How can I prove to my parents I'm responsible enough for a dog?

Question

I REALLY REALY REALLY want a dog SO bad!!! My parents don't like taking care dogs. I told them that I would do everything, but they keep saying no. :-( I have a pet parakeet named blue jay. Who I take GREAT care of. My friend said she was 5, her sister, 6 and brother 7, and they took care of her dog. I need to show my parents how responsibe I am, but there being really tuff about this and I won't take no for an answer.

I don't think I can petsit other dogs cause my parent's don't even like that so don't say that lol if you allready did it's ok

btw my mom does not work

Answer 1

write a report on why the make good pets

Answer 2

As a mom, myself, I think I can give you the answer to your question. Pets are a great responsibility. When a parent gets a dog for the household, they are 100% responsible for the care of the animal. It doesn't matter how much a child claims they will take full care of the dog, they usually don't.
Your parents may feel too busy with work to care for a dog. What you can do to dispel their fears is be consistently responsible. Show them your serious, mature, and capable of giving an animal a wonderful life.
That's what I had to do when I was a kid, and at 16, I was finally able to get my dachshund Spaz..
Being 26 now and a mother of two, I think my parents were just really nice about getting a dog. Thinking in terms of my girls, who are 7 and 3, there is no way they would be, or I would let them be responsible for an animal.
By the way, your age would be a very important detail to add, if you want a useful answer.

Answer 3

Probably the BEST thing any kid/you can do is DON'T bug your parents constantly about it. If you're always whining about "I want a dog, I want a dog" then your parents will just get annoyed and assume you aren't mature enough.

The other thing is to talk to your parents and find out the EXACT reason(s) why they don't want a dog around. Maybe they know there isn't enough time to give it the attention it needs. Maybe there isn't room in the house. Maybe they are concerned about the cost. I don't know. There could be many reasons, and you should find out why if you don't know already. That way you know if you can do something about it or not (for example, if it's because your apartment (or whatever) doesn't allow dogs, then you should give up on having a dog of your own).

It's great that you're taking care of your parakeet. That's a great way to start showing responsibility. Make sure you are keeping up with other things, too, like keeping your room clean and doing your homework.

Also know that a dog takes more care than a bird. Maybe your parents think you won't be able to take good care of both.

Know that eventually the novelty of having a dog will wear off. After you've had one for a while, it won't be so easy to take it for walks, and you probably won't be jumping out the door to do clean-up duty.

If your parents don't want to deal with the issues puppies bring, consider adopting an adult dog. We adopted our dog, who was one or two years old at the time. She was already housetrained and learned quickly. Plus we didn't have to go through as much chewing and things as a puppy would have done. It's a good option.

If your parents still say no, then try to find other ways to be around dogs. You could volunteer at an animal shelter; that way you could play and interact with dogs and at the same time be making a difference in your community.

Good luck!!!
I hope this helps. :)

Answer 4

How old are you?
You do know a dog is allot of responsibility.
Bathing
Feeding
Watering
Taking outside
Cleaning up poop
Buying allot of stuff for it.

Do chores around the house for as many months to prove you are responsible and can take care of the messes and you are willing to work hard to keep the dog in good shape and keep it clean and healthy. This includes: Cleaning the bathrooms perhaps. Fixing your bed every morning. Clean up the dishes once in a while. Clean up every mess you see. Your parents don't like taking care of dogs maybe because they don't have allot of time for themselves let along have time for the dog. Do not get a big dog because they are allot of care and money and they make big messes. The littler the dog the littler the everything. Im afraid doing a report wont work to prove to your parents that you are responsible. You cannot show it by words put into sentences because those are just words not actions. You have to prove them physically by doing what I gave you examples of. If your parent are very strictly forbidden about the dog then I say just let it go and get one when you move out. Good Luck hun.

