My dad just found out his prostate cancer is back & has severely spread to his bones (stage 4). He’s already feeling pain & has an average of 16mo to live. My dad has talked for years about getting a dog & has never gone through with it. At a recent hospital stay, he mentioned it again & my step mom reluctantly agreed. However after a recent email to her to inquire about getting him a dog for xmas, she responded with frusteration that she doesn’t want to take care of it & it’s a sore subject. After that, I questioned my dad about it & he says not to worry about it & he has more things to concentrate on that taking care of a dog. I think he’s just saying this to please his wife & would really love to have a dog! I live 45min away from my dad & realisitically can’t help with the day to day care of the dog. But I am willing to pay for unlimited service of poop pick up in their yard. I want to get my dad an appropriate older & smaller dog that is already house broken & crate trained, because a new puppy would be too risky considering you never know what you are going to get & they are high maintenance! Would you show up to xmas with a dog for your father if in the same situation?
You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Entries (RSS)
May 13th, 2010 at 8:40 pm
No. Never show up with a pet for Christmas. That’s one of the reasons there are so many pets in shelters.
May 13th, 2010 at 8:55 pm
Get the dog only if you are willing to take the dog back and care for it forever.
May 13th, 2010 at 9:47 pm
First of all, I am sorry your father is so ill. I think you are wanting to bring him comfort and not burden your step mom, which is very thoughtful of you. There are people who have therapy dogs who visit places like hospitals to bring ill people the joy of an animal who is trained on how not to hurt someone who is fragile or in pain. Most of these people do this voluntarily, but if you wanted let’s say weekly visits, you should offer to compensate the therapy dog owner for their time. Would this be a workable compromise for the whole family? No poop pick up this way!
My thoughts are with you.
May 13th, 2010 at 10:25 pm
Adopt a dog from a local shelter (get help from one of the rescue groups, they usually know the background of the dogs and can help you pick out a suitable pet for your dad). Then, plan to take the dog as your own pet once your father has passed. It might prove to be a fitting final connection with your father, knowing that you are caring for his dog. Your step-mother won’t be burdened with caring for the dog, and your dad can finally have a good and loyal friend to help him get through his final days.
Condolences.
May 13th, 2010 at 10:55 pm
No, I wouldn’t get the dog. It’s always a bad idea to get a pet for someone who doesn’t truly want it, and it seems your dad’s wife doesn’t want one.
May 13th, 2010 at 11:28 pm
You should give your father a dog but be sure to have someone take care of the dog since your step mother doesn’t want to take care of it.