so..if i am going to write what i want to write and say it the way i want to say it...here is some food for thought...

people need to get their head out of the clouds as far as animals are concerned. animals are real live living things..not pipe dreams.

i have been reading a lot of the stuff out there right now about those poor six dogs who died of heat exhaustion in the canopy section of their dog walkers pick up truck.

i am a safety freak. i do not want anyone picking up my dog, putting him/her in the back of a truck with 6 other dogs and supposedly taking them all to an off leash dog park adventure to have fun while i am at work. if i was hiring a dog walker, i would want the person to come to my home, snap a secure leash to his/her non slippable martingale collar, take him/her for a controlled leashed walk around my neighborhood and then bring him/her safely home.
off leash parks are dangerous (you never know what other dogs or owners or their skill sets that are going to be in the very same park at the very same time), walking more than one dog at a time is dangerous, putting dogs in the back of a canopied pick up truck is REALLY dangerous (you cannot see them while you are driving!)

when we hire a dog walker to get our dog out for break during the day while we are at work...that break does not nor should it be a great adventure...(adventures for my dogs without safety conscious me in charge are dangerous to their wellbeing)..it needs to be a safe and completely controlled outing to take care of business and have a little bit of nice and safe human company. human guilt and head in the clouds thinking make us think our dogs NEED this wonderful and free running 6 pack dog park with the dog walker adventure..when really, they don't. they can have their great adventures stuff when you get home and can keep your loving parental eagle eye on him or her.

i have a rule..if you ain't gonna let your kid do something, then don't let your dog. since my kid would never get out of my driveway in the back of someones pick up truck...neither would my dog.

doggy daycares... if i send my dog to doggy day care and my dog gets hurt. trust me..i am NOT going to be fighting over who should pay the vet bill..that thought won't even be on my radar. i will want to know what happened, how it could have been prevented and what steps are being implemented to ensure it doesn't happen again. i live and breathe animals..i KNOW shit happens (better than most) and my job is not to cast blame, not to make someone else pay..my job is to make sure a decent plan is in place and altered as needed to keep my dog safe. and if i cannot be sure of that, then my dog no longer goes to that unsafe place.

adopting a rescue...rescue animals are NOT perfect little stuffed animal specimens and neither are their rescues...altho we really do try! i am an absolute freak about fleas...we spend $400 a month on flea medications during flea season. however..i recently found a flea on benny...OM FREAKING G...benny has fleas!!!! had benny been up for adoption (which he is not) and had someone adopted him and his flea..i would not have been happy to hear..saints is adopting out dogs with fleas! if some gets a rescue dog or cat with god forbid fleas or worms...deal with it, its not the end of the world!
when i first discovered private rescue it was when we adopted tyra...a 4 month old puppy with eye, ear infections, ringworm and demodex....BEST DOG in the world despite the fact that she brought some microscoptic friends. the rescue rescued her from a really crappy home...we stepped up, adopted and got her to the vet as her new good home and cheerfully paid the bills.. none of that stuff was life threatening. helping her get better sealed our bond, it was now my job as her new mom...i loved that dog more than any other dog i have ever loved. i never cared that the rescue didn't have the money to vet her to the nines...all i ever cared about was that she was mine!

we as humans are like some kind of over achieving psychotics about our much loved pets...we think they should have an absolutely perfect world. well..they are not ever going to have that because that doesn't exist. what they can have is some careful consideration in keeping them safe, happy and healthy while using our ability to NOT let the dreamy clouds of perfect pet living possiblity fog up our human heads.
we do better by them to live in and deal with their reality with some realistic common sense..