What You Should Know Before Getting a Dog: The Dee and Stella Story

WARNING: Prepare to be blasted with a million pics of Stella throughout her life.
                                   

          Right about the time I returned to my beloved BG, Stella Crüe, my crazy naked rat dog, began to limp. At first I didn’t think much of it. Chinese Cresteds are prone to slipped kneecaps and Stella’s legs had been a little sore more than once. I figured she had just been a bit too vigorous while jumping onto a bed or the couch and that the situation would right itself, like usual.

            Unfortunately, I was wrong.

           Stella slowly began to favour her right leg, and then that began to bother her as well. She struggled to rise, to sit, and to walk. She stopped romping around and playing fetch and spent her entire day curled up beside me, trembling. I visited the vet no less than five times and gave Stella a stream of ever-changing medicines; steroids, painkillers, anti-inflammatories, neurological meds, more steroids…nothing worked. Stella grew thinner, trembled more violently, and the vet and I were dumbfounded. I was referred to both a canine neurologist and an orthopedist. Finally, nearly six months after my poor pup had begun limping, we had a diagnosis. Stella had torn both of the ACLs in her back legs.

Stella coming home from surgery, all
sorts of drugged up.

                                              

            “Both?” I said to the orthopedist, “How did she manage to do that?”

            “It’s really common, actually.” He said, “Almost 30% of dogs do it in their lifetime. It just happens.”

            After a surgery that replaced her “decimated” (as the surgeon had described) ACLs with, no joke, fishing line, Stella is on the road to recovery. The entire ordeal; the vet and the specialist, the medications, the surgery; all cost me and those who helped me somewhere around $2500.00. $2500.00 for something that “just happens” to dogs sometimes.
                                                

            Recently, both my boyfriend (Wade, as named for his Deadpool obsession) and a friend of mine have gotten puppy fever. They’ve been browsing Petfinder.com and gushing over cute little puppy faces, casually glancing at collars and toys at Petco, all that fun stuff.

            “It’ll give me a reason to get outside,” my friend, whom is prone to excessive napping, told me, “I just want something to cuddle with.”*

            Wade is pretty set on getting a big athletic dog, a companion with whom to romp and play Frisbee and fetch. He’s drawn toward the square and smiling face of the pit bull, their goofiness and unwavering devotion.

First pic of Stella and me in 2010. She
was SO tiny.

            In truth, I absolutely love the idea of Wade getting a dog. I’ll get to play with a puppy again! Stella will finally have another dog to interact with (she is woefully undersocialized), I’ll have big dog cuddles, and all four of us will take long walks in the park and be an adorable little human-canine family. However, there is an equally large part of me that worries—the part that just spent $2500.00 on my own pet, the part that thinks about the future (if we ever move in together, how will we find a place that will accept multiple dogs? A big dog? A pit bull? Vet bills while paying down student loans? PANIC!)
                                      

Puppy Stella. She was very alien-like.

            I got Stella back in 2010. I was single for the first time since high school, and living alone for the first time ever. I’d always wanted a dog, and I thought it was the perfect time. I didn’t have any roommate who would be irritated by house training accidents and puppy yipping. I had very few classes that summer, so I’d be able to give the puppy the full time care that they truly need. Pet rent wouldn’t bump up my rent too much. It seemed like the best time.

            Let me make clear that I, like the proud Mama that I am, do not regret getting Stella. My naked rat creature lights up my day. She’s my constant companion, helps me keep my depression in check, and she even saved my life a few years ago. Like a parent of a human baby, I can’t imagine life without my little creature.

            …however…

            There was no way I was ready for a dog, even though I had convinced myself that I was. Living alone, the rent, the time…all of that was a temporary state. That was not my long term life. Not to mention the fact that up to that point, I had spent my life financially dependent on my parents, and then nestled in the cozy safety net of student loans. I didn’t know the meaning of actual financial hardship. I didn’t understand how much I had to work in order to make rent, utilities, and be able to eat without help. I didn’t understand that a dog can have a multitude of problems that cost a lot of money (I’d had healthy indoor cats my entire life, completely different pet situation than dog ownership), and I didn’t really understand the gravity of a decade-long commitment to caring for another living creature.

Pup in mid-air.

            Now, I thought I’d considered these things…for instance, I figured that small dogs are healthier than big ones, have cheaper vet bills, and would be less of a problem with rental agencies. And all of that is true, but I didn’t think enough. Yes, small dogs are, on average, healthier than large dogs, but they still have problems. In her brief 5 years of life, Stella has been treated for ear mites, eating chicken bones (those are bad…), a debilitating skin rash, a bacterial infection, two slipped kneecaps, and a few sores created by her overcompulsion to lick. These are all every day dog things, indicative of nearly every breed and mutt. When you’re struggling to pay your bills, those vet bills are like a kick in the nuts for your wallet.

            Ladies and gentlemen, the aesthetic paragraph break.

Doing her Gene Simmons impression.
I may have knitted that scarf. Just sayin'. Skills.

And while we’re on vet bills: yes, little dogs’ vet care bills tend to be cheaper. But they’re still around $100 per visit on average. Every dog needs heartworm medication and annual shots. Most need regular flea treatment (I’m lucky there because Stella is hairless and fleas don’t care for her. Woo.)

And yes: small dogs are more accepted by rental agencies…but they’re still dogs. Owning any sort of dog (or even any pet) drastically reduces your options if you’re looking for a new place. As I stated in a previous post, rental agencies often charge pet rent, in addition to a hefty pet deposit. Pet rent normally ranges from an extra $50-100 a month on top of your rent. That’s like an additional monthly utility.

