Well, I don't want to discourage you but... - Edit 1
Before modification by Isaac at 07/07/2012 02:40:45 AM
I am reaching out to you because this is such a complex and unfamiliar problem to me. I have always wanted to have a pet, a dog or cat or snake, but my parents never allowed it. But now, I am away from my parents and have the means to own a pet. There are some challenges though.
I am going to join a new job soon in San Jose, California. It is a demanding one, and I will have to be away from home from 9 am to 6 pm. Moreover, most probably, I will have to live in an apartment because a house might be too costly for me to rent. I might also have to share the apartment with someone. There will also be times, when I am gone for 2-3 weeks. Add to all this the fact, that I have never had a pet before.
This really all depends on your roommate, if you have one and they like dogs, go for it, if not, on either point, no. Pets actually aren't the easiest thing in the world to take care of and more if you don't have friends or family in the area you'd have to board your dog and that's a touch rough on the critter if you do it a lot.
Is there a way to work around all these problems, and still keep a dog? Has anyone done something like this before? How do I start? I have been reading a bit, and realise that adopting an adult dog is what I should do. But, which type of dog to adopt? I like Golden Retrievers, Labradors, Newfies and Huskies, but can I keep them in apartments? Do they eat only meat, or can they be brought up on a vegetarian diet? Because I dont like handling or cooking raw meat. I have no qualms feeding them prepared or processed meat though. By the way, what type of dogs do not shed a lot of fur?
Well an adult dog is always a better choice than a puppy for a first pet, probably less destruction off socks and shoes too. Now, theoretically no creature, that I know of, actually requires meat [just nutrients naturally unique to meat] but dogs and cats happen to come from the only two carnivorous mammal suborders, but unlike cats and other obligate carnivores dogs are pretty omnivorous, they don't actually rely on any specific nutrient like Taurine found only in meat [naturally] to my knowledge. Obviously no cat can survive on naturally occuring non-meat diets, and I'd be very hesitant to try it with a dog. Of course, that's 'natural', and if there's any place in the world where one might expect to find vegetarian dog food stocked in stores, California would probably be it. I'd advise some serious research on the matter including discussing it with a veterinarian first, Celia might know. In any event, the meat you feed cats or dogs, unless you are giving them table scraps, isn't raw, it's in a can meaning it's throughly cooked, or in a bag of dry food meaning it is very throughly removed from anything most of us would consider 'meat'.
Also I don't know what dogs are best for non-shedding, but I can tell you a Huskie is definitely not one of them.
Coming to the specifics, is anyone familiar with the pet adoption scene in San Jose, California? What documentation do I require? What are the laws? How to find apartments here where we can keep pets? Are there even houses in this area that have backyards and which dont charge high rates? Is there someone here who is looking to rent/share their apartment and is Ok with having a dog in the house?
Can't help you on that score, haven't lived in Cali since I was knee-high. Also I can't think of anyone on the site who is there, I think Phelix is, but haven't heard from him in a while and its a very big state, I'd be surprised if someone wasn't though. Still, I doubt there's any place in this country that doesn't have some equivalent of the APL or Humane society who can let you know who to talk to for advice and will cheerfully unload a dog on you.
Thanks for hearing me out.
Good luck, my best advice though would actually be to hunt around for someone who already has an apartment and a dog, kind of ease your way into it with minimal commitment.