<p>I am currently at community college, but I want to transfer in the spring semester to a university. I am looking into colleges that are between 3 and 3 1/2 hours away.
I have 2 younger brothers, ages 12 and 15. In my junior year of high school, we got a dog. Because I was the one that brought up the idea of getting one, and because I was the one that went with my parents to get the dog, he became my dog even though that was not my intention.
I am the one that walks him the most, feeds him the most, and plays with him the most. Both of my brothers are very lazy, and even though they love my dog, they hate having responsibility.
I do not think that if I go away to college in the spring, that my dog will be properly cared for. My brothers will be too lazy and my parents work. I do not think that my dog should interfere with my college education. I am also paying for my own college, so I want to go where I want to go, and I'm hoping to get out of community college. I can't take my dog with me because I will living in a residence hall, but when I am able to get my own apartment, I will take my dog with me. </p>
<p>What are your opinions on this? What should I do?</p>
<p>Your options are to live off campus, leave your dog at home, or go to one of the handful of schools that allow dogs in dorms, (such as Eckerd in Florida or Washington & Jefferson in PA)</p>
<p>I adore dogs – and I think taking your pooch to the first year of college away is a terrible idea. College life is incredibly full. Your dog would, sooner or later, be locked up too many hours and end up peeing inside or chewing things in frustration. Sooner or later there would be a need to get the dog to the vet for an immediate visit and you would have some horrible choices: take the dog to the vet or take the Chem final (and the prof will turn a deaf ear to your needs. Some profs don’t care for pets). </p>
<p>All of our dogs have been re-homed dogs. If your dog is of a particular breed, you can list your dog with a breed rescue group. Then your dog would live at your family home until the rescue group identified the right family to take over your pooch. This keeps your dog out of the animal shelter and lets you have confidence that your dog is going to a prescreened home. </p>
<p>The best thing you can do right now is take your dog to obedience classes. A well mannered dog is always welcome more places than an ill mannered dog. </p>
<p>You are at a tough place. There is not enough “you” to go around. You can either dial back on the college life significantly (very hard to do) or you can re-home the dog. The worst choices are a) leave the dog at home where he is ignored or 2) blithely go off to college thinking that Bowser will just fit in.</p>
<p>I have known some college kids who have managed a dog or a horse at college. This path takes tremendous dedication and some significant money. They (the students) might take six years to graduate because of lighter course loads - and they had to have the cash to pay for living spaces that allowed their animal PLUS the costs of having the animal (I plan $1000 a year for each of our dogs – that’s food, vet bills, licensing, and other expenses). </p>
<p>I encourage you to at least explore the possibilities of re-homing your dog. You can always say “No” if a prospective family doesn’t sound like a good fit. If it were me, I would contact local 4H dog groups. Very often 4H dog members are girls from grades four to nine who love, love, love dogs. Their dogs are well groomed and must attend weekly training sessions. A good 4H dog would be one that is well socialized to people and other dogs (ie, if your dog is aggressive, it would not be a good 4H dog). Finding a home where your dog is adored and pampered could let you go on to college with a sad but confident heart.</p>
<p>The dog needs to stay at home so discuss this with your family and let them work out how the dog will be fed, exercised, played with, etc. in your absence. They like the dog as well and while they can get away with not giving the dog this kind of attention while you’re there, they won’t be able to once you’re gone. Maybe it’ll be good for your brothers to step it up and be more responsible. </p>
<p>You can’t have a dog in the dorms so that’s that. IMO you shouldn’t have a dog in an apartment should you get one since as a college student you’re likely to be very busy and away from the apartment for extended periods of time. Going to college and getting the most out of it isn’t something that’s done on a part time basis. If you have an engineering/science or certain arts and certain other majors you’ll be spending time in labs in addition to class time. You might also decide to get a research position or campus job or something that’ll consume time as well. This likely won’t be like what you’re used to at the CC. Having a dog could present issues with roommates as well and it’ll also limit the apartments you can find and often require more of a deposit. It wouldn’t be fair to roommates to saddle them with dogsitting or taking care of your dog which regardless of your intentions, would likely end up happening.</p>
<p>The bottom line is that you won’t be in an environment, both in the dorm and in an apartment, to be able to keep the dog so the family will need to take care of ‘the family dog’.</p>
<p>Note - There have been a few other threads on CC about college students and dogs so you might want to search for some of those for the opinions.</p>
<p>I had a friend who once fostered a cat for a couple who went on a year-long around the world trip. When they returned the cat went home. Can you think of someone who might be willing to give your dog the home-life it needs while you are at school?</p>
<p>Maybe you can arrange with a local High School for a student to come play/walk the dog a few times a week for community service? Or the local Girl scouts/ Boy scouts?
