Oh My Dog!

obsessed with dogs

Reflections on dog blogs, evil trolls, and #WorldKindnessDay

Have you guys seen that meme that says: “You can’t make everyone happy. You’re not tacos.”

I love it.

It makes me laugh, partly because I love tacos, and party because I’m not tacos.

Reflections on dog blogs, evil trolls, and #WorldKindnessDay

I know I can’t make everyone happy. I don’t even try. (That, from a recovering people-pleaser is a big statement, y’all.) And sometimes I make mistakes and sometimes I share stuff that’s important to me but doesn’t resonate for you and sometimes I don’t write anything about a topic that IS important to you and you maybe feel overlooked.

Again. Not tacos.

Recently, someone landed on one of my old blog posts through a Google search.

The post was about a tragedy: a little girl was killed by a dog, and later the neighbors said, “You know, we always suspected him of dog fighting.” It’s horrific. If those neighbors had reported their suspicions, perhaps that little girl would still be alive today.

The gentleman who landed on that post was, I guess, searching for info on how to report suspected dog fighting. (Which, bro, call the cops–dog fighting is illegal, after all–or animal control or your local shelter or the FBI or an anonymous tip line at HSUS, ASPCA, etc. etc. etc.) The post wasn’t about that, though, because… I mean… duh, kind of. You know?

Anyway, I am sorry that someone was perhaps truly, honestly trying to figure out what to do and landed on my post and found that it wasn’t helpful. That’s a bummer. I hope he figured out how to report suspected dog fighting. I really, really do.

However.

His comment said two things. First, which I’m paraphrasing: This is clickbait because you give no information. You just tell a stupid story.

(Which, to be fair, is what I do here… I tell stories… That’s, like, my job. In case anyone else was confused.)

Then, the comment ended with, and this isn’t a paraphrase, this is a quote:

Kill yourself.

Now, I have a fairly healthy sense of self. I have a general sense of my strengths and a glaring awareness of my weaknesses (I’m a writer who can’t spell. There. I said it.). I’m generally pretty good about taking care of my mental health, not counting stress. I read and listen and watch all sorts of personal and professional development. I get decent sleep. I exercise a bit. I eat well 82 percent of the time. All those things, plus my brain’s chemical makeup, etc. etc. etc. have put me in position where, thankfully, my mental health is fairly solid.

Not everyone’s is. And tossing around “kill yourself” over dumb stuff like being disappointed in a blog post?

Part of me wants to rage at that guy.

Part of me feels immensely sorry for someone whose life is so small that being cruel makes them feel big.

I keep reading online people decrying a lack of civility. It’s not that. It’s not that at all. Because you can be civil and still be an asshole.

What we need isn’t civility.

What we need is compassion.

We are facing a crisis of compassion. So many people seem only to care for themselves and those who are just like them, and somehow being cruel or putting down anyone who’s “other” justifies their existence, their rightness.

I don’t have to be wrong for you to be right.

You don’t have to agree with me or like my work to be kind.

Online forums enable and engender this behavior because you’re not looking at–you’re not seeing–another human. It’s a screen. A cursor. Some keys on a keyboard. Imagine this guy standing in an elevator with me and being disappointed in our conversation and ending it with, “Kill yourself.”

Luckily for all of us here, we have dogs. Dogs bring us love, joy, happiness, and live-in-the-moment inspo. We need that. We all need that–and more of it. I have to imagine if that commenter had a puppy who greeted him happily at the door each day, who licked his face when he felt down, who he could take for a walk when he felt angry, well, he might tell fewer people to kill themselves! Yes, that’s a bit tongue-in-cheek but not much. People who have dogs are happier people, and happy people just don’t tell others to kill themselves.

Today is World Kindness Day. We should all be kind every day, of course, but to honor this day, I want to end this post with a call-to-action:

Do something extra today. Do a random act of kindness. Make an anonymous donation. Brush out a shelter dog. Buy a stranger a cup of coffee. Leave a quarter in the cart at Aldi. Donate old coats to your local homeless shelter. Visit adoptable cats at your local pet store. Even giving strangers authentic, meaningful compliments feels like a random act of kindness. Wait until you see the cashier’s smile when you tell her how much you like her earrings or whatever it is. Give your dog a second walk. Play with your cat’s pouncer toy for an extra couple minutes.

