Are you a dog, cat, exotic or no pet person?

[ATL MU Warrior]

Those that attack Beagles need to do something serious soul searching. 

I love dogs.  My parents had a small Labrador breeding business when I was young and we had multiple adult labs and numerous litters of puppies.  Loved them. 

I've had a German shorthaired pointer named Paco, a Harrier mix named Maggie and a lab mix named Eloise in my adult life. They were all wonderful dogs in their own ways.  Paco was a complete loveable spaz, Maggie was a stubborn hound who was the sweetest thing when our kids were little, and Eloise loved us but was a psycho to any male that came within 10 feet of my wife. They have all gone to doggie heaven and we are going to wait until our kids are out on their own before we get another one because we want to travel more extensively with the kids before they go off to college.  One downside of dog ownership is the cost to board them while traveling (we've never had family living nearby who could take them while we were away). 

All that said, the SIL's beagles are the worst dogs I have ever had the displeasure of knowing. One of them just ate an entire bar of soap while she was at work and she came home to a house full of doggie diarrhea and vomit.  They're stupid. Neither of them ever have accidents at her place (other than those caused by ingesting something) but they piss and crap all over our house when they come over. They have been banned from our home and I hope I never see them again.

Maybe they are not representative of the breed.  They still suck. 

[Jockey]

I have only owned cats.

I like dogs just fine, but they are too much work.

[MuggsyB]

I love dogs.  My parents had a small Labrador breeding business when I was young and we had multiple adult labs and numerous litters of puppies.  Loved them. 

I've had a German shorthaired pointer named Paco, a Harrier mix named Maggie and a lab mix named Eloise in my adult life. They were all wonderful dogs in their own ways.  Paco was a complete loveable spaz, Maggie was a stubborn hound who was the sweetest thing when our kids were little, and Eloise loved us but was a psycho to any male that came within 10 feet of my wife. They have all gone to doggie heaven and we are going to wait until our kids are out on their own before we get another one because we want to travel more extensively with the kids before they go off to college.  One downside of dog ownership is the cost to board them while traveling (we've never had family living nearby who could take them while we were away). 

All that said, the SIL's beagles are the worst dogs I have ever had the displeasure of knowing. One of them just ate an entire bar of soap while she was at work and she came home to a house full of doggie diarrhea and vomit.  They're stupid. Neither of them ever have accidents at her place (other than those caused by ingesting something) but they piss and crap all over our house when they come over. They have been banned from our home and I hope I never see them again.

Maybe they are not representative of the breed.  They still suck. 

This is beyond ridiculous.  I have a Beagle/Basenji mlx and my Aunt has had Beagles her entire adult life.  Wonderful dogs, and sadly have been the most common breed for torturous human lab experiments. They are calm, loving, and perfect dogs for individuals or families.  Your comments are extremely disturbing and have 0.0 veracity to them.   You have to train them.  Clearly the ones you know have a horrible owner. 

[MuggsyB]

You can always spot an a-hole.  Anyone that's never owned a pet is almost certainly an a-hole

1000% correct. 

[The Sultan]

This is beyond ridiculous.  I have a Beagle/Basenji mlx and my Aunt has had Beagles her entire adult life.  Wonderful dogs, and sadly have been the most common breed for torturous human lab experiments. They are calm, loving, and perfect dogs for individuals or families.  Your comments are extremely disturbing and have 0.0 veracity to them.   You have to train them.  Clearly the ones you know have a horrible owner. 

Jesus dude. Calm down.

[muwarrior69]

Our Beagle, Lollipop, was a high maintenance pup. My mom worked swing shifts and the week she worked days were the worst because the pup felt abandoned when Dad and Mom left for work, and I went off to school. It wasn't ideal but we had to keep her in the basement. She was just over 6 months old and one day she chewed all the rubber mats on the basement steps. The first 18 months were tough as she would sneak out. The boys in the neighborhood liked to play ball in the field not far from my home and she would retrieve the baseball mitts and bring them home. We kept them in a bin on our open side porch so if they were missing a glove they knew where to look. One day a police officer was at our front door with a Basset Hound and wondered if Lollipop got out again and we said she is right here where she belongs. She turned out to be a sweet dog after those terrible puppy years.

