Take Your Houseplant For A Walk Day 2024 is on Saturday, July 27, 2024: How much of your day you spend with your dog? Is it fun or is it just work to you?

Saturday, July 27, 2024 is Take Your Houseplant For A Walk Day 2024. tn_deer_garden-028.jpg Seriously, today is “Take Your

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First off... if you're talking price-wise, they require a lot more than desexing and yearly vaccines. Besides the cost of a good quality dog food, and treats and toys, should your dog get sick at any time, that's a totally random cost that you didn't figure in. Or maybe you're walking him, and the leash slips, and he gets hit by a car. What about those random costs? My dog's have cost me at least 3k in torn up furniture, a yard full of holes that have to be re-filled with dirt and grass that no longer exists. Just lask week my four month old boxer chewed a hole in my 650$ leather couch while I was at the supermarket.

So, really, there's no way to estimate how much owning a dog will cost.

Secondly, I find that what a dog costs most in the time and energy factor.

You need time to walk your dog, train him, groom him and socialize him..and energy and stamina to do this consistantly everyday--because you see, your lab won't know that you didn't sleep at all last night and really don't feel like walking him for an hour.

You have to exercise your dog when you don't feel like it. Walk him when it's raining. Take him out to use the bathroom in the middle of the night when he wakes you up crying, and you're mad as heck. You have to get up, get his leash and walk out there with him until he does his business(my dogs take at least 15+ minutes to find their sweet spot). Even in the freezing cold winters and when it's pouring outside.

I've had my pitbull(female), Sophie, for six years now.

There are few things i *have* to do or deal with ***every***day. See, dog's dont care if it's a school holiday ;)

~ Feed & Water her. I don't just leave Sophie's food out all day;I offer it to her in small amounts, as she will become overweight if I let her eat as much as she wants. You're thinking, "oh i can do that no problem!". And yes, it's one of the easiest parts of taking care of your dog, but it still *has* to be done. Everyday. And it's time consuming!(LABS* Labs are prone to obesity, so you will have to take the same precautions with your dog)

~ Brush her. Pits are light shedders, but I'm very picky about finding dog hair in my cereal..and I find that brushing her in the mornings is a easy way to keep it in the trash, instead of my food. (LABS* Labs are moderate to heavy shedders, so if I brush Sophie everyday, you might have to brush your dog 2+ times a day to keep hair out of YOUR cereal)

~ Exercise her! If I don't keep her in shape, and let her wear out her energy, she gets bored. And a bored dog is trouble, no matter how you slice it! About three months after I got Sophie, I had an important business meeting. I figured, skipping one day won't hurt right? So I didn't walk her that day. We went out to eat and after that I went to my friends house and gamed and we spent the whole day. When I got home, Sophie was laying on my couch, whimpering...the rest of my house was in pieces. Every piece of glass that was within her reach was on the ground, smashed. All my furniture had holes in it and three of my houseplants were totally dug up. Plus, I spent a fortune in vet bills, as she had gotten severall small pieces of glass stuck in her paws(hence the whimpering). Since that day, I have *never* skipped a walk with Sophie. If I have a meeting, I'll wake up at 6am and walk her for three hours if I have to!(LABS* Labs need exercise! 2+ walks a day with hefty playtime on the side! Or else they, too, will become aggressive and destructive.

~ Clean up after her. Doesn't sound too bad, right? Except everyday she tracks in dirt. If it's spring or summer, it's mud. If it's fall, its crusty leaves, dirt, and lady bugs. If it's winter, it's snow that soon thereafter melts into little messy puddles. Plus, I have to rinse her off sometimes as often as every week--and don't get me started on going into my yard 3 times a week(yes even in the winter) and picking up her waste.

~ Barking, barking, barking! I know it's a behavioral issue, but I could never seem to train Sophie that it's *not good* to bark! When we play fetch or tug of war in the backyard, she barks her head off. When I turn on the radio or TV, she howls at it. When I take her for walks, she barks at every fallen leaf along the way. She's seen over five different behavioralists\trainers and she's been to all my local vets. Everyone says there's nothing wrong with her--she just loves expressing herself using vocal chords! However this results in constant headaches when she won't stop barking and I'm trying to watch Lost(sometimes headphones help, sometimes she just barks at the picture anyway), and complaints from my neighbors - who thankfully are mostly merciful towards me, since they have dogs of their own. (LABS* It's not so much a breed trait as it is a personality thing--but if you should get a barkin', howlin', singin' lab..be prepared to be DRIVEN INSANE!!!

These are just a few of the things I deal with *everyday*. I can't name all of the things I do for my dog. I don't know if I could've handled all this @ your age, but I do know most of the responsibility would've been with my parents. So talk to them first off!

Probably I sound negative, like owning a dog is a big hassle. Well, it is! It takes money, time and energy that I sometimes don't have!

I must, though, add...it is rewarding. My dogs(I also have a 4 month old boxer) are friendly, happy, and loving. They love to cuddle up with me at night, and spend time with me in the day...and I guess, though there are many times it's more of a chore than anything, for the mostpart taking care of my dogs is enjoyable. Fun, even.

Little white/green insects that look like fleas on houseplants...?

If these nasty little critters walk around on your plants they are probably APHIDS. Aphids don't fly.

NEVER spray your plants with RAID-as you have found out it will burn the plants,then kill them.

Raid will also poison the peppers so you will NEVER be able to eat them.

I spray my bug-infested plants with original WINDEX. It kills all insects-but not the plant. Let the plant sit a few hours after you have sprayed it (keep it out of the sun) then rinse it with a fine spray of water from the hose or a spray bottle. Check the plants every few days. If the aphids come back follow the same procedure.

Be sure ONLY to use WINDEX (original / blue). Don't use any other brand and don't use anything with new scents etc. This has worked great for me for over 40 years. Good luck

pets or plants which are you better with???

i am actually very good with both. i have a three-legged cat (found him in a muskrat trap one day while i was on my walk) who does really well in spite of the fact that my sons named him 'Gore Stump'.

i also garden and keep a few houseplants that i've had to rescue from my mother.