Have you discussed your concerns with your parents or your brothers? maybe they are willing to help out more than you think while you are away.</p>
<p>I got my dog sophomore year in college. I got him at the best time I could have. He lived in dorms, apartments, houses, went to Europe when I got a job there, moved with me to various states and died at the age of 18 years 8 months, long enough for my two children to see and remember him. Forget what everyone else says. If you want to make it work you can. My only regret -that we will probably sell our farm that he is buried on.</p>
<p>I was very involved with dog training as a high school student (got a college scholarship from Ralston Purina for dog 4H), and am still involved as an adult; I have four dogs at present. I cherished my 4H dog but don’t see how I possibly could have taken him to college. He stayed home with my family and didn’t get nearly as much attention as before, but he adapted to his new routine. In my first year in grad school, my parents moved, couldn’t take him, and proposed putting him to sleep (he was 9 years old by that time, still very healthy). I had them send him to me instead, even though I was living in an apartment complex that didn’t permit dogs. I had to hide him for several months until my lease ended, and then find a rental situation that would allow a medium-size dog. It was not easy, and what I could find was pretty ratty and overpriced. And it wasn’t easy taking care of a dog day to day even as a grad student–I had to spend long hours in class and in the library. Fortunately the dog was very well trained and could come with me to class, but wasn’t allowed in the library. It was hard to go anywhere, say for the weekend or even for a fun night out, because I couldn’t afford to board him, or to get a petsitter.</p>
<p>I think your best bet is to have your family take care of your dog and then reclaim him after you graduate (which will only be two/three years, yes?) If you really think your brothers will be so irresponsible as to endanger him, then you should rehome him.</p>
<p>I’ve been debating if I should weigh in on this subject. I think if a student is commited to taking care of a dog it can work. However, it’s not for everyone.</p>
<p>I left my show dog at home with my family until I was an upperclassman and moved off campus to an apartment that accepted pets. I had time in between classes to go back and let him out during the day and since I was never much into the party scene nights were never really an issue. I also was an ag major and spent a fair amount of time in the barn where dogs were welcome. It also helped that he was not a high energy breed.</p>
<p>A student situation is not that much different than a person who works all day or a family situation where the parents work or volunteer outside the home and the kids are in elementary or high school. The dog is still home alone. A college student with a flexible schedule and a willingness to put the dog first can make it work.</p>
<p>Responsibility and the maturity to want to make it work is the major issue. I would never let my son take a dog to school because I know he would get involved in “stuff” and completely forget to go back to his apartment to let the dog out. He loves the dog but he loves to have his fun too. Although he would never intentionally mistreat an animal the dog would not be living a great life and is better suited staying home with me.</p>
<p>Cheshire Cat has to decide if she is willing to give up some of the “stuff” that is part of the college experience if necessary. Also, there are added expenses as someone else mentioned. Have you budgeted for dog food, pet deposit, medication if needed etc? Are you or are your parents paying for it now?</p>
<p>Have a mature conversation with your parents. See what they think is best. Maybe they have already assumed they will be taking care of the dog.</p>
Neither were my kids but they were both engineering students and spent many long hours in the labs. They also both had on campus jobs. It wasn’t unusual for them to be gone from the apartment from 7am to after midnight. There are lots of things that can take up a student’s time besides partying/socializing. The major plays a big part in this.</p>
<p>Regardless, I think the student should plan to go to college without the dog and then after she’s there for a while and gets adequately ‘settled’ (usually an oxymoron for a college student) then she can decide whether to fetch the dog or not later.</p>
<p>“I am the one that walks him the most, feeds him the most, and plays with him the most.”</p>
<p>Isn’t this typical with family pets? I’m the one that feeds our dog and takes him for walks.