Everything in life takes energy; spend yours doing something kind. 

P.S.! Join us tonight on Facebook Live! John and I are going to chat about this, the upcoming holiday gift guide, and a new idea I have to bring a little more positivity to a small corner of the internet. See you at 8 PM (eastern).

Dogs and Allergies: What You Need to Know About The Affordable Pet Test

A couple weeks ago, I mentioned we tested Coop’s fur for intolerances, and many of you were curious, so I thought I’d do a full, in-depth review. Grab a cuppa, settle in, and let’s talk all things dogs with allergies! (BTW, this all applies to cats, too, but we’re super thankful we haven’t had any problems with Newt or Ripley!)

Dogs and Allergies_ What You Need to Know About Affordable Pet Test

Quick disclaimers: This is for information purposes only. I’m not a vet, a vet tech, a health care provider, nada. I’m a writer with a dog. This is simply our experience that I’m sharing in the hopes that it helps anyone else. Next, this site uses affiliate links, so if you purchase something from one of those links, we might make a small commission. That helps keep this site running, and we’re grateful for your support in this way. 

First, let’s clear up a couple common questions:

Do dogs have allergies?

Yep. They sure do. And I recently read an article that said many pet owners don’t realize that their dogs (and cats, too!) suffer from both seasonal and food allergies. Many dogs–dogs like Cooper–suffer from both. With dogs like that, it can be nearly impossible to pinpoint the causes of the various symptoms because they fluctuate throughout the year. So, for example, when we did Cooper’s elimination diet all those years ago to see if we could find food issues, we couldn’t control for his environmental allergies that happened simultaneously. That said, the elimination diet clearly indicated we needed to take chicken out of his diet, but many of his other symptoms stayed the same.

Dogs with allergies have all kinds of symptoms, even unexpected ones like GI distress. If your dog is experiencing an allergy or an intolerance, chances are you’ll see things like itchy skin, respiratory problems like a runny nose or sneezing, and–yep–diarrhea.

Can you cure your dog’s allergies?

This is a question I’ve gotten a number of times over the years. Sadly, you can’t “cure” your pup’s allergies, at least not with what’s available to us today, but there are thankfully a TON of options for managing them. Some ways to manage your dog’s allergies: reduce exposure to the allergen (WAY easier with food than environmental, of course), find treatments that work (OTC options like Benadryl or Zyrtec might work or prescriptions like Apoquel or Cytopoint), holistic management techniques like using supplements, and even allergy shots (like people who are allergic to dogs but love ’em anyway get!).

But here’s the thing: You have to know what your dog’s allergic to in order to adequately manage his allergies.

OK, so then what? Well, you need to figure out what those allergies are!

How to test for dog allergies

Just like with people, you have a bunch of options for testing your dog for allergies. You can do an elimination diet, like we did with Cooper, to figure out food allergies and intolerances. It’s a real challenge to keep your dog from contaminating the elimination diet, though, because there are sandwiches everywhere. And candy wrappers. And chicken bones. And on and on. It was nearly impossible to get through 30 days without contaminating the study.

Elimination diets don’t include environmental, either. There are two other very different forms of dog allergy testing: blood vs skin. From my research, it seems that blood tests aren’t preferred anymore, but it’s totally possible to run the blood tests if, say, a dog can’t be sedated (as needed for a skin test). The skin tests require sedation, and you have to stop your pet’s medication for several weeks before the test AND conduct the test during heavy allergy season. (You can learn more about those test here... I just wanted to give a quick overview.)

But, there’s another, easier way…

Why I like the Affordable Pet Test

This is the test we recently completed for Coop, and it was a game changer. Before I get into the results end, here’s how it works: You go to the website, and order the intolerance test for dogs (there are versions for cats and horses, too). You can either request a kit or download the paperwork and save some money. You get 10-15 strands of your dog’s fur–they prefer it with the root, and honestly? with Coop, I just sat on the couch and gave him a good scratching, scooped up the loose hair, and stuck it in the envelope. It’s entirely noninvasive because who doesn’t have plenty of pet hair lying around? (If you have multiple pets, make sure you’re not sending a mixture… get fresh hair like I did.)

The other thing I really, really like? It’s essentially an at-home dog allergy test. Cooper experiences intense anxiety at the vet. With this, we were legit snuggled on the couch as I collected his sample. Any chance I get to diminish his stress, I take it!

