Life of a dog lover living in an apartment with 3 dogs
This doggy-blog entry consists of three main parts.
The first part (“From dog lover to dog lover-dad”) describes my some of my past beliefs from the time I did not have any canines.
The second part (”Ups-and-downs all year round: implications in everyday life with 3 dogs in a flat”) describes the actual hardships that this lifestyle involves.
The third part (”There is a way out of the hamster wheel!”) describes the solution I found to move ahead with my life as a primary school English teacher, so that my dogs and I can have more freedom and a better, quality life.
Life of a dog lover, part 1:
From dog lover to dog lover-dad
I have always been a dog lover, but never had one. It did not even crossed my mind, partly because I lived at my parents’ apartment. I always believed that dogs and apartments do not mix, and only those should consider living with dogs, who own a house with garden. Then I mainly thought like this because of the fur of the animals is hard to clean from rooms, and that dogs need more space to roam. I was not totally mistaken, but this is not the complete picture. I did not know Cesar Millan then. He opened my eyes to so many things, for which I am forever grateful to him.
Apartment-dogs do move more than garden-dogs
Now I know that ’apartment-dogs’ move more – or at least taken for a walk – than their ’garden-dog’-buddies. It is a very common misconception that the garden is enough for the dogs to run around. Being close relatives to wolves, and wild dogs, canines would naturally be ’travelling’ dozens of kilometers daily, looking for food. This is encoded in their system. So, how could their natural need be satisfied by being closed up in a small are? Okay, they are domesticated. Right. Then I suggest trying to imagine having been locked inside the same place for most of one’s life. Even though us, humans do not have the genetic coding of the need to walk long distances daily, we would get bored to death.
If someone really is a dog lover, I suggest asking him/herself the question:
”Do I really want my four-legged furry family member to be bored and unhappy?”
Dogs do not show this, always, by the way. They are so undemanding, that they are fully happy to be around their ’parents’. (I consiously avoid using the phrase ’dog-owner’. I do not believe in owning anything that lives and moves.)
So, in most cases dog lovers living in apartments with their canine family members walk their dogs more than those people who have a garden. They take’em out for walks 3 or more times a day – it is not just for fun, it is an obligation, that can become a nuisance.
I foolishly thought people who have dogs can naturally discipline them well
I also thought that people in villages, or at least family houses (we call houses with gardens like this in Hungary) know how to treat and discipline dogs well. I was so wrong. Yelling ”to your place” and using a stick to threaten the dog is just not the right way of establishing oneself as a trustworthy pack leader.
I thought big dogs behave worse than small ones
In the movies big dogs were often used as fierce guard or police dogs, because they do have the ability to catch bad people. Little dogs were more often depicted as the ’cute ones’, even when they were barking all the time. On the other hand, when a big dog barks, most people consider it dangerous at once. This is so unfare.
I have my life experience with this situation now. In my neighbourhood luckily most bigger dogs are more well-behaved and disciplined than small ones. This is not the dog’s merit or fault – they do, what their ’parents’ tell or fail to tell them. If they are left without rules, boundaries and limitations, they take on the role of the pack leader and try to defend their unsure, hesitating ’parents’ from everything, this is why they bark, jump and attack.
I am very grateful that those people who are unable to handle even one small dog do not have powerful breeds. The streets of Avas (my neighbourhood in Miskolc city, Hungary) would become a warzone then.
Life of a dog lover, part 2:
Ups-and-downs all year round:
Implications in everyday life with 3 dogs in a flat
It was at the age of 31 when I became a ’dog-father’ of one, than a year later two an three dogs. I have dogs for 12 years now. I have been living with them in a block of flats for six years ago. Fate brought it his way – and/or my series of bad decisions. They are cute quiet, house-trained and well brought up little beings. I love them, but having them has very serious constraints, and it is also a great responsibility.
I have to take 3 daily walks with them at exactly the same time, come rain or shine. This means I have to get up an hour earlier because of this. I always got up early because of sports. Dog walking – beside being a high physical and mental activity in itself – reduced sports to the background. While I work , they sleep for nine hours contentedly. But I have to run back home to them from anywhere, interrupting anything. Living with dogs demands serious time management.
