Do people ever think you're nuts?

Liesje

But, like I tell everyone else, I've never had a car, cell phone, iPod, video game system....and I think those things are expensive and not worth it! 

Now that you have Chopper, you need a cell phone for emergencies while you are walking her.  I have a cell phone with http://www.virginmobileusa.com and pay just $20 every 3 months.  I rarely use the phone, but it is nice for emergencies and the funds don't expire.

I am not as crazy as I used to be. Right now I have only 2 dogs and that is it, I used to have 7 cats also. I was doing cat rescue and when I quit doing it I kept every cat I had left.with my personal cats and the rescues that made 7. I had them all until they all crossed the rainbow bridge. I love cats and will probably get one or two in the future but I am waiting add to my pet family until I turn 62 ( 8 months) then I will see if I am going to keep my house or sell it, if I keep it I will get more critters.

Yes, my husband thinks I am nuts.  He is what has me limited at the present to only one dog, one guinea pig, three bettas, and a pond of goldfish.  I also have over 20 bird feeders in my yard for the wild birds and the squirrels.
 
I figure that people spend their money on what they enjoy.  I enjoy my pets and the wild birds.  I do not need movies, entertainment, new clothes, alcohol, etc.  I'd rather get something for my pets.  I do not think I am nuts. 
 

No not nuts just an animal lover.[]
 
We have Madi and Baby and at this point will  not get any more pets because both kids are now seniors.  Baby is 17 (Himalayan) and Madi is 9 (GSD).  I think baby has a right to live in a calm house for her remaining years.
 
Good luck to you!

ORIGINAL: Indy05

Yes, my husband thinks I am nuts.  He is what has me limited at the present to only one dog, one guinea pig, three bettas, and a pond of goldfish.  I also have over 20 bird feeders in my yard for the wild birds and the squirrels.

I figure that people spend their money on what they enjoy.  I enjoy my pets and the wild birds.  I do not need movies, entertainment, new clothes, alcohol, etc.  I'd rather get something for my pets.  I do not think I am nuts. 

i could be called nuts.. maybe i am.. i personally dont think so. i think i'm nuts to pass up the chance to help a needy animal..... i have plenty of room, i know how to train and rehab and care for different kinds of animals... so the way i see it.. its a disservice NOT to have more lol
my husband also has to keep me reined in..... when he mentioned buying another mustang i said sure, but if he does then i am getting another dog... oh you should have seen the look he gave me!!! his logic is this : "When i turn my cars off, they dont cost me anything. i can leave them sitting for weeks at a time and dont have to feed them, or pet them, or love on them or clean up after them.... you cant do that with animals! and you also cant just get in the car and drive across the country when ever you want because you have have someone take care of the dogs and cats and rabbits and ducks and blabla bla" [8|]of course i do argue back that if you leave a car sitting TOO long it will cost you MORE money and time and is never the same, which he cant argue with..... he has a POS mercedes that needs a lot of money to get it back to normal because it sat for too long......

i also have bird feeders, squirrels, and wild life at my back door. i like that a lot too.... i dont have anything against people who own birds, i used to own some budgies when i was a kid.. but honestly i dont think i'll ever get another bird again. i hate cleaning cages.... and its amazing to see these little colourful birds flitting around my house.. just being birds.. no cages need cleaning, dont have to buy toys to entertain them, no special diets (well.... i try to get good healthy seeds) but you know what i mean?

....speaking of nuts... my husband doesnt it know it but i am really really seriously thinking of getting another dog... but a smaller one for inside..... if the right one comes along... its MINE []

Yup I'm consider crazy for having all these animals and I want another dog or two plus I want another chinchilla. So yup I'm crazy and my family thinks I'm insane for keeping rodents as pets especially that huge of a rodent. I love them and I don't care if everyone thinks of me as the crazy pet lady at least I'm loved by my animals. Even if it includes pet hair every where, spending money on toys, and chin poop on my floor this is what I love.

the kids i used to ride the school bus with in highschool couldnt stand me OR my dog... when i got off the bus my dog would come leaping out to meet me, wagging his tail, and when i was off the bus he would grab my hand and "walk" me to the door.... this one girl used to mutter things like "man... why's that dog so happy"... [>:] i never did tell her she was probably jealous because her own friends werent that happy to see her when she came around.... but in her mind, my dog was weird, and so was i.. especially for letting him "drag" me to the door..

My dad thinks I'm crazy because of the breed of dog that I own.  Pitties are not monsters but he thinks they are.  I have 3 dogs, 5 cats, 1 rabbit, and there are 5 snakes.  It's a zoo around here but, the more the merrier, right?!