Answer 5

First of all, I am going to guess you are reasonably young, dogs are a 24/7 resposibility, escpecially if they are a puppy. If they are a puppy, you will be woken up several times through out the night because they either want to play or need to go to the bathroom. It will where you out!!! They also need constant attention during the day. I will tell you from experience, when I was 12 my brother and I begged my parents to get a dog. We told here that whe would take care of him, walk him, bathe him, clean up after him, and feed him. This was not the case. My parents did most of the caring for the dog. Secondly, a dog is very expensive!!! There can be costs that you would never expect. Shots, food, toys, etc.....We just recently got a dog and thought we were financially ready and he decided to jump out of my Husbands arms to run after another dog and he landed on the cement and broke his leg. He needed to get surgery on his leg and that ran us $2000 after everything that was required from the leg break. I know you don't want to hear this, but if you really want a dog, you need to keep your grades up, help with chores, & SAVE MONEY. I don't know what kind of financial state your parents are in, but you have to think of every cost that may arise. Maybe if you save up a bunch of money and show your parents that you can handle taking care of him and the financial cost that come with a dog, then reapproach them.

Answer 6

First, do some research. Find out what care dogs need - what to feed, how much exercise they need, how to train a dog, what veterinary care they need. If you want a puppy, find out how to house-train it. Look into characteristics of different types of dogs - energy level, friendliness, grooming needs, etc.

Next, write up a detailed plan. What kind of dog or puppy will you get, where will you get him, and who will have input into the choice? Who will pay for his checkups, vaccinations, and neutering, make appointments, and take him to and from the vet? How will you go about training him? Where will he stay when you are at school? If you get a puppy, what arrangements will you make for someone to look after him and take him outside whenever you are gone? How will you pay for his food, toys, leash, dishes, crate, etc.? What arrangements will you make for the dog's care when your family goes on vacation?

Finally, see if you can volunteer at a local shelter, or offer to walk a neighbor's dog after school.

You might not be able to change your parent's minds, but if they see that you have really put some thought into owning a dog, they might be willing to think about it!

Answer 7

take really good care of your current pets.Get good grades,show you are responsible by doing all your chores without being asked. if you are old enough volunteer at an animal shelter, if you are too young you could raise money to donate to your local animal shelter. offer to walk neighborhood dogs (for the experience not money) or wash neighborhood dogs or play with them when their owners are at work. make a chart showing how much time and money will be spent on the dog . (example: walking time, feed time, play time, brush time etc)
then ask your parenst if you could adopt a dog ( your parenst will be more likely to adopt) tell them your saving life also ask if you could adopt an adult dog that might otherwise not get adopted (to prove thta you dont wnat a puppy that you will forget about in a couple weeks)
also an adult dog may already be housetrained, not as energetic, and not as destructive as a puppy.
this link is helpful:http://www.wikihow.com/Persuade-Your-Parents-to-Get-a-Dog
if your parenst decide to get a dog check out petfinder.com and adopt a dog in your area:www.petfinder.com)

Answer 8

If your in school show your parents that you do all of your homework and try to get an A. Try to make a deal with your parents if you get an A in a test that you will get a dog. If they don't make the deal then get dog books from the library and start reading them. If you get the newspaper look at the sales for dogs and show it to your parents.

Answer 9

i am just wondering how old are you? if you're still in school or not. i can kinda of understand why your parents don't want you to have a dog because if you go to school....then your parents would be the ones that have to walk your dog and feed him change his water, and so much more. right now you're in a head butting head situation, no one side wants to take a step back and since you're the daughter i really think you should listen to your parents and maybe wait a few more years until you're parents think you're responsible enough. but in the mean time do every thing you can to prove to them that you're responsible enough. and show them the animal can really depend on you to walk, play, feed, and take care of.

Answer 10

Unfortunately, it's not always a quesiton of responsibility. As a parent/adult with a new puppy, I watch him as much as possible. Yet, he still finds time to pee in a corner or chew on a table leg. For vacation, we have to pay for someone to watch him, or we have to take him along.

So, I suspect that, for you, it may be more the issue that your parents are not at a point in their life where they want to deal with those parts of raising a dog because, ultimately, it is their responsibility.

Good luck in your quest, though. They can definitely be fun when you get the right one!

Answer 11

Take care of other peoples dogs, walk them, bathe or sit for them while their owners are away or better yet bring the dog over to your house and sit for it.