When you love animals, you tend to love all animals. Dogs and other pets just seem to go together.
While we consider ourselves to be dog people, we’ve had lots of different pets. For 17 years we had a cat who lived in the family bookstore. And found out we’re really not cat people. We’ve also shared a home with fish and lizards. A brief pet-sitting stint for neighbors let us know Guinea Pigs weren’t possible – the sneezing didn’t stop the whole time we were in the house. Not mentioning that rodents are…rodents.
Get along fine
Dogs are incredibly adaptable creatures. When raised with other animals, given appropriate time and training, they get along just fine. Our cat didn’t live in the bookstore because the dogs wouldn’t adjust. Merlyn lived in the bookstore because he hated dogs. Cats are not incredibly adaptable.
Currently, our non-dog pet is a Bearded Dragon named Diogenes. He doesn’t actually do much. Or rather, he didn’t. Diogenes is about six years old now. And, when we had a bricks-and-mortar store, we only spent time with him in the evenings. He pretty much just perched on his branch (or cot, or hammock) and watched us, or TV.
Now he’s in the office with us. And finds the dogs incredibly entertaining, all day long. He and Simon have a “thing.” Simon annoys one of the other dogs, then looks up to see if Diogenes is watching. Which he usually is.
Going by the book
When we got Diogenes, we had no experience caring for a Bearded Dragon. We’d read up on it when we were deciding what kind of lizard to get. The prevailing wisdom said that Bearded Dragons eat bugs while they’re young, but are almost entirely vegetarian when they mature. Experts also said they eliminate daily, and need baths on a regular basis, as well as nail clipping.
Diogenes does none of these things. He won’t eat unless there are bugs. After those are gone, he may, reluctantly, grab a bite or two of his “salad.” We wanted to try him with the Chicken Heart treats, instead of bugs, but that was a no-go. He rarely poops, once a month is frequent for him. He hates getting bathed, but does let us grind his nails, the same as we do with the dogs.
We’re big advocates of common sense. It made no sense to us that desert animals (which Bearded Dragons are) would need to be bathed. So we stopped. And he’s fine. He went on a hunger strike when fed a vegetarian diet, so we gave him back his bugs. He’s still fine. We worried about blockage, since he doesn’t tend to his “business” regularly, but the vet says it’s fine.
Do what makes sense
That’s the point. You’re the one who knows your pets best. None of them goes by the book. As long as everybody’s happy and healthy, don’t worry about “what experts say.” Except us. Always listen to us.
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