For Christmas back in 2007 Santa surprised the kids with Nintendo DS'. One of the games that Santa brought was one called Nintendogs. It is a game where you can adopt a dog from a shelter and take care of it, all on the video game of course. The kids decided on a Golden Retriever puppy which they named Max. And that is as far as they got. After that the game started to get a little too complicated for them and they never played it. Fast forward to last week. I decided to break out this game and learn how to play it so I could help the kids learn how to play it. After I turned it on I saw a little puppy (Max) trying to lick me through the screen. I figured out how to check her stats. This is what it showed:
Coat - Filthy
Hunger - Famished
Thirst - Parched
I looked at this dog and saw fleas jumping off of it and it was itching and scratching like crazy. I immediately felt so absurdly awful for this blasted video game dog that I quickly figured out how to buy food and water for it. I also figured out how to bathe her and walk her. Every day since I have felt like I need to check on Max and make sure she is doing OK. THIS IS A VIDEO GAME PEOPLE!! Why in the world am I getting so worked up about a video game?! I haven't been able to figure out the reason behind my odd behavior...until today.
This is Brock, the dog my family had growing up. We all loved Brock but boy did we neglect him. When my brother Ryan purchased him as a puppy we were around to take care of him. Then life happened. I had school all day and everyone else worked a lot. This poor dog quickly became overweight and underplayed. We all would take turns walking him which ended up being about one walk a month. He was constantly filthy and just slept all day long. We all felt bad about having this huge dog and not properly taking care of him. To this day I still have guilt about it. I think my guilt has resurfaced in the form of the video game. All my childhood memories of Brock have come flooding back and I can't stand the thought of putting another dog through what Brock had to go through even if it is a video game dog. I have this picture in my mind of meeting up with Brock in Heaven. Would he tell me I was the worst owner and that he would never forgive me and my family? How pathetic am I? I think I need some counseling for this. What do you think?
9 comments:
Oh that is so sweet! You take good care of Max.
Brock is so cute! I'm sure he felt very loved. To a dog, these are the three things that they need most in life to be happy: (According to our Veterinarian)
1. Food
2. Love/Companionship
3. Walks
He told us that if they have at least two out of three they are golden. See you have nothing to worry about. Any dog that has a home with loving people is blessed. Especially when that family was the Lundquist's!
It sounds like we should have gotten Nintendogs before we got Mokie. I might have been better prepared. Not to say that Mokie is neglected. At the moment, he's just a lot more work than initially anticipated.
Us too! Pathetically enough, we've tried 3 dogs so far, and just couldn't quite handle it each time (you'd think we'd learn after the first or second attempt!). I think our family is absolutely in love with the IDEA of a dog....but not the ACTUAL work, training, and cleaning up after - a real dog.
So, truly - the nintendo-pet sounds pretty nice. That or a paper fish.
You shouldn't feel as bad as you do. It wasn't as bad as you seem to remember. I took Brock on walks all the time, and dad and I fed and played with him too. You kids were busy and when the boys were on their missions, that's when Brock got Leukemia and couldn't and wouldn't go on walks. Of course we didn't know he had cancer at the time. I just wondered why he wouldn't go with me on walks. He didn't act sick until we took him to the vet a few days before he died. He did need more attention than he got, but it wasn't quite as bad as you think.
Ahhh...Goozie!!!
Eric and I walked Brock when we were dating, and threw a ball to him, and pet him, etc...He had his big old dog house mansion in the back yard...I don't think he was neglected.
Enjoy Max. That's my kind of dog!!!
That is the funniest thing I have heard in a long time!! My kids have "webkinz" and sometimes I feel sorry for them when their scores are low but I think you may have taken it to a new level. I'm sure your dog has been celestialized and forgiven you!! Thanks for the laugh and have fun taking care of your new puppy!!
I was thinking the same thing about Webkinz. I remind my kids to logon and feed them. It must be a maternal instinct to care for and nurture every living thing. I love that you blog about it. I like to read the little insights into your life and your head since I don't live nearby to pick them all up firsthand. :)
Lara this just shows how maternal you are... even caring for a video game dog :) :)
I think we all have those regrets when we look back and think we could've/should've done this or that better. I can think of a million things I'd like to change! Like your family has commented, it probably wasn't as bad as you remember.
Lara, you are so funny! I agree with Kristine, love to read about your insights. I remember that dog, I was afraid of him, because he was so big. Do you remember Kelsey? That was hard when she got old, and Kristine was the one to take her to the vet to have her put to sleep, I just couldn't do it. I cried for days, just thinking about her, and wondering if we did the right thing.
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