Mistakes That College Students Should Avoid As Pet Owners

By Austin Cowan
Assistant Web Content Manager

Dogs love their owners unconditionally but unfortunately some dog owners have factors in their life that make it hard to care for their pet. To all the future dog owners in the world, love your pets. Some owners lead lives too crazy to care for their pets appropriately. There are millions of dogs in the United States alone who are either neglected or abandoned each year. In order to help men treat man’s best friend better, read a few reasons why college students should not own a dog below.

Life is Too Unpredictable

College students are notorious for being extremely busy and unorganized. As a college student, I know this stereotype to be true for many of us, including myself. If you want to adopt a dog, be a mature adult and decide whether your life actually has time to care for one. Dogs require daily attention because they are living things. They need to be fed, walked daily and cared for. If a college student is juggling school, a job/internship and a social life, then they probably should not have a dog. If work prevents a dog owner from walking their dog daily, then they should seriously consider not owning one, or instead, paying a dog walking service to do this. Dog walking services like Wag and Care.com can be expensive, so if a college student is not able to afford a dog walker and is unable to walk their own dog then they should not own one.

Bad Reasons for Adoption

If you are a college student who wants a dog, be honest with yourself and discover the real reason why you want one before adopting. The reason why potential dog owners should make a careful self-analysis of themselves is because some people have poor reasons for wanting to own a dog. For example, during my second year in college, I lived with five other guys in house together. One week before move in day, a roommate decided to adopt a puppy and bring him to our house to live with us. This puppy was named Major and the entire house quickly fell in love with him. Everyone was happy to have Major come live with us until we discovered the real reason why this dog’s owner wanted to adopt him. This dog’s owner adopted him just to pick up chicks. Y’all, adopting a dog just to meet people you want to hook up with is never a good reason to have one.

Major’s owner left him in a tiny room alone and untrained for days at a time because we did not have a fenced-in yard. After seeing how Major was being treated by his owner, the five men in the house decided to take action and do what was best for him. We decided that because we did not have a yard and the owner was unwilling to train him, we needed to find him a better, more loving home. We were all sad to see Major go and to this day I wish there was a better way we could have handled that situation instead of giving away our pet. However, we needed to do what was best for Major and he now lives happily with a loving family who own a two-acre backyard. What I want my readers to take away from Major’s story is to know that some people just should not own a dog. So, next time you or a friend are considering adopting a dog, make sure the reasons for adoption are good for the animal. This may require calling a friend out who is a terrible pet owner. But if a dog is saved from a life of neglect, abuse and/or abandonment, it is worth it.

Watch the video below to see a story of what happens when selfish people adopt dogs.

If you live in the San Marcos area, you can adopt a pet from the San Marcos Regional Animal Shelter or the PALS of Central Texas. But remember that before adopting any pet, make sure you can provide a great life for it back home.

Dogs are man’s best friend so let us treat them like they are. Before owning a dog, make sure that one’s lifestyle and values will allow an owner to love their pet. Dogs love humans, so make sure to love them back!

Featured image by Austin Cowan.