Finally, as far as dog allergy test kits, this one has a super quick turnaround time. I think we got our results in five or six days.

What does the Affordable Pet Test test for?

In those 10-15 strands, your dog is tested for 300 of the most common food and environmental intolerances. This includes all the major proteins, most grains, fruits, vegetables, the most common trees and grasses, as well as fabrics and materials. (You can see the full list here.) What were Cooper’s results?

Interestingly, but not surprisingly, his food list showed intolerances to A TON of food additives, things like food dyes (blech), and unexpected things like crab and molasses. His environmental allergies were frustrating because his number one is literally the grass in our backyard. The results are tiered, set up like a stoplight. Red items mean they recommend you stop. Yellow means slow exposure; cut them out if possible. Green items are “proceed with caution,” maybe cut them out for a while, then add one in to see what happens.

In Cooper’s, for instance, spinach was a red item. We gave him spinach often. We stopped immediately. Mussels were another red item. His joint supplement contained mussels. We swapped that out, too. His environmental are a lot harder: grass and dust and both red items, for instance. We can work on the dust. The grass? Not so much, though we’ve made it a habit to wipe him down when we come back inside.

That’s the great thing about having these results. We can make these small, tiny swaps that make his life so much better.

(That’s actually why we switched his food a couple months ago. Read all about that here.)

How much does the Affordable Pet Test cost?

As of this writing, the test for dogs and cats is $144. Not cheap, though when we calculated the cost of an office visit + sedation for a skin test or lab fees for a blood test, and of course all the associate costs of medications and treatment for un-diagnosed allergies… it’s actually a bargain. Coop is a perfect example. He’s been eating one food for a super long time. Turns out, one ingredient in that food was on his intolerance list. Insert SMH emoji here! We’ve been to the vet countless times for GI issues, and there’s no way to know for sure, but it could be because of overexposure to that ingredient.

To paraphrase the incomparable Maya Angelou, we now know better, so we’re doing better.

And that’s always our goal, right? To figure out what’s best for our pets and then do it! From our experience with Affordable Pet Test, honestly, I think we did the best we possibly could for Coop, and now we’ve been able to make changes and adjustments to our routines to help him thrive. His health and happiness are ALWAYS our first priority, and I’m super relieved we’re now in this space because of his hair test.

OK! So, I covered a lot of ground in this post, but I’m sure you still have questions! Ask ’em in the comments below, and I’ll do my best to answer, or I’ll reach out to the company for more info.

Does your pet have allergies, either food or environmental? Have you noticed any specific intolerances? Have you thought about testing your pet’s hair for intolerances? Would you consider it? 

Click here to buy an Affordable Allergy Test for your pup! 

It’s available for cats, too!

You never know where your dogs will take you! Here’s my latest journey…

In 2009, I worked in a job I disliked. I lived in a town where I knew very few people. John toiled away morning, noon, and night in his lab, working on his PhD. I felt directionless and lonely.

The year before, I completed my MA in narrative nonfiction, and while the job I had was writing, it was draining, unfulfilling work in an industry I cared nothing about. I knew I needed to do something else, but I had no idea what. At that time, I poured my heart and soul into my dogs, Emmett and Lucas. I started therapy dog training with Emmett and made wonderful friends there. I started reactive dog training with Lucas and learned so much about him–and me.

I walked them every day and got to know the neighborhood. It was during one of those walks that it hit me: I needed to start a blog about them.

It felt like the perfect solution to give me a creative outlet, to allow me to write about the thing I was most passionate about–my dogs–and to provide me with something to work on that let me stretch my writing muscles in a way that my day job didn’t.

Of course, back in 2009, blogging wasn’t anything like it is today. No one had quite yet figured out that you could build a business around a blog, and the cottage industry of “how to build a blog” was still in its infancy.

Strangely, though, something happened: I received an email from an editor at a magazine. It said, essentially, “I was googling for people who write about dogs in your city, and I found your blog.” The editor wanted a piece written about a specific story in my town and found my blog, reached out, and I landed the gig. My first pet assignment! Then I went to BlogPaws and met two other editors who hired me for pet-related writing gigs, and it went on from there.

Now, almost 10 years later, I’m a full-time pet writer who runs this blog and thezerowastepet.com as supplements to my writing business.

