Parents teaching responsibility with puppies?
Question by Autowerks: Parents teaching responsibility with puppies?
This afternoon while in town running errands I happened to encounter a family, a 12 year old girl with her lab puppy and her 15 year old sister with her shar pei puppy. They were each accompanied by a parent, and walked a block apart from each other. I couldn’t resist speaking to them. The girls had been saving their allowances and taking after school jobs for 3plus years, and had made enough money to fence their yard, buy credit at the local vet, and pay in advance for puppy preschool plus obedience training before saving for the purchase of their puppies. I was astounded at the responsibility displayed by these 2 girls, and their awesome pups were well on their way to being good canine citizens. The older girl told me that her pup was quite expensive, and her little sister advanced her the extra money to help her buy the puppy she wanted. Don’t you wish everyone put such thought and responsibility into teaching their children about pet care and ownership?
DEAD GAME: Unfortunately, that IS the state of the world. Most “parents” I see have never put even half that effort into procreating. Sick sad world, but this family made my day!
ADD JENNIFER: We are @ 15 minutes from Ferris State University, in Big Rapids, MI where both will go to college and live at home while they do so. 
Best answer:
Answer by Sarah N
That would be awesome if all parents were like that.
Instead, most of them either go to the petstore or a puppymill/BYB, throw the dog at the kid and say “care for it”. Yet, they still seemed shocked when all does not go well.
What do you think? Answer below!
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My dear old thing,most of the parents are INCAPABLE,indifferent & ignorant.
Utopia doesn’t & can’t exist.
The Big Brother & Nanny-Knows-Best has taken the place of natural selection.
The gene-pool needs a good bleaching
That is wonderful to hear. Yes, it would be great if all people were like that before obtaining a dog. It would sure cut down on the poor doggies in shelters.
I’d be happy if everyone put such thought and responsibility in to their *own* pets, let alone their children’s.
oh jesus yes!
unfortunately, most communities [at least around here] would frown upon a parent making [or trying to make] their child work for their own stuff.
I know people where I live that will get puppies for their kids and once the puppies stop being cute the kids will get tired of them. Sometimes it won’t even be that long. The parents will just toss the dog out on the side of the road and get another one. I mean that’s just awful. That’s a terrible thing to teach your kids. They are just teaching them that if they get tired of a living thing to get rid of it and get another.
Sure, but its not going to happen. Think of how many parents don’t even have the common sense to teach their little children how to behave around animals?
The first parent who doesn’t scold their kid(or better yet STOP them) for running up and poking/slapping/punching/pulling on my dog is going to get an EARFUL about their piss poor parenting skills.
Mixed feelings on this. The money those 2 girls earned (which I imagine is close to $ 2000 between the two of them) could have been put into a college fund while the parents agreed to meet the kids halfway for a shelter dog or two that would have cost only $ 100-$ 200 per dog at most.
Also want to point out that the 15 year old will be going to college in 3 years. Who is going to take care of the dog when she is living in a dorm paying for textbooks?
All for responsibility, but this is a bit extreme.
I know… I’m being a party pooper. Just giving my view on things.
Edited: Don’t be so sure that the girls are going to go to a local school. That may be what the PARENTS want, for their little babies to stay with them at home while they attend college. A lot can happen in a few years, and children do change their minds.
Sticking by my original post. If these girls got purebred dogs from responsible breeders, they each paid about $ 1000. It would have been better if the parents taught them how to responsibly save money AND adopt a shelter dog.