She might have been the Joker for her first Halloween
.....don't judge me.

            My life obviously changed as Stella and I grew up. I moved in with a roommate, signing a “no pets” lease because we could find nothing else in BG during the winter. Stella was still young, and she was my very first dog; a combination which meant that she still had accidents in the house and some behavioural problems, like excessive barking. That was all right when I lived alone, but now there was a roommate in the mix and he was (understandably) more upset by these issues.

Dat hair.

            The roommate dynamic is not very compatible with a dog’s life in general. Dogs are pack animals and have a pack mentality: Every living creature in their household is a member of their pack, a single unit, interconnected. A dog doesn’t understand the concept of a “roommate,” or that it isn’t a roommate’s responsibility to let out, walk, or feed the dog that isn’t theirs. Inconsistent reinforcement of training with their human pack will lead to your pup forgetting the useful tricks that you spent so much time teaching them, like ringing a bell when they have to go out (a handy trick Stella used to know.)
                                     

            Sneaking Stella into a “no pets” apartment proved problematic as well. I don’t recommend violating your lease like that in any way, but, having said that, it’s easier to do with some animals than others. Dogs are hard animals to hide. My landlords discovered her (by not-so-legally entering my apartment, but that’s a different story,) and in order to avoid eviction, Stella had to live with my parents for a summer. I can’t adequately describe how agonizing it was being away from Stella. I never want to go through it again. If I were able to, I’d take that crazy rat dog with me to class and to work. Not being able to see her more than once or twice a month was too much to bear.
                                            

            While we’re on the topic of landlords, let’s talk lease restrictions. First of all, if you’re considering a dog, do this little exercise: Get onto Zillow.com and look up apartments for rent in your city or a city you’re planning to move to. Now, add the “allow dogs” feature and watch a multitude of dots vanish from the map. If you live in a smaller town like BG, hunting for pet friendly apartments becomes a major endeavour. If you have a dog that’s over 30 lbs, your search becomes even more problematic. Many pet friendly rental agencies are extremely restrictive about the size and breed of dog they allow in their apartments.
                                          

            Breed-specific legislation is, unfortunately, still a reality, despite the President himself speaking out against it. Beautiful breeds like the Doberman, the Rottweiler, the German Shepherd, and the Pit bull/Staffordshire Terrier have been subjected to legislation that forbids them from certain apartment complexes, living communities, even cities (I’m looking at you, fucking Cincinnati.) Dogs deemed “dangerous” simply by being a breed with a bad rap have been ripped from their homes and executed by ignorant imbeciles who don’t understand that dogs are not inherently dangerous because of their breed. Unfortunately, the Pit Bull is the current breed under heavy fire, and though there has been some protest online and with certain organizations, BSL is still a grim reality for Pit bull and Staffy owners. If you’re curious about how prominent it is, check out this documentary available on Netflix, but I warn you, it is graphic and brutal. I have never cried harder during a documentary in my life. Anyway, if you’re the owner of a Pit, Staffy, or any other breed who has gone through fear mongering in the past, be prepared for rental agencies to slam the door in your face.

The groomers put a bow in her hair.
She was less than thrilled.

            Another thing I really didn’t think through was how long dogs live. I mean, I knew that Stella’s lifespan is around 15 years, but I didn’t think about what that really meant for me. I was a little college kid when I first got her. My life has changed dramatically in these five years, and there have been times where Stella has suffered for it, like when I worked full time and didn’t have anyone to take Stella out while I was gone, or the aforementioned “no pets” fiasco. Stella is going to be with me when I go to grad school, if I do end up travelling to Europe for a year or two, move into my first house, and have my first kid. It doesn’t matter if I hit financial hard times (or rather, continue to). Stella needs her checkups, her meds, her food. There have been weeks where I had to feed Stella instead of myself. She’s completely dependent on me, and she comes first. If you’re getting a dog, you need to be able to take care of them, no matter what’s going on.

            I know this is a rocky addition because I didn’t know where to put it, but dogs also dramatically change your lifestyle. It’s not as dramatic a change as having a kid, but if you’re a typical college kid, who stays out all night, crashes on friends’ couches, and sometimes goes on spontaneous trips, that will not be your life anymore. Unless you’re the kind of dick who unloads your responsibilities on your roommate/parents/significant others, you need to go home for your dog. They need your companionship, to be walked and let out to go to the bathroom. They aren’t cats, who can be left alone with food and water for a couple of days with no problem. If you want to go anywhere overnight, you need to find a pet sitter. Welcome to puppy parenthood!

These jammies...are ridiculous.

            Dogs are singularly amazing pets. They’re animals that we have deliberately evolved over thousands of years to be our companions. I understand the impulse to get one and to have one. Like I said, I adore Stella, and I don’t regret getting her for a second. But I do wish I had been more prepared, financially, socially, mentally, etc, before making the decision to have a canine companion. Think hard, kiddies. 

We are not impressed.

*VERY important side note: Don’t EVER get a dog in order to “motivate” yourself to be more active. If you buy a gym membership to “motivate” yourself to be more active and don’t end up going, you’re out a couple hundred bucks, but it’s not a big deal. If you end up going back to your default activity level when you have a more active dog, then the dog suffers. Don’t kid yourself. If you’re a couch potato, get a bulldog for companionship and go to the gym for fitness.