And, I’m honored and humbled–and, frankly, a little shocked–to share that I’m now the incoming Vice President of the Dog Writers Association of America. (You can read the official announcement here!)

DWAA has been around since 1935–a venerable organization dedicated to writers and editors who cover dogs. I’ve been a member for years and even spoke at the conference a couple years ago (the pic below!), but this is such a tremendous honor and opportunity.

DWAA 2017

Why am I sharing this news here? I know you’re all dog lovers–obsessed, like I am–but very few of you are dog bloggers. I think there’s a much bigger, much more important lesson here that I wanted to hit on:

Dogs give us something that no other relationship can. I’m sure you’ve met those people who are squarely in the “it’s just a dog” camp, and I imagine you, like I do, feel terribly sorry for those people not being open to that incredible human-animal bond. No, not everyone, even the most fervent dog lover, builds a career around a love of dogs. But everyone who loves dogs lives a fuller, happier life because of dogs.

They bring us more than companionship. They’re full of joy and light and life. Dogs live in the moment, the ultimate Zen masters. They forgive easily. They don’t dwell on or worry about the past or the future.

Dogs teach us how to be better people–if we’re open to the lessons.

Connecting this incredible, kind, vibrant, caring, compassionate community of animal lovers through this blog is something I’m proud of. Some of the most important people in my life I met through this space. I know all your dogs, and I celebrate their wins and mourn your losses as if we were next door neighbors.

Writing about dogs allows me to help dogs live better lives by providing information, education, and–yes–entertainment to their people. And I’m gobsmacked to be among the leadership of an organization that increases journalistic excellence among dog writers.

If you are a dog writer or blogger, I encourage you to check out DWAA! Join the membership, attend the annual banquet, jump into the discussion on social. My role officially starts February 2019, but if you’re interested or have questions, let me know how I can serve you now.

In the meantime, be open to the lessons. You never know where your dogs will take you… 10 years ago, I certainly couldn’t imagine Emmett and Lucas leading me here! 

Not Another Dog Food Review: Our continued quest to feed our dog well

What do Kentucky bluegrass, molasses, spinach, cherries, food coloring, and mice have in common?

How about dog poop, subscription boxes, and cornstarch?

Stick with me for a minute… promise, this is going somewhere…

Not just another dog food review_ The Farmer's Dog

This site uses affiliate links, which means that I may make a small commission on products purchased through links clicked on this site at no extra cost to you. This helps keep this site running, so thanks for your support in this way!

If you’ve been around here for a while, you know our struggles with Coop’s health go back seven to seven-and-a-half years.

He’s eight.

The gist, distilled: As a puppy, his skin bled. He suffered from chronic ear infections. He tremored all the time. His belly… um… struggled, if you know what I mean. It took years, but we nailed down a bunch of food sensitivities that caused the bulk of his problems. The rest? Environmental allergens.

Over the course of those years, we tried many diets and foods. Ultimately, we cooked for Cooper. His skin and ears cleared–mostly but we’re still dealing with the environmental stuff. Then, The Honest Kitchen launched a pet food that nearly matched what we were cooking, so we switched. It was so much faster, so much easier, and–yeah, it’s expensive–but so much cheaper than what we were cooking. He has an ear infection once a year, and he still struggles with his belly at times, but we were doing fine.

Then, earlier this year, I attended SuperZoo and met Affordable Pet Test. I’m going to chronicle the entire experience in another post because holy moly, but I sent in Cooper’s fur to have it checked for intolerances. And wouldn’t you know it… one of the ingredients in his food was on the list. (That MIGHT be due to overexposure to that ingredient, btw, which is why I need to write the full post about this, so stay tuned!!)

I know many of you struggle with your dog’s allergies. They’re prevalent, chronic, painful, frustrating… I hate when Coop chews at his feet, and I really hate when we have to take care of his ears because after so many infections, he’s a tad, well, I’d like to call it “touchy” but it’s more like “Tasmanian devil-y.”

So, when I saw his results–three pages of them–I wanted to cry. I might’ve cried. Not because there were so many things but because it meant back to the drawing board with his food and feeding.

You know that feeling, right?

Heartbreaking. And frustrating.

I also know I’m lucky beyond belief to work in the pet industry. I get access to a lot of insider info and products that I know many folks aren’t aware of, which is why I strive to cover as much as I can, at least of what’s valuable. And we got to try a new food…

This food, you guys?

