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Chinchilla & Hedgehog Pet Forum

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danakscully64 said:
Here's my friends dog, Diego:

diego.jpg
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Diego is GORGEOUS!!

Pits are definately a misunderstood breed. I do agree with a lot said about them, BUT I know from personal experience they are more likely to be dog aggressive.

That being said, I have a "foster" pit here who has been here for 2 years, and she plays with foster puppies & all of the other dogs, the puppies share her food bowl and she backs off & lets them have it.

She is one of the sweetest dogs ever...I just haven't adopted her out yet, because I worry about the type of home she will get...
 
jrosler04 said:
A week later (when the dog was scheduled for Euth.) I found from a friend of the owner that the kid was forced BY HIS PARENTS to dump the dog as a punishment, because he got his girlfriend pregnant.... teaching him abandonment?!
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Those parents need kicked in the teeth. Or at least left to a quiet abandonment in a nursing facility in their old age. Just dumping a family member when life gets inconvenient is cruel and selfish. May they one day truly understand the pain they inflicted on that dog *and* their son that day.

(This is why I got out of rescue: I have no problem patching the animals up, training them out of bad habits, finding them compatible homes... but I can't do intakes. :hair: )
 
jrosler04 said:
Diego is GORGEOUS!!

Pits are definately a misunderstood breed. I do agree with a lot said about them, BUT I know from personal experience they are more likely to be dog aggressive.

That being said, I have a "foster" pit here who has been here for 2 years, and she plays with foster puppies & all of the other dogs, the puppies share her food bowl and she backs off & lets them have it.

She is one of the sweetest dogs ever...I just haven't adopted her out yet, because I worry about the type of home she will get...
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vf9wHkkNGUU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4RqB-HjkdI


:D Sharky is awesome.

I wish I could adopt her! I love pits.
 
I grew up with pets. My boyfriend grew up with pets. We've both agreed that if/when we have children, we want them to grow up around pets. The thing is, too... for me, it's not going to be an "oops, I wasn't expecting a baby!" moment. Because the medications I take cause stillbirths and/or fatal birth defects, I have to be off them for a full six months before even considering getting pregnant! As for adoptions, which are a more likely situation for us (hurrah for a plethora of family history on the both of us!), we'd still have to plan and prepare before ever bringing a child home.

That said, I've had to leave a pet behind before. I had already moved away from my mother, and while she was moving out of her old apartment, Cocoa, my loving kitten, pulled a successful escape artist maneuver, and neither of us saw her again. So until I got Freya a couple of weeks ago, I hadn't had a pet in nearly two years - where I had always, always lived with a pet before. I cannot begin to tell you how much of a difference she makes to me.

I think that a pet can do more than teach children about responsibility, compassion, and loss. A pet can also help them when they're depressed or anxious. There's a reason that there's so many service animals for people with depression or social anxiety disorder! I'm of the firm opinion that a pet of any sort is better for people's (and especially children's!) mental health. Give me a pet's crazy antics or affection over prozac any day ;)
 
I'll go to all ends possible to keep my pets before rehoming them for whatever reason. When I got kicked out of my aunt and uncle's my senior year, my aunt wasn't going to let me take my dog, so I "dog"-napped her. She is still with me, to this day, 3 years later, although right now she's spending some time at my mom's until we can figure out who's been peeing in the house... When I have kids, I wholeheartedly plan on my children growing up with animals. Hopefully, a fairly wide variety, as we plan on moving to NC and having a small farm. If budgets get out of hand, there are other cuts that can be made before getting rid of an animal. And if it's a behavioral issue? Then I sure as **** will try everything else in my power before rehoming an animal.

Keith's husky, Shadow, is an absolute nut case. He's literally **** on wheels, and some people probably think he's a horrible beast of an animal. But when it comes to kids? He's the gentlest thing in the world and will let them poke/pull/drool/etc to their hearts' content. My older dog, however, who is normally gentle, is a brat in her old age, and while tolerant and enjoys playing to some extent, will let you know when she's had enough. She will give a warning bark, and if that doesn't deter the kids, she will snap. Young children aren't alone with her for that very reason, and we watch her body signs for when she's had enough.

There is only one situation that I would consider getting rid of an animal, and that would be if were a 100% legitimate health situation that couldn't be fixed to a manageable and comfortable level. Not an "allergy" that appeared 4 years after the fact or something.
 
