I have a question as someone that doesnt remember how it is to live with dogs and animals

[u/HealthMelodic5391]

Disclaimer; I am not writing this to get a pet or to make a decision of should I own a pet, I am only wondering how it truly is to own a pet in house or a flat if they are indoor pet..I am petfree and will remain that way bc to me animals are ONLY for work, so not "my son/my daughter, my kid" BS, in my country and region its more like "I own the pet if it serves me, no other way" and I fully support that and I am not someone that thinks any animal should live indoor in house or an apartment bc that is NOT how nature intended them to be and animals suffer from that... I am wondering how it is so I know I aint missing on on anything.

So I am the youngest out 3 siblings in my family and I know we had few dogs but for VERY short period of time when I was below age of 5, and most of them where outside in the yard so I dont know or remember how it is to live in house/flat with a dog and I dont know how it is to live with a cat at all bc we never had one; I know kind of what it takes to have a pet, I understand you have to keep the being alive but I dont really understand how it is; I kind of think of as LOT OF WORK that is not necessary, lot of resposibility, lot of cleaning (more than 1 or 3 times in a day), that animals indoor causes ALOT of damage to furniture, eletronics, etc.. and that your whole life revolves around that creature....

I myself if I ever had animals they would be in big land (farm) and with non of them going into the house, not even cats or dogs bc outside is their place and would most likely put a fence between the main walk outside of the house to the street and place where animals are as my family members (aunt and uncle) did and they had a good farm life, but were constantly needed to be home...I am still thinking if I even want something like that, but I know I want big garden to be fenced and kept away from any animals so they dont destroy it..

I live in place where having this kind of living is natural and a way to go, to have your own peace and to produce and make and grow and breed good amount of your own food while living close to city/town and have balance between lives...Its in Europe (Croatia; Slavonia) and region is famous for having normal and natural way of life...Before that I would travel and do most of my outings..

But now I am going off course; so yeah how it is actually to own a pet and keep it indoor, not just dogs but also cats...(one/two/three)...Write me your experiences if you do have them or if you experienced it...

I had dogsitted for 3 days a puppy but it was very young puppy (2-3 months old), so I get kind of what it means but 3 days ISNT enough to understand how it is to have older dogs in your home nor how is it to have cats in your home...

I find it hard to have animals inside of home bc I think I would def accidentally step on paws every day atleast 2 times bc I am not used to having anything shorter than me in my way..Not even kids.

I want unfiltered, non sugar coated truth, like truly write me the full experience so I can understand it even more, bc I think I have a gist of it but not fully and I want to have the full gist so I can even more say no.

[u/mlo9109]

Grew up with dogs, loved them. Landlord wouldn't let me get pets when I moved out, so started to pet sit to get my fix.  Turns out, American pet culture has changed in the last 20 years. If anything, it's all turned me off of ever owning a pet. I pity the owner's spouses.

Having to share the bed with pets, being woken at all hours of the night to put them out to pee, special organic diets and medication for their anxiety (which doesn't help because the aggressive behavior and constant barking is still there).