It’s valuable.

As promised, though, this isn’t a food review. This is instead about what dog food isn’t and shouldn’t be.

Dog food–all food, really–should be fresh and wholesome and natural. Over the past handful of decades, food morphed from that into brightly-colored, artificially-flavored, last-forever-on-the-shelf stuff.

{{This is the funniest take on this particular topic ever–I’ll wait while you go read and laugh.}}

And we’re learning, right? Chronic illnesses, rampant allergies, excessively high rates of cancer even in young people and definitely in our pets, all of it comes back to the quality of what we’re eating and how we’re treating the environment and our bodies. Same for us, same for our pets. We’re learning all of this, and we’re changing. Which is great. It’s awesome! It’s a relief!

Which brings me back to Cooper. Nothing processed worked for him. Ever. So, we home cooked. That didn’t work for us, honestly, because of the massive amounts of time and money it took to do it right. So, we switched to the next closest food.

Well, it was the next closest food.

Now there’s actually a home-cooked pet food you can order online and have it delivered to your door in an insulated box and on dry ice.

This is why this isn’t a food review. I’m not going to go ingredient by ingredient or anything like that. I strongly, highly recommend you do that for yourself because it’s entirely custom to your dog and his lifestyle. (Although, I’d be happy to do that in another post in the future. If you want that, let me know in the comments! I wanted instead to focus on the health benefits of whole, fresh food for today.)

It’s called The Farmer’s Dog, and, you guys, we are so relieved. So, here’s the thing: They currently offer three main formulas. Two don’t work for him and his list of food allergies and intolerances. The third, the beef, has been incredible. You guys are dog people, so you’ll totally get it when I say this: He has the nicest poops of his life! Seriously!

Me and my bestie posting with our shipment of The Farmer's Dog

It’s not cheap. It’s slightly more than The Honest Kitchen, so it wasn’t a big shift in our food budget, but you guys know that’s a pricey food. It’s worth it to see his pretty poops! Also, if you have a smaller/less active dog, the cost would be less because it’s based on the size of meals/calories.

As for the cost factor, if you’re interested in trying it out at all and giving it a whirl, here’s your chance to do so at 50% off.

What we’re doing is alternating it with a fish box from THK to keep the cost down and to alternate his proteins, which is still super important to me. But for the ingredients, they’re just food. Like, you can see chunks of carrots and lentils.

All that said, I’m pumped because they’re a super environmentally-responsible company. You might be scratching your head at the “cornstarch” reference in the intro. Well, check this out… this is the insulation:


Why can’t more companies do packaging like this?!?!

The entire thing is recyclable, though the pouches of food have to be taken to a plastic-film-specific drop-off instead of curbside (ours are at Target, Whole Foods, or Market District).

Bottom line: It’s real food for dogs. Which is what they should be eating. (Us too, honestly, but girl-who-ate-tacos-for-dinner-twice-this-week isn’t judging anybody else.)

And, you guys, his belly!!! I can’t emphasize that enough. If you have a dog with food weirdnesses, you KNOW how big that is!

I definitely encourage you to give the 50% off box a try and see how your pup does. I don’t know if this is weird or not (I mean, it is but…) let me know how his poop looks after you feed that first box! 😀

BTW, the thing Kentucky bluegrass, molasses, spinach, cherries, food coloring, and mice all have in common?

Cooper’s allergic.

Guess what grass our backyard has…

Sigh.

One battle at a time. For now, at least we’re winning the battle on his gut health with The Farmer’s Dog!

Questions? Comments? Want more info? Let me know in the comments, and I’ll share as much as I can or get answers to your Qs from the kind folks at The Farmer’s Dog!

Choosing a Pet: Is adoption right for my family?

Is your family thinking about growing with a furry, feathery, or scaly member?

Families find pets in a bunch of different ways: online sites like neighborhood listservs, family members, breeders, animal shelters, or even on the side of the road.

We believe that all animals deserve to live in a loving home with a family who cares for them and meets their needs–regardless of where the animal came from. But, if your family is ready to take the plunge into pet-parenting, adopting a pet from an animal shelter is our preferred way to go.

Why?

Well, for one thing, there are millions of animals in shelters across the country, ready for their family to come and find them. While we don’t have any issues at all with purchasing a pet through a reputable breeder, there’s no shortage of purebred dogs in shelters, either.