Ash said:
There is only one situation that I would consider getting rid of an animal, and that would be if were a 100% legitimate health situation that couldn't be fixed to a manageable and comfortable level. Not an "allergy" that appeared 4 years after the fact or something.
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I don't want to contradict you or cause trouble, but people can and have developed allergies - sometimes deathly severe - even after a lifetime of exposure. My boyfriend's grandfather, for example, was locally known as "the Christmas Tree man." Last fall, he'd been diagnosed with a severe allergy to the very trees he farmed! The man was 80-something and had been farming Christmas trees for over 40 years. If he could get an allergy to something he'd been around that long, I can believe a child developing an allergy to a pet after only four years.

Not only that, but consistent exposure to something does not necessarily help allergies. Very often, it can only make them worse, to the point where it IS a life-threatening allergy. If I have a child that turned out to be allergic to one of our animals, and after a year had only gotten worse? I would be heartbroken, but I wouldn't want to risk the life of a child or animal over something that could be prevented.
 
Rimbaum said:
I don't want to contradict you or cause trouble, but people can and have developed allergies - sometimes deathly severe - even after a lifetime of exposure. My boyfriend's grandfather, for example, was locally known as "the Christmas Tree man." Last fall, he'd been diagnosed with a severe allergy to the very trees he farmed! The man was 80-something and had been farming Christmas trees for over 40 years. If he could get an allergy to something he'd been around that long, I can believe a child developing an allergy to a pet after only four years.

Not only that, but consistent exposure to something does not necessarily help allergies. Very often, it can only make them worse, to the point where it IS a life-threatening allergy. If I have a child that turned out to be allergic to one of our animals, and after a year had only gotten worse? I would be heartbroken, but I wouldn't want to risk the life of a child or animal over something that could be prevented.
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I quoted allergy for that reason. I know allergies can develop after some time. I'm 21 years old and have never been effected by poison ivy, but this year I seem to have had one heck of an outbreak. But there's a difference between a real, legitimate allergy, and just using that as an excuse to get rid of an animal.
 
As I was growing up my mother ran her own business (a bar, so you know it wasn't just like a quilting shop) had 3 children that she took care of two of which weren't even hers and she still managed to take care of 3+ dogs over the years, who knows how many cats, a tarantula, an iguana, heaps full of fish, and a hamster. She didn't have any help because at this time she was married to her ex husband who was a trucker and was never home.
And as the years progressed we moved to a farm, where we acquired even more pets including cattle (yes some were pets and we loved them dearly, we raised them from the bottle) horses, at least 4 dogs, a WIDE variety of cats (they adopt us), mice (I'm a sucker, I can't watch a cat kill a mouse) and now we have chinchillas.
Even though we recently got the chinchillas with in the last two years my mom has had two more children. So to round it all up there are 5 people in the house my parents, me (17), and my two year old brother and seven month old sister. Yes, of course my dog and my moms house cats felt a little out of place when all the attention didn't go to them, but guess what they are still as happy as can be the cats sleep with either my parents or my brother and my dog and chinchillas sleep in my room. My brother is two years old and he reminds me 'give chillas bath' 'play with chillas in the bathroom' and other phrases like that because he loves to watch them hop around which I think is proof enough that it is possible to have children and still have pets of any sorts. The animals even adapt to the other animals, my dog thinks that the chinchillas are his puppies. He constantly is trying to check on them, if their water gets below the half mark he rubs on it until it falls off and I go fill it up and he constantly is trying to clean them, which results in horrible hair balls just an fyi. I don't know, I ramble a lot but it frustrates me as well that people give up their pets, the pets that trust them and expect them to care for them forever, I couldn't imagine having to change homes all of a sudden and being left alone with strangers.
 
You know, I have often thought the same thing myself. I don't EVER see myself giving up my chinchillas if I was expecting a child. However, many people don't see pets as a lifelong commitment like we do. They see a pet as something expendable, they value their children way above a pet. I do understand that, I mean your children should be more important than your pets. But, if their isn't a health problem (like your child is very allergic to your pet) which some people use as an excuse most of the time, then their isn't a reason you can't balance a child with your pet(s). As a child, I was always raised with pets, I couldn't imagine my childhood without them.

Needless to say, I view pets as a lifelong commitment and if you feel you can't make that commitment, than do NOT get them. Snicker's in-laws made the right choice in not getting pets. They wanted to put their lives first, why make an animal suffer when you won't be there or are too busy for them?
 