[HutchwasClutch]

I'm on my fourth dogs, currently a German Shepherd and a mix, although my wife thinks he's a Black Mouth Cur.  We rescued him when he was about 2.  German Shepherds are great dogs- very smart, very trainable, very attached to family. She does bark a lot and very protective.  Barking gets old sometimes.

Before these two a 100 plus lb yellow lab. Absolutely adore the labs.  And a shepherd mix who was a 100 plus.  Sweet and gentle as could be, scared of her own shadow though.

Just love dogs. Especially the big ones. They are high maintenance though and have to devote time to them. Cats are fine.  Very allergic, could never own one. 

[The Sultan]

We had a beagle once. Got her as a rescue when she was two so didn't have to deal with the puppy stuff. She was sweet and loyal as hell, but not terribly smart.

[Scoop Snoop]

Our beagle Sasha was a kleptomaniac. She would take off with any tool I left unguarded and would go over to the neighboring property to steal things. Once she brought home a size 12 work boot and another time a large pair of a guy's red BVDs. We hoped he wasn't in them when she took them. If workmen were on our property, we warned them to not leave their van door open. There were other items that she brought home that we had no idea where she stole them from.

Intelligence in dogs is often measured strictly by human standards-doing what we want them to do, so breeds that resist training or are disobedient are judged to be dumb. Hounds like Beagles are excellent at scents/tracking.

I saw a video on TV about a Beagle in an airport-Belgium I think-where a Beagle was given the scent of a cellphone left behind on a plane. The woman who lost the phone was in another part of the airport somewhere, so the Beagle was perched upon a golf cart like vehicle, looking like a canine princess, and driven to the other terminal. She hopped off and made her way through the crowded terminal and found the woman in about 2 minutes. 

[StillAWarrior]

Your comments are extremely disturbing and have 0.0 veracity to them.   You have to train them.  Clearly the ones you know have a horrible owner. 

So...his SIL's dog didn't eat the soap? The dogs didn't piss and crap at his house? You know this how?

At least he had the grace to acknowledge that his SIL's dogs may not be representative of the breed. You, on the other hand, insulted his family member. You really do need help, Muggsy.

[muwarrior69]

My theory on pets: dogs yes, cats maybe and that's it.
Why would anyone want a pet snake, bird, rodent..?

My mom raised and sold parakeets. They were very popular during the '50s. We had a parakeet named Scrapper. We would let him fly free in the house but only when my mom was home. They like to admire their own reflection, so we had a mirror in his cage. The Formica counter tops in our kitchen had a reflective metal edge and he would spend some time admiring himself at the end of the counter. Our Cocker being the bird dog that she was on a number of occasions leaped up to get him, but he was always way to fast.  It was like watching the Road Runner and Coyote in real time.

My Father-in-law was allergic to cats and dogs, so my wife's younger brother had an iguana as a pet. We had one of those Hamster tunnel runs for my son. His main responsibility was to make sure our Rottweiler, Betsy, wouldn't get him.

[jutaw22mu]

Definitely a dog person.  While I was in grad school, I rescued my last dog, Lincoln...originally called Raven but I'm a Browns fan, so that had to change.  He was a lab mixed with some kind of shepherd.  He was a fantastic dog and moved with me from West Lafayette to Connecticut and then back to the midwest, in SE Wisconsin.  He was the best companion to take on hikes and I'm convinced my friends liked him more than they liked me.  He also was a huge Marquette fan, since his command to eat was "Go Marquette."  I had to put him down March 26 2021; he stopped eating and was no longer able to move around, and haven't been able to bring myself to get another dog.

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[Jay Bee]

Lotsa gerbil lovers here on Scoop aina

[JWags85]

My theory on pets: dogs yes, cats maybe and that's it.
Why would anyone want a pet snake, bird, rodent..?