When you adopt from a shelter rather than, say, taking a dog listed free online or handed over from a family member, you’re getting some of the pet’s health care taken care of prior to bringing him or her home–super important if you’re trying to keep costs low or if you have other animals or kids in the home.

But! We’re getting ahead of ourselves, so let’s dive in!

Choosing a Pet_ Is adoption right for my family_ 10 things to consider first...

Here are 10 things to consider before adding an adopted pet to your family:

  1. Do you have the time for a new pet? Pets need attention every single day, even pets like fish. Are you able to commit the time it takes every day to keep a pet happy and healthy? A great place to start is with a visit to a veterinarian! Ask what it takes each day to keep a specific type of pet happy and healthy, and decide if your family can commit.
  2. Are your children really ready for a pet? They might claim they’ll walk the dog, scoop the litter box, change the tank filter, and exercise the guinea pigs, but you know it’ll eventually fall on you. So, the real question becomes: Can your kids be held accountable and responsible for behaving appropriately around the pet?
  3. Do you have money set aside? Here’s the thing: Adopting a pet is actually a great way to save money because they come fully vetted and spayed or neutered. However, food, gear, tanks, toys, litter, vaccinations, monthly medications like heartworm pills, vet visits, bedding… it all adds up.
  4. Is your home pet-proofed? If you adopt a dog, is your yard safely fenced-in? If you adopt a hamster, do you have somewhere like a bathtub where he can get daily exercise? If you adopt a bird, is there a quiet corner for his cage, plus space to stretch his wings? If you’re thinking about a baby animal–of any species–are you set up to prevent bathroom accidents and chewing problems? If not, can you take all the steps before bringing home your new pet?
  5. What are you looking for in a pet? Does your family want a hiking partner? Or a furry to cuddle with on the couch? Are you hoping to teach your kids responsibility? Or provide them with something interesting to watch and observe each day? Determine what your family’s desires are for a pet, which leads us to…
  6. What species should you adopt? Dogs, cats, rabbits, fish, lizards, and more: You can find any kind of feathered, furry, or scaly friend at your local animal shelter. Depending on what your family is looking for will determine the species you choose. If you want a bud to take adventuring, a dog is a great choice. If you want your kids to learn about caring for animals, a fish tank with a daily feeding chart is a great place to start. Your local veterinarian or the staff at your shelter can help you figure this out based on your needs, and they can even match you to the right animal for your family!
  7. Can you commit to meeting the pet’s needs? Time, attention, and money–we’ve discussed those. But what about training? And getting home from work in time for feedings? There are so many needs beyond the basic food, water, and shelter. Make sure your family understands a specific animal’s needs and is ready to commit. A vet or shelter staff are great people to get those details!
  8. Should you adopt a young animal or an older animal? Puppies and kittens are wildly appealing. They’re cute! They’re fluffy! They’re silly! Your kids will go gaga! But… they need to be potty trained and, well, trained altogether. They chew stuff up. Teethe. Have accidents. Make lots of mistakes while they’re learning. That’s perfect for families who understand what they’re getting into and are excited for the challenge, but not so perfect for super-busy families who are in and out of the house all day. After you’ve determined the species you’d like to adopt, think about the pace of life you lead to think through the best age for you, your kids, and the incoming pet. An adoption councilor at your shelter can help you pinpoint the right lifestage for your family!
  9. Who will care for your pet when your family travels? Family vacations, holidays, weekend soccer camps… you’ll need to arrange pet care. Do you have a family member or neighbor you trust who is also available around the holidays? Will you have to hire a pro? Is that cost factored into your budget? It’s not difficult to find professional pet sitters, and boarding facilities, but if you’re adopting an exotic animal, is there someone in your area who cares for those types of animals?
  10. Do you LOVE love? OK, that’s a trick question! Of course you do! Here’s the thing: Adopting a shelter animal guarantees a lotta love will enter your household. While the other nine points are super important considerations, the reality is that the love a pet brings to your family make all the rest worthwhile–IF you go into choosing a pet with the right frame of mind!

OK, your turn!

Are you currently looking to adopt a pet? What are your family’s considerations? Or, if you have a pet, how did you decide who to add and when? Do your kiddos take on any of the pet care responsibilities? Share in the comments below!