I have chinchillas and a baby and have no problem balancing the two! She just turned 1 Saturday and she "helps" me with the "chichi"s. She helps give them their shredded wheats on treat night. She helps empty their food dished while I'm trying to clean cages lol. And when I get them out of their cages, her eyes light up as she pets them sooo gently! So, it's very possible to have pets and babies! It just takes a bit more time out of your day. Some people apparently don't think their pets are worth that effort, though.
 
missjess10475 said:
I have chinchillas and a baby and have no problem balancing the two! She just turned 1 Saturday and she "helps" me with the "chichi"s. She helps give them their shredded wheats on treat night. She helps empty their food dished while I'm trying to clean cages lol. And when I get them out of their cages, her eyes light up as she pets them sooo gently! So, it's very possible to have pets and babies! It just takes a bit more time out of your day. Some people apparently don't think their pets are worth that effort, though.
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That sounds so cute Jess!!! You should post pictures of that!
 
Pikaia said:
However, many people don't see pets as a lifelong commitment like we do. They see a pet as something expendable,
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my neighbor got an adorable boxer puppy. at first they had no problem playing with it and taking it out a lot, but when it got bigger they no longer wanted to interact with it. they tied her up with a leash in the garage, took her out once or twice a day, but only to let her go to the bathroom. one day i felt sorry for her and asked them why they kept her in the garage (this was durring sumer, there was no ac in there, it was maybe a 100 degrees in there) they said she was too big and hyper to keep in the house. by the end of the summer they told me they were getting rid of her because she was an active dog and was too big. i dont know what they were expecting, boxers are active and they get big. i asked if they were sad and they said no because its just a dog and she was too much work. the dog was a sweet heart. i wanted to take her home with me but all our dogs were small and my parents were afraid she would try to play with them too rough and hurt them.
 
chinnychinchinchilla said:
my neighbor got an adorable boxer puppy. at first they had no problem playing with it and taking it out a lot, but when it got bigger they no longer wanted to interact with it. they tied her up with a leash in the garage, took her out once or twice a day, but only to let her go to the bathroom. one day i felt sorry for her and asked them why they kept her in the garage (this was durring sumer, there was no ac in there, it was maybe a 100 degrees in there) they said she was too big and hyper to keep in the house. by the end of the summer they told me they were getting rid of her because she was an active dog and was too big. i dont know what they were expecting, boxers are active and they get big. i asked if they were sad and they said no because its just a dog and she was too much work. the dog was a sweet heart. i wanted to take her home with me but all our dogs were small and my parents were afraid she would try to play with them too rough and hurt them.
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That is so sad. At least they are making a mature decision in getting the dog a better home. Dogs are such a huge responsibility. You have to be willing to put the time and patience into training the dog. It's not gonna happen overnight. It seems people are lacking in patience more now than ever. They expect everything RIGHT NOW.... just doesn't work that way.
 
Yeah, she loves them! I tell her "Give it to her nice" and she gets in there as far as she can! I think she'd crawl in if I'd let her!! lol
 
I have 3 children one of whom is severely asthmatic. We recently had to rehome our cat as my son's asthma was so bad he was hospitalised 5 times in a year despite being on the strongest medication available. It was not a decision we made lightly, infact it took over a year of emotional battle before we rehomed him. We have seen a marked improvement in my boy's breathing since the cat went, he now can talk without being breathless and when he laughs it doesn't sound like he smokes 60 a day!! He is not affected by the chinchillas and I encourage him and the other 2 children (they are aged 5,3 and 20 months) to be active in caring for the 'girls' (obviously under my supervision) they feed, water, give shredded wheat and help me clean the cages - they love it! I think it teaches them to be caring, gentle, responsible and realise that things depend on us. I'm still sad about my cat but ultimately nothing can compare to my child's health.
 
My husband and I are a young married couple (21 and 23) and we haven't had any human babies yet. We have 2 dogs, 1 cat, 1 hedgehog, and 1 turtle. I've always grown up with animals and more often than not, it was a lot of animals at the same time lol.

I would never give up one of my fur babies, just because I had a human baby. Unless it was because of a severe allergy, or a potential threat to their well being. And even then, I would never give them to someone or someplace where there was any possibility of them being put down. Never. I would at least try to give them to someone I knew personally who was responsible and loving. And that is a last resort.

Sometime next year we hope to have a bun in the oven though :) And all our fur babies will get someone else to love and to love them too
 
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