may be standing in the way.
He & I have talked about most of these possible problems and he understands that if it does not work out I can't watch her but he has no one else that can. (I have not mentioned the housetrained problem with him YET, I will though, but that is a BIG factor in my decision I don't know how to bring it up to him without sounding rude)
First, Raustyk does not do well with most female dogs. Granted she gets along with them more often if they are in my house instead of neutral ground, weird but true. And she does seem to do better with very old or very young female dogs. We won't know if they will get along until they meet. If they don't get along I can't keep her. I have no room to separate them.
Second, his dog is not completely house trained. She can hold it, but not for long. I am gone for about 10 hours a day. Granted I can bring my dogs to work with me, but I can't bring all 3, especially as I don't know how well this dog will handle strangers & strange places. She was abused & kept in a tiny crate for her first few years of life & she CAN NOT be crated, she goes so nuts that she injures herself on the crates. And my house is set up so that I really can't block her off in any rooms with linoleum floor, besides my bathroom, but that is a tiny room & in the summer gets hot in there. I don't have central a/c.
Third, we have NO idea how she will react with my other pets. She does LOVE to chase cats & my uncle says it appears that it is not in a friendly manner either. I have a cat, 5 ferrets & 2 rats & I can't deny them access to their own home.
Fourth, My schedule is a busy one for the next 2 months. I have quite a few things planned & some family issues yadda yaddaa. I'm going on a couple vacations plus a ton of camping that I want to get in before my puppy gets here. The next couple months is supposed to be one big vacation for me because of my puppy I won't be able to do a lot of my summer/fall activities this year! Not that 3 dogs differ that much from 2, but my mom watches my pets at her house, she is not willing to watch his dog. And when I go camping I bring my dogs but I can't bring his dog, she chews through tents & that is what I sleep in.
Fifth, she has a lot of old age problems. It's not really that big of a deal because she has pretty much what Nanook has, mobility issues, cancer, going deaf & blind. But having 2 dogs all of a sudden with a lot of health problems will be a challenge, especially seeing as I am really active & go camping a lot. One person trying to handle 3 dogs, 2 of which can barely walk & one rambunctious dog just doesn't seem like an easy thing to do.
I told my uncle about my vacations & he said he would work something out with that. He's not quite sure what he would do but would think of something. He mentioned kenneling her if need be, but she hates that. He also mentioned that he could stay at my house while I am gone, and I don't mean to be rude but I really don't like people that are not familiar with my pets at my house, mainly the ferrets. I am really picky with who can stay at my house without me there. It's just that you have to be so careful with the ferrets.
We also talked about the issue with Raustyk & other female dogs & we just decided to play it ear by ear & see what they do when they meet.
I have not talked to him YET about the housetraining issue nor the random camping trips I take. You see I camp a LOT, depending on the weather. There are a LOT of times that I just up & go if the weather is nice. Say friday is here & they are calling for good weather for the weekend so I just up & leave. That leaves him with only a few hours notice.
I have been waiting YEARS to get my puppy and my time has come. I do not want to be selfish & think of only me, but geesh for the last 4 months I have been planning on doing so much before the pup comes as I can't do it after the pup is here. I was going to squeeze in ALL of my summer/fall activities before the end of July. I don't want to have a boring spring/summer because I have to watch some one elses dog but yet I love my uncle & I love pets & I know if I were in his shoes I would be ever so grateful if someone could watch my dogs for me.
Now if this was just for a week or 2 it would be no biggie at all. It also wouldn't matter either if I could have all summer/fall to do my regular activities or if it was some other year. But it will be at LEAST a month and I don't have the summer/fall to spare.
What do I do? I really want to watch the dog for him, but then again I don't.
My uncle is moving back up here to NY from Florida within the next 2-4 weeks. He will be living with my dad (his brother) until he finds his own place, which he wants to buy. He & I both think that it would take at least 1-3 months.