My mom felt quite honored that we gave our first dog mom's middle name as a middle name, and sent $75.00 in dog toys, which was a lot of money for her income. My mom was sick for four years before she died, and I completely understood her need to stay in her home, and made major efforts to keep her at home,  because she really, really needed to have at least one dog or cat. Before she was ill she had one dog and one cat and when the cat died, she missed him terribly.
 
My neighbors think I'm nuts. Not because we have three dogs and one cat. But because we spend so much time and money on them.
 
 

I only have two + 1 foster dog and everyone calls me the dog lady.  I spend a lot of time and energy (not to mention $$$) on my girls.  They are my pride and joy. 

It's really fun to have a bunch of healthy, happy thriving dogs surrounding you when times are good and the weather is beautiful , but  I do have to say that when you have multiple dogs, you should consider whether or not you have the time and the resources to care for your dogs if you want to travel, as they get elderly, if they get sick, when it's a muddy mess outside and you're constantly cleaning up,  if something happens to you, etc. etc.  It's no little thing. 

I would love to keep my foster but I think it would be more fair to find a loving home for her with a person would can devote dedicated time to her.  Three dogs are just "that" side of my limit.  I also feel that, the more dogs you have, the less time you have to develop the talents of any single individual. 

Of course!  I have plenty of animals and I don't know any other college students with as many.  I have:
2 dogs, 4 sugar gliders, 1 rabbit, 1 chinchilla, 1 crested gecko, 3 snakes (4 next week), and two aquariums.  One of those aquariums is very nicely planted and I take pride in my plants in that tank.  So, yep, people think I'm crazy.  It is a lot of animals especially considering I have an apartment.  But, I made my bedroom the small animal room also.  Its a fairly big apartment compared to most one bedrooms so having 4 cages in there is not bad at all.  The snakes are in display aquariums and I consider those more like fish tanks.  They are kind of like decoration, but I get the added bonus of playing with them and caring for them.  The crested is new, I just got him from work for free because he dropped his tail, but hes very tiny right now and lives in a small plastic cage.  When he is big, he will also have a display cage.  The main thing is that I feel confident caring for that number of animals.  They don't miss out on any attention or care due to the number.  Well, most of them prefer not not have too much attention.  Right now, I'm house sitting, so I can't play with them as much and they need their cages cleaned, but I will be home on Wednesday, and that will be the first thing I do.  Most college students spend their money or going out, alcohol, video games, movies, that kind of stuff.  I don't really enjoy most of that.  Why should I spend it on something I don't enjoy.  I would much rather put it towards my pets.  My mom and dad sometimes say "don't you have enough animals?" but then they always tell me how proud they are of me for caring for them and that its a big responsibility. Yep, it is a big responsibility, but they also have another benefit.  If I didn't have so many animals and responsibility, I probably would go over to friends more when I really should be doing homework.  They keep me home sometimes when I really need to be.

A lot of what people think is about YOUR actions as well.

My friends have 3 dogs "full-time", take care of they neighbours' dog now'n'then, have puppies every so often (all dogs are female), and somethimes when I go around there, there's dogs I don't even recognize. But they do all kinds of other stuff, too, and nobody thinks of them as "the dog people".

Then again, if you have an animal (even just one) and focus all your atention on it 24/7, people will quickly label you as slightly deranged.

I know this is pretty morbid, but I worry about what would happen to my girls if I should go before them.  I've even given my daughter contact names and numbers to call in such case.  It's also one of the reasons, I really work at educating and sociallizing the girls so that they will be "adoptable" and attractive. 

I know a woman, who had three dogs, who had to sell her house and move to an apartment.  She had to place all of her dogs.  None of them were good with strangers.  The chi and the westie were finally placed.  She also had a pit bull, who was her absolute baby.   She finally found a shelter that would take him and evaluate him and couldn't bear to follow through to see if he could be adopted.  A year before that, she never even thought about having to give up her animals.  It all was very sad. 

Well, my mom met Penny, dog #3 for me, yesterday, and she has been lecturing me all weekend. She first told me that I should get rid of her, and that this would be a good way to teach my son that "You can't keep every stray you find". Sorry, not on my priority list of life lessons to teach my son. Then she said, " Well, if you keep her you have to get rid of one of the other dogs." Hmm, last I checked I was a 32 year old woman who owned her own home and had a husband and two kids of her own. Don't think I have to do anything.
 
Blah. I do think I am absolutely at my personal limit now, but that is for me to decide. I just don't understand why she has such a problem with it.

Oh yes...I have 4  kids..a 9 year old boy, 7 year old twin boys, and a 4 year old girl. Our dog Buster is 4, and we recently added our little Callie. Yep, people think we are crazy for getting a puppy.
Janet