This doesn’t mean that the dog belongs solely to me. He’s the family dog.</p>
<p>When you’re gone, your brothers will need to step up and take over some responsibilities regarding the family pet. I assume the dog has been living in your home for years.
Let the dog remain in his familiar environment. Don’t uproot him and take him from the rest of the family. Unless your brothers are mean or abusive to the animal, I suggest you let the family dog stay put.</p>
<p>^^^Reading this thread, I was wondering when someone was going to give the obvious suggestion to the OP that nysmile has mentioned. It’s time for the little bro’s to take over the dog care responsibilities!<br>
Talk to your parents and come up with a schedule and plan for the dog’s care. Include your brothers in the conversation, and get commitments from them as to who will walk, feed, play with, etc. while you’re gone. Ask your parents to use their authority to make sure it happens. Your family adopted this dog and it has a responsibility to make sure he’s cared for. If they are not willing or able to do that, then I agree that looking into a good home would be the best solution. Do your brothers really want to give up the dog?
Let them know that this is the alternative.
Btw, I adopted a wonderful 6 year old lab from a family who could no longer commit to caring for him, for various reasons. We’ve had him for a little over 2 years, and he couldn’t be a better pet. It took him a few weeks to make the adjustment, but now it’s as if he’s lived here all his life. My dog’s former family couldn’t keep him in the manner he deserved, so they put his well-being above their own desire to hold on to a beautiful dog they’d raised from puppyhood and found a good home for him.</p>
<p>^I agree with you. I work in a shelter and I can’t even tell you how many 18-20 year olds come in with dogs they can’t keep because they hadn’t anticipated how college life would mesh with pet ownership. We don’t adopt to people under 21 in large part due to this reason, I wish we’d raise the age to 25. Your family made the commitment when they bought this dog that it would be taken care of and you need to sit down and have a talk with everyone about who will care for the dog in your absence. Bringing him with you to school MIGHT work out, but it could just as easily spell disaster, and that disaster is going to be much more traumatic for your dog than it will be for you. You have to think about how you’re going to make sure he gets the best care and the most stable lifestyle he can while you’re gone.</p>
<p>The colleges that I’m looking into do not allow pets in the dorm.
I hope to get an apartment in my junior year and take my dog with me.
My biggest concern is that no one will be willing to take care of him if I go away to school.</p>
<p>If you really think that neither your parents nor your brothers will take care of the basic needs of the dog then either you will have to continue at community college until you can transfer as an upperclassman and have your own apartment or give the dog away.</p>
<p>I’m not quite sure what answer you are looking for.</p>
<p>I am going to bump this up because Cheshire Cat has another thread going. </p>
<p>The dog is just one issue of several. The bottom line is this:</p>
<p>You have some very hard choices here. You seem to be circling around, hoping that some internet poster is going to throw you a life line. That is unlikely to happen. Money, dog, choices of brothers, desire to go away – they are not going to all pan out (I suspect). You can a) stay or b) go and give the dog away or c) go and leave the dog to substandard care. Pick one. “Go and take dog and have it be affordable and not loose out on college life” is not one of them. </p>
<p>If you were the one who advocated for getting a dog, it is not fair to expect the brothers to step up to the plate. They value other things. You say they are “lazy” but they really may just have other things that are important to them. It is not fair to leave them with daily dog tasks if it is your dog.</p>