First, a little background on the matter at hand. We have a dog. His name is Griffey. We got Griffey about a month before Halle was born (first mistake), right after we moved into a new house with dark wood flooring that scratches easily and accentuates every last crumb and speck of dog hair. When we were engaged, I remember talking about someday owning a dog, me saying I liked dogs, and Travis reminiscing about the canine companions of his youth. As time went by, I had the painful realization that when it came to dogs, we were NOT speaking the same language. My idea of owning a dog involved occasional feedings, usually of table scraps or whatever else was on hand, an old cardboard box to sleep in OUTSIDE, and absolutely no admittance into the house........EVER. Well, as you can imagine, Travis had slightly different ideas on the subject. Ideas that involved being woken up in the morning by a friendly lick on the cheek (not by me), regular vet checkups (what??), invisible fences, pure bloodlines, obedience training, field training/competing, and............PREMIUM dog food.
Of course, the actual experience of owning a dog, together, has been a bit combustible at times.
After five years, I still haven't developed much of a liking to the beast and tend to focus on the ridiculous amount of clean up that he requires. Griffey is not allowed on the carpet and spends most of his time outside, in the basement, or on his mat in our morning room. Even with these restrictions, I am constantly vacuuming up dog hair and cleaning muddy footprints up from our wood floor.
Here are a few examples of the "combustible" moments our dog has caused:
Me: "Man, that dog is shedding a lot lately"
Travis: "What are you talking about? He doesn't shed"
Me: "CAN YOU NOT SEE THE DOG HAIR ALL OVER THE WOOD FLOOR THAT I JUST VACUUMED??"
Travis: "Nope, I can't see anything"
Me: "ARE YOU KIDDING ME?"
Travis: "He's probably just getting his winter coat or something"
(he says that e v e r y time)
Me: "Why is there dog hair on the couch? OH MAN, I think that dog slept on the couch last night"
Travis: "No, he didn't"
Me: "Yep, I think he did. And it will NOT be happening EVER AGAIN."
Travis: "Awww, he is probably stiff from sleeping on the cold hard floor"
Me: "He is a D-O-G"
Emma: "Mom, I am saving up my money to buy another dog. I want a puppy this time"
Me: "Nope. Not happening. You are going to have to save your money until you have a house of your own"
Emma: "But I really want Griffey to have a friend"
Me: "I have enough living things to take care of in this house right now and we are NOT getting any more!"
I know that a lot of you out there DO love dogs. My heart really isn't made of tin foil, I promise. But, I just have not developed enough love for our pet to justify all of the maintenance involved. Even "Marley & Me" didn't do the trick so I must be beyond help.
A couple of years ago, I got tired of driving to the pet store to buy PREMIUM dog food. On a trip to Costco, I noticed that their dog food was HALF THE PRICE and decided right then and there that if our family could eat generic food, then our dog would most definitely be eating generic dog food. So, for the past two years, I have been pouring Kirkland brand dog food into the bin and no one has been the wiser. Travis has continued to sing the praises of our Eukanuba fed champion dog to anyone who will listen. All the while, I was smiling on the inside, feeling good that my theory was holding true. Except that at a dinner last week with two other couples from work, I had to spill the beans. Travis said something about how fast our dog was and how we only feed him Eukanuba premium dog food and I just couldn't pass up the opportunity. I patted him on the back and said, "Honey, I'm sorry to break it to you but that dog has been eating generic food for the last two years".
I wish I could have captured the look on his face. It was priceless. And sad. He said, "I can't believe it. Are you trying to KILL our dog?" and later on, on the way home, "You lied to me. Before we got married, you said you liked dogs."
So, my question to all my friends out there is this: Am I evil for feeding our dog generic food? Am I sentencing him to a shortened life span, deprived of essential nutrients and key enzymes? Isn't all dog food made in the same factory anyway?
**if you are in any way affiliated with Proctor & Gamble, your opinion is null and void**
10 comments:
I totally agree - if the kids have to eat generic, so does the dog. My poor daughter was heartbroken today because we had to by Transformers fruit snacks instead of Dora ones because Transformers was the only shape that was on sale.
I'd say if the dog likes the cheap food - it's good!
I didn't have to be there to see the look and the later fit that Trav threw. LOL.
As a dog lover and owner, I had a very hard time leaving my dogs outside, until the first time I left them in the house and they ate up my 3 month old couch (do you remember that), since then I have no qualms with letting them sleep outside.
As far as the food, they eat the cheap stuff. When I start to feel guilty I buy the in-between priced stuff and a box of dog bones (but only if I have a coupon).
You are seriously so funny. I don't know anything about dog food and I am sure you remember the crazy farting dogs my family always had so apparently we weren't feeding them the right thing. I have to think that if no one noticed a difference for two years the generic can't be bad. I would negotiate a compromise...Travis can buy the fancy stuff and if it runs out you'll buy the convenient generic until he has a chance to get to the pet store. Does that work?
Having just picked up a giant bag of Eukanuba specially blended for "retired" dogs (or something like that) I can't see what the fuss is about.
*Disclaimer: I just had to pay taxes on $3 of P&G dividends for Tiffany's two shares of stock so I may be biased here.
Yeah, you're totally torturing your dog by feeding him generic food. And your kids. Definitely evil.
Honestly, I dislike dogs very, very much. I'm so glad that Scotty refuses to have any high maintainance, dirty pets. (Although he does want a 100+gallon fish tank.)
I am probably the completely wrong person to ask here - but I am in favour of all things not dog - so I'm thinking generic dog food will do the trick. Poor Travis - his bubble popped - his innocence ruined. Ah well....that's life mate. Get used to it!!! I love you Sharese. You make me smile.
I forgot to tell you the other day about what Emma said to me on Sunday. Emma: My Mom won't let me get a puppy. Me: Why not? Emma: She hates dogs. Me: Oh, yeah, she doesn't like dogs very much does she. Emma: (with a completely straight face) No, she wishes our dog would die.
I almost couldn't hold the laughter in. She cracks me up.
It took Trevor and I 11 years to get a dog. Same argument. I said outside, he said inside. So, I said, NO DOG. The first time his parent's dog came to our house and jumped on our couch I thought I was going to die. Luckily, time has softened me a bit and he his allergies include dogs, so we settled for the small, non-shedding variety. She spends most of her time in her crate during the day and gets very excited when Trevor gets home and lets her out of "jail". I still think you are a saint!! :)
I must agree with you even though I am a P&G stock holder. I sometimes wonder if I was adopted because of my great dislike of the "beast"!!
Oh, I am laughing. Sorry, but I am. You have just reconfirmed my desire NOT to have a pet! I used to think my mom was cruel for not liking our dog. I'm pretty sure I'm just like her.
You could say I'm a bit of a dog food expert, and no, brand name isn't any better than generic. I mean, Travis' performance didn't take a dive when you secretly switched out his water, did it? I love this post, funny, funny, funny.
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