After the afternoon walk those couple of hours fly away soon until the last walk of the day comes at 10 pm. By then many times I’m so tired that changing to outside clothes is a great challenge, not to mention the dark and cold, which are not always very friendly. A good old little November rain can add further colors to this picture. For the sake of my dogs and myself I have to find a way to quit this treadmill!
Work in four shifts
I would not give up my 3 dogs for anything, but I got to the point that I became sick and tired of this lifestyle. The continuous, mandatory, time-bound three daily health-walks completely keep splitting my day into three parts. It’s like beside a main job position, I am forced to work 3 more shifts because the walks can not be missed out even once. There’s also an extra shift: online networking with DXN mushroom coffee selling online. This is not mandatory, noone calls me to account, but if I do not do it, I will not get ahead in life to achieve my goals. The mandatory block of flats-dogwalk is not nearly the same as the kind of pleasure trip-walk, which only those people can allow themselves, who live in houses with garden. Here I note again that ’garden-dogs’ also need 2-3 daily walks as well. The only difference is that the dog lover’s life does not depend on it. It can be omitted in case of bad weather for example. Luckily dogs can relieve themselves quickly in the garden as well and go back to shelter. As an apartment ’dog-dad’, everything I do is subordinated to my little favorites. My entire day is a big countdown between to dogwalks.
Life of a dog lover, part 3:
There is a way out of the hamster wheel!
hamster wheel: when someone just keeps running in circles (and making the same mistakes) in their life, instead of progressing (source: www.urbandictionary.com)
What is the solution for a dog lover who wants more freedom with his pups?
I want a freer, more meaningful life for my dogs and myself. I want them to be able to do their business when they feel the need to. I want to avoid them having to hold it for 9-10 hours. Because they do this for me. They are clever, full of happiness, well-intentioned loving little creatures. Luckily they are as healthy as possible. I owe it to them to earn the money for a nice house with garden where they can run around – and sleep through the day as well, just like they do in the rooms of our apartment.
They are going to be able to do this without holding their business. A house with garden, however, from my current salary as a primary school English teacher as my main job, is impossible to raise the money for.
How can I get a house with garden then?
Dead-end job and no pention
After 14 years of teaching English at both primary and secondary schools I realized that did not get ahead from one to two. Work takes more and more free time. Moreover, it is very likely that I will not get pention either – just google Robert Kiyosaki’s thoughts on the collapse of the pention system.
Enter the DXN One Dragon
Fate has driven me to the best school possible: to Hejőkeresztúr. A life-changing event took place here: my colleague (who is now my DXN sponsor) showed me in is very modest, sympathetic way DXN Ganoderma coffee online Network Marketing business. I carefully read all the information on his website and I tasted the best MLM product in the world. Needless to say I fell in love with DXN healthy coffee at the first cup.
The company does not promise anything that would be too good to be true, but if I earn my keep, my work will be rewarded. This is the example I see of both the Hungarian and foreign DXN network marketers. It is also important that the products are proven their worth for me. I have a very positive DXN product’s experience.
So DXN is also an MLM business?
Yes, DXN also operates in the by-everyone-hated MLM system. A lot of questions arise regarding this otherwise completely legitimate, honest business model. It is unfortunately often mixed up with pyramid schemes. Click to read a few FAQs: frequently asked questions of DXN Multi-level Marketing system.
Why did I choose DXN business as a dog lover?
I want to spend more meaningful free time with my dogs too. Freedom means happier, stress free and longer life. I want to travel and go on excursions. I certainly can not achieve this by my current agenda. By default, I can not set out to travel more seriously for several days because of my dogs. In the short term, I decided to resign certain things for long-term benefits. That is why I registered as a DXN member. And, of course, also because of the good Ganoderma coffee 🙂
Yes, as you might have guessed by now (especially if you knew my old, ’brown’ website), that this blog entry is also a reedited version from that page. Why let good stuff go to waste, right? 🙂
It’s original title was about the same and I published it on 13th December, 2016: ”Dog lovers choose DXN healthy coffee MLM business”
