In Which We Defend Our Actions Against Criticism

When I moved to my current apartment, I mainly did so because I wanted to finally get a dog, something I'd been waiting 20+ years for.  I needed to move into a pet-friendly building and also live alone, since I couldn't count on a roommate being okay with me bringing a puppy into the house.  When I was looking for a new apartment, I saw a lot of different brokers, and I specified to each of them that it needed to be a dog-friendly building or I wasn't interested.  A bunch of the brokers, on multiple occasions, gave me a little speech about how he feels sad for dogs that live in the city.

I hate this speech, and this sentiment.  People who think dogs are sad in the city are people that are projecting their own prejudices onto the dogs.  Dogs are sad in their environment only if their owners are inattentive or cruel.  Some dogs can be jittery in a city, because they're not used to so many people and other dogs, but those are generally poorly socialized dogs.

And this is the argument I started to make to one of those brokers on one of those occasions.  Dogs in the country often go for fewer or shorter walks, because the owners don't necessarily have to walk them all the time, since they can go to the bathroom in the yard.  Dogs in the city tend to get more exercise and spend more time properly interacting with people and other dogs.  Besides, I pointed out, there are so many dogs that need homes—if you're rescuing a dog, then it will clearly be much happier in an apartment in the city than sitting in a shelter, especially if it's a kill shelter.

I was obviously arguing to myself at the same time I was arguing to him, trying to convince myself so I wouldn't feel guilty.  And sometimes I do feel guilty about keeping Rosie in the city… she clearly gets a special thrill from sniffing around the woods.  But Rosie is happiest when we are together, and that is what always reminds me that I made the right decision.

I still make that same argument any time somebody talks to me about how cruel it is to have a dog in the city.