I wonder if we should condition people better to understand that a dog can be unexpectedly difficult in the same way children are unexpectedly difficult. No one, literally no one, is prepared for parenthood, no matter how educated you are and how much money you have.

I say this as someone who become both a parent and a pet owner impulsively and kicked ass at both. Took in a seven-year-old war orphan when I was 26 because what could possibly go wrong? That kid is now 24 and amazing. Adopted a six week old poodle because I impulsively wanted a dog and my hairdresser’s friend’s dog had just had a litter. That dog is now a year and a half old, incredibly well-adjusted and happy, and an absolute delight. But in both those cases, it was much harder than I anticipated and I just said to myself “well, I guess this is what it is. Let’s keep trucking.”

Kid is now 24 and has an eight-month-old daughter. (Pup will never have offspring because he got snipped at eight months.) It’s not possible to plan for every contingency and both people and animals are adaptive creatures, we can figure it out how to make it work.