[speaker001:] Do you have any?
[speaker002:] Yes, we do have a pet. We have a, a dog that we got from the, uh, well, we call it the S P C A. It's the, uh, an-, from an animal shelter.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] Uh, he'd come in there as a stray.
[speaker001:] All right.
[speaker002:] Uh, he's a Pomeranian and Sheltie cross.
[speaker001:] Yeah.
[speaker002:] Uh, well, he was very well trained when we got him. Uh, he's,
[speaker001:] Oh, that's good. You don't often find that, I don't think.
[speaker002:] No, uh, we suspect that he was hurt in an accident, you know, got away from somebody traveling through, and hurt in an accident
[speaker001:] Right.
[speaker002:] because a dog that looks as good as he does and is trained as well is someone that has lost him and not have been able to locate him.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] And, uh, if they were local people, they would have been able to find him.
[speaker001:] Sure. There's a, okay, uh, that's interesting. Yeah, the only pet that I've had, uh, I'm a, I'm a doctoral student right now
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] and in my, in my earlier days as a student [sniffing] I kind of time shared on a dog with a, a good friend of mine and, uh, it was an amazing dog, it really was. They had, he had gotten it from the pound and, uh, it, it's a Spanish Pointer named Domino.
[speaker002:] Oh, yeah.
[speaker001:] Kind of looks like a dom-, a Dalmatian
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] and we trained it from a pup, and basically it, right now it, it's fully trained and it can do a lot of things. It will get beer for you out of the fridge, and it will get the newspaper and do all kinds of stuff. So, it's really, [throat clearing] it's, it's kind of a show piece any-, [LAUGHTER] -more, and whenever anybody comes over, we all have to show him Domino [LAUGHTER] you know.
[speaker002:] Oh, I think so.
[speaker001:] Yeah, it's, uh, she's been a real good, a real good dog and, uh, just, it's kind of a shame that I'm, I'm go-, I'm away from it now. I, I j-, I actually live in Florida
[speaker002:] Uh-huh [faint].
[speaker001:] but I'm on an internship up here for a year and then I go back down, but, uh, yeah, Domino's a real good dog.
[speaker002:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] Uh, what, uh, possessed you to get the dog?
[speaker002:] Well, I guess, in one sense we felt that, it, it's nice to have a dog even though there are, you know, complications come with it.
[speaker001:] Yeah.
[speaker002:] And then with our children, uh, at the time they were, oh, grade five and, and grade eight, so
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] it was an age where it was, uh, we thought it was be good for them to have the discipline that goes with, with having a pet.
[speaker001:] Sure.
[speaker002:] Uh,
[speaker001:] Sure learn a bit, learn a little bit of discipline and how to care for it and things like that.
[speaker002:] Yeah, right.
[speaker001:] That's good. That kind of builds some
[speaker002:] So,
[speaker001:] character a little bit.
[speaker002:] Well, that's the idea. I think the reality of it is, that they perhaps, uh, it depends on the,
[speaker001:] [Scratching].
[speaker002:] on everyone's discipline.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] And, uh, from that aspect, I'm short on the discipline, because I don't, uh, enforce that the kids look after the dog and, uh, we've had him about four years now.
[speaker001:] Uh-huh.
[speaker002:] Uh, but I think it does, it, it, you know, it's necessary that individuals have the discipline to look after the animal properly, uh,
[speaker001:] Yeah, that's something that's important for sure.
[speaker002:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] I think, uh, do you live in a, in a, in a fairly rural part of the, uh
[speaker002:] Uh,
[speaker001:] or,
[speaker002:] Actually no, we live in a, in an area that's, oh, probably about two and a half miles from the university.
[speaker001:] Oh, I see.
[speaker002:] Uh, we live right, might say we live right in, uh, in the middle of a residential area.
[speaker001:] Um.
[speaker002:] And, uh, so that is not as good, uh, you know, this dog, being a small dog it's, uh, more you, more acceptable
[speaker001:] Yeah
[speaker002:] but again,
[speaker001:] it's not that big of a problem. With Domino, she was full grown, I would estimate seventy pounds.
[speaker002:] Yeah.
[speaker001:] And, you know, we lived in Oviedo, which is a small town, it's a suburb of Orlando
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] but [throat clearing], there's not, there wasn't a lot of room for her to run around, and she was a dog that loved to run, so that was the biggest problem I saw, and I think that's one of the, uh, the issues people need to think about before they get a dog is, you know, do you have the room for this dog to run around, or, s-, you know, I guess you can't really say for cats. Me and cats don't get along too well, uh [LAUGHTER], but, you know, that whole space issue, I think, is real important.
[speaker002:] Yeah, it's, uh, that's one of the biggest concerns. It's like, uh, there's a lot to be gained from a relationship with an animal, but the same time, one has to recognize the reality of physical requirements of
[speaker001:] Right.
[speaker002:] of the animal
[speaker001:] Yeah, that, that,
[speaker002:] and the larger they are, the more room they need to exercise.
[speaker001:] Sure, and that's all part of y-, of keeping your part of the relationship.
[speaker002:] Right.
[speaker001:] You know, showing the maturity and responsibility to recognize those, uh, those issues.
[speaker002:] Well,
[speaker001:] You know, and also, the whole, whole thing with noise. My mother, oh, she freaks out because she's got neighbors that have dogs, that don't train them
[speaker002:] Uh-huh.
[speaker001:] and, you know, we h-, we had a neighbor in Nebraska when we lived there that had, uh, Brittany Spaniels and they're very high strung animals to begin with, but, uh,