rescued dogs, yada yada

Well, your going to lose something else if you don't get a dog. With one like this Corgi, he'll probably sing for his supper.
Husband and our Bandit (Rat Terrier) and lady and her Corgi, singing. THE LADY WITH THE CORGI IS NOT ME!

eh? but anyway, I get your sentiment.

I have taken it that as a responsible person I don't adopt a dog now.
I get it, I'm ill equipped financially.

Roberta understands me, and me her.

Sometimes this is hard for us.

Sorry, osso, I'm still having trouble loading photos. Wouldn't even let me erase my blank post.

It was a photo of my husband and our dog, Bandit, and a lady with her Corgi. Both dogs had their heads in the air, singing. In our dog park here. Once we got them all singing together (about 10 dogs). Hysterically funny, but what you see in dog parks makes you laugh.

Oh, good, enough of tension from me.

This is interesting. It might be good for me to visit a local dog park, for the pleasure, the laughs. Thanks, kiddo, as Roberta would say.

I'll be interested in Pdog's take, including possibly harsh re me.

I totally understand. Breaks my heart. Don't wanna think about it.

There are far too many rescue dogs who were not from a situation in which a family regrettably had to let them go because they couldn't afford to support them. Many of them are literally rescued. Our boy dog was rescued from some creep who was beating him with a chain in a parking lot, and The Girl rescued our girl dog from a family which had kept her in the basement by herself (other dogs and cats mixing with the family in the rest of the house) for two years or more. Both dogs have turned out well--more or less. The girl dog doesn't seem to know that she is a dog, and she shows signs that she doesn't particularly like dogs. Humans, however, fascinate her.

Oh, my. I didn't remember the details re Cleo and Bailey.

You could just go to a dog park to watch. We've made a bunch of friends there, at least husband has. The dogs used to get so excited, all of them running around like crazy. Funniest was a French bulldog, whom all the dogs would chase, for some reason, all at once, and that dog just loved all of them pileing on him. Now, they all parade through the gate as if they're just visiting old friends.

Our town's pet shelter is fairly close to the park. Many people go there to take dogs for a walk. I tried it once but the guy gave me a pit bull that had apparently never worn a leash. Just about pulled my arm out of its socket. Jerk. Why did he do that? We used to walk Odie, the doxie we ended up buying.

I just looked up dog parks in Albuquerque and it turns out there is one very near by that I didn't know about. I'll check it out. I don't know if that will make me happy or sad, but I should at least try a visit..

osso, I don't want to talk you into taking a dog, but you get so much more
out of them than you ever put in, additionally if you take a smaller dog, the
food lasts a long time and the animal shelters do help with vaccinations and
other monetary issues. You know that they euthanize them after a few weeks, so they're always better off in a loving home.

If you really cannot get a dog, then why not go down to the shelter and volunteer your time. They always can use someone to help out, and the dogs
would love a gentle hand that pets them. Only a few hours per week would
help them and yourself too.

We got Lilly from the local animal shelter, she probably was tossed out because she wasn't housebroken; people nowadays can't be bothered.
It took us almost a year to get her housebroken and I am glad we stuck it
out and were patient with her. She's a darling dog and we're so happy to
have her.

The animal shelter spayed her, gave her all the necessary shots and even
micro chipped her - all for 50 bucks.

Just as humans can do, you CAN prevent a lot of health issues with animals too if you choose good food.
Get a meat based food. Not the common shelved stuff. No. Iams is not a good brand.
Pick something a bit off the beaten path, find something that is NOT corn based and will give the animal as chemical free food as possible.

No. Good foods do NOT cost that much more. In fact , I feed kitten one from the store. 7.99 a bag. 2 a month.. well technically, one and a half a month.

A couple extra dollars on the food and vet visits are fewer and farther between.
My cat is 14
Not yet been to the vet

And

im all for having a pet.

During the school breaks, get one of the little kids to play with your dog once a week for a couple dollars.
Maybe even find one for the weekends to get your dog out and walked more than you can.

Sitting on your patio and throwing a ball for a few minutes every day can help them stay calm too. Just getting movement helps. It does not have to be a rigid daily plan . Dogs that would require that probably would not fit you anyway.. ( dalmations come to mind per that last comment)