He has an old lab mix, female spayed, about 13-15 years old. He can not keep her at my dads house and no one else can really watch her either. He loves his dog & does not want to give her up at all.
He wants me to watch her. And I would love to... for the most part anyways, there are a few things though that may be standing in the way.
He & I have talked about most of these possible problems and he understands that if it does not work out I can't watch her but he has no one else that can. (I have not mentioned the housetrained problem with him YET, I will though, but that is a BIG factor in my decision I don't know how to bring it up to him without sounding rude)
First, Raustyk does not do well with most female dogs. Granted she gets along with them more often if they are in my house instead of neutral ground, weird but true. And she does seem to do better with very old or very young female dogs. We won't know if they will get along until they meet. If they don't get along I can't keep her. I have no room to separate them.
Second, his dog is not completely house trained. She can hold it, but not for long. I am gone for about 10 hours a day. Granted I can bring my dogs to work with me, but I can't bring all 3, especially as I don't know how well this dog will handle strangers & strange places. She was abused & kept in a tiny crate for her first few years of life & she CAN NOT be crated, she goes so nuts that she injures herself on the crates. And my house is set up so that I really can't block her off in any rooms with linoleum floor, besides my bathroom, but that is a tiny room & in the summer gets hot in there. I don't have central a/c.
Third, we have NO idea how she will react with my other pets. She does LOVE to chase cats & my uncle says it appears that it is not in a friendly manner either. I have a cat, 5 ferrets & 2 rats & I can't deny them access to their own home.
Fourth, My schedule is a busy one for the next 2 months. I have quite a few things planned & some family issues yadda yaddaa. I'm going on a couple vacations plus a ton of camping that I want to get in before my puppy gets here. The next couple months is supposed to be one big vacation for me because of my puppy I won't be able to do a lot of my summer/fall activities this year! Not that 3 dogs differ that much from 2, but my mom watches my pets at her house, she is not willing to watch his dog. And when I go camping I bring my dogs but I can't bring his dog, she chews through tents & that is what I sleep in.
Fifth, she has a lot of old age problems. It's not really that big of a deal because she has pretty much what Nanook has, mobility issues, cancer, going deaf & blind. But having 2 dogs all of a sudden with a lot of health problems will be a challenge, especially seeing as I am really active & go camping a lot. One person trying to handle 3 dogs, 2 of which can barely walk & one rambunctious dog just doesn't seem like an easy thing to do.
I told my uncle about my vacations & he said he would work something out with that. He's not quite sure what he would do but would think of something. He mentioned kenneling her if need be, but she hates that. He also mentioned that he could stay at my house while I am gone, and I don't mean to be rude but I really don't like people that are not familiar with my pets at my house, mainly the ferrets. I am really picky with who can stay at my house without me there. It's just that you have to be so careful with the ferrets.
We also talked about the issue with Raustyk & other female dogs & we just decided to play it ear by ear & see what they do when they meet.
I have not talked to him YET about the housetraining issue nor the random camping trips I take. You see I camp a LOT, depending on the weather. There are a LOT of times that I just up & go if the weather is nice. Say friday is here & they are calling for good weather for the weekend so I just up & leave. That leaves him with only a few hours notice.
I have been waiting YEARS to get my puppy and my time has come. I do not want to be selfish & think of only me, but geesh for the last 4 months I have been planning on doing so much before the pup comes as I can't do it after the pup is here. I was going to squeeze in ALL of my summer/fall activities before the end of July. I don't want to have a boring spring/summer because I have to watch some one elses dog but yet I love my uncle & I love pets & I know if I were in his shoes I would be ever so grateful if someone could watch my dogs for me.
Now if this was just for a week or 2 it would be no biggie at all. It also wouldn't matter either if I could have all summer/fall to do my regular activities or if it was some other year. But it will be at LEAST a month and I don't have the summer/fall to spare.
What do I do? I really want to watch the dog for him, but then again I don't.