I had a leopard gecko from age 19 into my early 30s.  I got him when I was home from college for a semester and needed something interesting and I had read a bunch about them randomly online.  Ended up being a sneaky joy in my life.  He lived with my parents for a few years when I went back to school but then came my last 2 years living in houses.  Watching him battle and conquer big crickets and grasshoppers that found their way into our house/screened in porch became a nightly ritual with my roommates and I. 

He was fantastic in my apartment days in Chicago and would sit in my sweatshirt pouch with his head poking out or on my shoulder for hours while I watched TV or played video games.  Multiple people, including my wife, thought it was odd initially but quickly found him fascinating and funny.  Obviously reptiles are emotionless and I wasn't under any impression that he was attached to me, but there was a trust and calm that was sweet.  I was legitimately crushed when he passed away a few years ago.  Long outlived most predicted lifespans, but he sort of became this constant through various phases and moves of my life.  I would 1000% recommend them for kid's first pet.  Calm, low maintenance, don't smell, durable, can be cared for minimally when you travel.  My son will definitely have one when he gets a bit older if he wants.

I'm a dog person, but had cats growing up that were tons of fun.  If you lavish them with an attention as a kitten and don't sort of give in to "its a cat" expectation, they can be super fun and engaging.  All 3 we had NEED/NEEDED to be around the family, if not next to, then in close proximity. 

I've wanted an Aussie Cattle Dog for quite awhile, its one of the first things we'll do when we eventually get a house.  If I were to get another after, probably a Rhodesian.

And its not been mentioned yet, and you could argue its high maintenance art/hobby as opposed to a pet, but Ive long been obsessed with and heavily involved with aquariums.  I'm 39 and since I first got a mini aquarium when I was 4, I think there have been 5-6 years total that I haven't had an aquarium of some sort, and that was solely due to strict landlords for a year in college and my second apartment in Chicago.  Fresh water, salt water, 5 gallons up to 100 gallon tanks, Ive had it all.  Its a fantastic and soothing hobby and has taught me so much.

[MU1in77]

My brother had standard poodles (great dogs) which we watched whenever the left town. We always told our boys that if they took care of the dogs, walk feed clean up, we would get a dog. This never happened so we basically went down the food chain - cat then hamster then fish. Our next pet would have been Sea Monkeys

[muwarrior69]

Definitely a dog person.  While I was in grad school, I rescued my last dog, Lincoln...originally called Raven but I'm a Browns fan, so that had to change.  He was a lab mixed with some kind of shepherd.  He was a fantastic dog and moved with me from West Lafayette to Connecticut and then back to the midwest, in SE Wisconsin.  He was the best companion to take on hikes and I'm convinced my friends liked him more than they liked me.  He also was a huge Marquette fan, since his command to eat was "Go Marquette."  I had to put him down March 26 2021; he stopped eating and was no longer able to move around, and haven't been able to bring myself to get another dog.

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I had to put down our Westie after 12 years, suffered from kidney failure. We put down our Golden, Jack, this past summer. His hind legs no longer supported him and he could not control his bowels. He was 16. It is an awful feeling you have when it comes to that even when you know it is the right thing to do. When our Black Lab wasn't doing so well, I kept putting it off and he died in our family room. I actually felt worse for letting him suffer. I would encourage you get another dog. The years of happiness should outweigh that one awful day we know will come. It is the price we pay for loving them and them loving us back. Our family can never replace Jack, but our two yellow labs Tucker and Ollie have made missing Jack a lot easier.

[Uncle Rico]

Lotsa gerbil lovers here on Scoop aina

Most of the dentists have been banned

[Spaniel with a Short Tail]

Have a black lab/some sort of ratty terrier mix. (Was listed as a black lab/golden retriever mix but that was false advertising for sure.) Our second dog. Paid for boarding her when on vacation at 1 year old and they offered 10 days of training for an additional $500. I went for it and did the follow through when we returned. The money and time I spent on the follow up was well worth it. She's 11 years old now and I can walk her off leash outside and she will come when called (unless some uber distraction like a cat).

