Owning a dog is a huge commitment - and not something you can click pause on. As an owner, you are responsible for your pet's wellbeing and must meet their physical and emotional needs to the best of your ability.
This includes their feeding, walking and socialisation as well as keeping them up-to-date with vet visits to check over the things you might not be qualified for. And that's exactly the point one mum tried to prove to her husband and children after they started sharing an interest in owning a dog.
Taking to Reddit, the mum said: "Before we got married and had kids my husband and I agreed that all big decisions required two yes or no votes. Well our two oldest kids and my husband want a dog. I do not.
"I have heard too many horror stories about a family getting a pet and then the person who did not want it being stuck caring for it."
Despite this, she agreed to welcome a dog into their family on three conditions - it's smaller than 60lbs, it doesn't shed, and they had to successfully complete her 'responsibility test' beforehand.
"For sixty days in a row, they had to collect all the garbage from all the trash cans in the house and put it in the big garbage bin," she added. "That was to make sure they would remember to feed a dog every day.
"And for sixty days, all three of them had to go for a one mile walk twice a day with the GPS route tracker active. If they missed a day they had to start over."
She started monitoring their progress and wasn't at all surprised to learn they couldn't make it past 14 days.
Although her 'responsibility test' did its job to prove her point, not everybody was impressed with how she handled the situation.
She said: "My parents called me up to say I was being ridiculous and petty - and I 100 per cent agreed with them.
"But since they always side with the kids, I was ready for them. I sent them a link for a dog walking service in my area - it is very reasonable.
"I said if they wanted a say in the dog decision they had to agree to set up an account with that company and that I could call up the company for help whenever their precious, perfect, grandchildren and son-in-law forgot to take care of the dog.
"They said I was being a jerk and that they had the right to their opinion. I agreed that they had that. But unless they were willing to pay to include their opinion in the decision it did not matter."
After reviewing their progress, her husband agreed they're not yet "responsible enough to have a dog"
"He said we needed to tell the kids," she added. "I said that 'we' was one too many people.
"I wasn't the one who sided with them when I said I knew they were not ready. He thinks I'm being a d***."
Wanting to know whether she was too harsh on her family, she has asked Reddit users for their thoughts on the situation.
In response, one user said: "A+ parenting and life lessoning!"
Another user added: "This was brilliant planning."
A third user said: "Great tactic to show them the responsibility that comes with a pet - and beautifully handled with the grandparents.
"Watch out, I could see grandparents buying someone a dog for a birthday..."
Do you have a story to share? Email paige.freshwater@reachplc.com.
