Life can be more complicated than one's own experiences. Unexpected bumps in the road can upset anyone's plans. I know that I personally cannot get a dog if at any point during the year I want to see my little brother, whose entire world revolves around me and school, due to the fact he has been hospitalized from his dander allergies. He's only left the house once the past week because of the animals roaming the neighborhood, and that was for a doctor's appointment. I cannot, in good conscience, abandon him to pursue my own selfish desires. Perhaps I am foolish for not being willing to do anything to live the life I crave for so badly, but I don't want to hear my little brother talking about killing himself again.

The point is, it is rather presumptuous of you to assume that it's such an easy path for dog zoos. Anything could happen in a year; in a year's time, one may have undergone a major surgery, had financial ills, or any number of major life decisions. Perhaps their career ties them to a living situation where dog ownership is impossible. Neither of us know what circumstances prevent someone from getting a dog, so both of us should reserve judgment.

There's living situations beyond just renting like living with family or roommates. It really isn't that easy to just move somewhere else unless you have some combination of few possessions and a pretty large amount of money, at least that's the case where I live.

Money and housing alone aren't the only restrictions, time is a big one. There's scheduling issues, maybe with school, work, or family, that mean that the dog won't be adequately exercised or played with daily. While it might be financially possible to get a dog, it might not be ideal, especially not for the dog. It isn't fair or responsible to get a dog if you can't put in the time for walks, playtime, and training.

I get what you're saying but theres more to life than living off welfare and banging dogs. I'm aiming for a well balanced life. Of course I would like a dog, but at the moment I would have to sacrifice too much in other areas in order to accommodate one.

In my case, my life is only now settling down enough for me to begin to think about introducing a dog into it. A couple years ago when I wasn't living as a zoo my life was going in a completely different direction. To stop that route I was heading and go down this one instead has been long, slow and disruptive.

End of the day though, there does come a point where one has to take the risk and get an animal, but its foolish to do that without thinking of (and trying your best to plan for) the consequences.

Oh this is just rich.

Some of us don't have the time to responsibly care for a dog. If it were remotely possible, we would.

A dog is completely dependent on you. Most dogs also don't do well being alone for long periods of time each day. So if you have a job, college/school, or both, this prevents a lot of people from getting pets because they don't have enough free time. Even if your dog did well alone, you still have to find time between job/school/etc to appropriately exercise, train, and spend time with the dog. A lot of dogs zoos are attracted to are pretty high energy breeds, which do best with hours of exercise daily and access to a yard. It goes beyond just the money; dogs have exercise, mental, and emotional needs too.

And yeah, I'm not sure how it is in Germany but in America, especially for younger people, picking up and moving out isn't really an option for most of us. It's very expensive and lots of people don't have that kind of savings or income.

I'd much rather someone wait until they're in an ideal situation to get a pet than get one and not be able to spend enough time with them. That happens far too often these days.

Me too, i want a dog by my side to love every day.