Dogs are not toys that can be thrown away when your bored playing with them Discussions

I do the best I can in my small bungalow. I am physically unable to hoover and dust daily and cannot find anyone to even come and help me once a week for a couple of hours.

Yes I ignore dust, but my kitchen surfaces are cleaned at least once a day, as is the loo and handbasin that belong to the bungalow, and my ensuite, which I had built, is also cleaned at least once a day. By me.

Everything else has to wait its turn, and believe me there is no smell of dog anywhere in my little home.

Dust, yes. Dog hairs around yes. But no smell and everywhere there is food is kept 100% clean. Not very easy for me but I do it.

I just do not bother about dust and dog hairs anywhere else. Because to be honest there is nothing I can do about them, and Pereg does not shed enough to worry about.

Please do not make me feel guilty about things that I can not do. It is not lazyness or a wish to live in squalor - and my home is far from that. It is doing what I can when I can and accepting what I can not do.

And what I can not do is hoover and dust daily and scrub floors daily and all other "normal" house-keeping things that I used to be able to do.

However, what I can do, and do, is clean up my beloved dog after she has had a revoltingly messy seizure. And believe me, cleaning up means not only the glue-like gunge that spews out of her mouth and covers her face and her chest - and wherever she has been laying during the seizure, but the fact that she loses bladder control - frequently loses bowel control, and it is not unknown for her to involuntary express her anal glands during a seizure.

And that takes a lot of cleaning - both of her and wherever she has been during the seizure.

So house-proud and regular housework? They mean absolutely nothing to me.

I do what I can and what I cannot do I do not care about. Life is too short to worry about a few dog hairs or a few specks of dusk. Or be concerned that my home might smell of dog when a dog lives here.

I agree having lived with multiple dogs there is no need for the house to smell of dog, blimey my dogs don't smell of dog let alone my house. It is harder with big hairy dogs but it just depends on what's important to you I guess. My dogs do not have free range of the house, I hoover and damp dust every day. I mop the kitchen etc at least once a day. It doesn't need to take over your life but it does take time. I would be mortified if people thought my house smelt, and I don't want to be covered in dogs hairs let alone visitors. It's inevitable you get a few but I've seen sofa's and carpets that look as though they are made of dog hair

Ermm Malka I have no intention of making you feel guilty of anything, my comments are a response to YOUR (and others ) attempt to belittle the concept of house work.

I care little to how you keep your home, but I do no wish to live in a dog kennel, or an untidy house. I appreciate you can't physically do a lot, but the tone of some replies suggests ridicule to anyone who is house proud.

I agree it no hardship to keep a home free from dog smells,

@Jackie - the "what is this thing called house work" started as a joke. And was it really necessary for me to take the blame?

My house might be dusty but it is not untidy or dirty. Nor will you find many dog hairs and it definitely does not smell of dog.

Nor do I smell.

As you get older you realise that life does not depend on keeping your home scrubbed, vacuumed, dusted, etc.

You learn to live life comfortably.

And my house is NOT dirty. It is NOT untidy. And it does NOT smell of dog. Does not smell of me either, even though I do not shower six times a day.

And it is MY home. My home and Pereg's home, and as long as we are both happy, why should anyone else care?

And I am not ashamed to welcome anyone in to my home.

I am sure that I am guilty of comments along the 'what is housework' line. Meant as a joke, not to belittle anyone houseproud, and it never occurred to me that anyone could take offence at such light-hearted comments.

I agree, why should anyone else care....I never implied otherwise !

Sorry for sounding snippy Jackie - very upset the last couple of days due to losing some of our dogs and a not very good situation here.

Best I sit on my hands for a while, eh?

Well, thank G*d I have never been house proud. I fend off the doggie smell because my dogs are kept extremely clean. Can't get a doggie smell if your dogs don't smell. My house is often somewhat cluttered but never dirty. My dogs live with me. They are allowed on the bed, on the furniture, in the bathroom and anywhere else they want to be. Many people don't approve of it even though they won't get up on anyone but me uninvited. If these things bother anyone I tell them not to visit. I guess I have no time for people who don't approve of anothers life style. When I go to visit someone I'm going to see a person...not their house.

With 6 dogs & 3 cats it don't matter how long I spend cleaning, after 5 mins of my pets playing my home looks like a bomb has hit it.
As for hovering don't own a vacuum cleaner just a polish floor sweeper/mop, plus don't have any carpets or rugs just wooden flooring throughout.

I looked on the Beagle Welfare site last night and counted 59 Beagles on their adoption list! Maybe half a dozen are marked as 'Home Waiting', and many of them are described as being there, 'due to no fault of their own'. The age range is from 5 months to 13 years, and several of them have lived in pairs - litter sisters, or pairs of unrelated youngsters.
BW is a marvellous, award - winning rescue service, and the dogs there do have happy lives - sadly sometimes for very long periods, BUT, where on earth are the breeders of these unfortunate dogs when things go wrong? My puppy owners were always told to contact me if they had any problems at all, and as they usually remained in the locality, the majority stayed in touch anyway.
Not all of these unwanted dogs have been bred in puppy farms, where there is little hope of any advice. I am sure that if puppy buyers could only be persuaded to make the breeder their first port of call, many of the behavioural issues which seem to project so many of these youngsters into rescue, could be prevented - or at least contained.

Rant over!

When I got Pepe and Chico (same breeder) I had to agree to return them to her if I couldn't keep them. She also emails from time to time to find out how they're doing.

I have quite a few respiratory problems, since birth, and when they flare up it affects a heart condition I too was born with. Hair and dust can be rather naughty for that. So I Hoover and mop every morning.
I too don't like the smell of dog in the house, with two big hairy ones that takes some doing to keep at bay--especially when wet. Leather sofas and hard wood flooring help too!

Same with me and is written in Gwylim's contract of purchase. His breeder Robbie lives in the same area as me so he often sees Gwylim and as his wife is a professional groomer Gwylim gets to see his doggy family every couple of months or so. We also keep in regular contact by phone and I find it quite reassuring that if I have a problem with either dog all I have to do is to call him.

@Janet and @Pork1epe1
And to my mind, that is what being a breeder should be like. Pedigree dogs do not come into the world unplanned, and ideally their support should last for a lifetime.