A useful piece of advice I got from the trainer was counter-intuitive but worked wonders. The dog got loose in the alley behind our house once and started running down the alley to the left. The advice was to NOT run after the dog but run in the other direction. I took off down the alley to the right. Dog saw me going in the other direction, slammed on the brakes, and came running after me. Never again would she be a runner.

Four of us were set to go this past BET. The day before we were leaving, our dog sitter had a family medical emergency and had to cancel. Too late to find another so one of us had to stay back. One of the burdens of dog ownership. Like MU82, this will probably be our last dog so we can get more travel in.

[Scoop Snoop]

So, where's the Spaniel with a Short Tail? False advertising!

Thanks for promoting training. Not only the humans but also the dog will be much happier. Dogs like structure and clear rules, contrary to what too many humans believe.

I could walk our dogs off leash and they were happy, relaxed critters.

[MU82]

Have a black lab/some sort of ratty terrier mix. (Was listed as a black lab/golden retriever mix but that was false advertising for sure.) Our second dog. Paid for boarding her when on vacation at 1 year old and they offered 10 days of training for an additional $500. I went for it and did the follow through when we returned. The money and time I spent on the follow up was well worth it. She's 11 years old now and I can walk her off leash outside and she will come when called (unless some uber distraction like a cat).

A useful piece of advice I got from the trainer was counter-intuitive but worked wonders. The dog got loose in the alley behind our house once and started running down the alley to the left. The advice was to NOT run after the dog but run in the other direction. I took off down the alley to the right. Dog saw me going in the other direction, slammed on the brakes, and came running after me. Never again would she be a runner.

Four of us were set to go this past BET. The day before we were leaving, our dog sitter had a family medical emergency and had to cancel. Too late to find another so one of us had to stay back. One of the burdens of dog ownership. Like MU82, this will probably be our last dog so we can get more travel in.

I had never heard that tip on going the other direction if a dog bolts. Will definitely try it if there's a next time.

My wife and I have already talked about possibly fostering if we feel like having a dog around again sometime. We have a few friends who do this and like it.

[Scoop Snoop]

I had never heard that tip on going the other direction if a dog bolts. Will definitely try it if there's a next time.

My wife and I have already talked about possibly fostering if we feel like having a dog around again sometime. We have a few friends who do this and like it.

Running the opposite direction works. Google if you want to learn reasons why.

Suggestion: Consider offering to take care of service dogs in training (at facilities) on weekends. They "work" during the week and love having new places to go and having fun with their "weekend" humans.

[MU82]

Running the opposite direction works. Google if you want to learn reasons why.

Suggestion: Consider offering to take care of service dogs in training (at facilities) on weekends. They "work" during the week and love having new places to go and having fun with their "weekend" humans.

I like that idea. Thanks.

[jutaw22mu]

I had never heard that tip on going the other direction if a dog bolts. Will definitely try it if there's a next time.

My wife and I have already talked about possibly fostering if we feel like having a dog around again sometime. We have a few friends who do this and like it.

We had a beagle when I was a kid and it used to get loose frequently.  After many instances spending hours chasing the dog on foot and in the car, we found that getting its attention and running toward the house, usually meant we could get it back almost as soon as it escaped.  The dog thinks it's a game once you start running, so if you run in the direction of where you want it to go (and not at it), it will chase you.  You just need to make sure you are fast enough to get to the house before the dog does.

[Marquette Fan]

My husband and I were no pet people for years and then our kids finally wore us down  .  We have had a dog for 6.5 years now and I do enjoy it - only downside is it can make traveling harder and can make spur of the moment trips we used to do where we'd be gone all day harder.

[Billy Hoyle]

I have a cat, the third one since my wife and I have been married (one at a time over 20 years). I would like to have a dog (My parents had labradors from the time I was in HS and that's the kind of dog I would want) but I don't think the schedules my wife and I have would be fair to one - FT working at our offices, we don't get home until 5 or later and we live in a condo with no yard. I'm not going to lock a dog in a cage throughout the day.