the ideal pet.

Over the last few months I've been contemplating getting a pet. Now, bear in mind that I have not had a long term pet before (aside from a few dozen goldfish and a mouse named Sparky back in 7th grade), this is quite a tough decision for me to make. Granted, pets (other than goldfish and mice) generally stay with you for 10-20 years (assuming I can keep said pet alive long enough), so this is quite a commitment too. Will I be able to take care of such an animal? Will the pet be better in the hands of a more experienced pet owner? And even if I can find answers to these two burning questions, what kind of characteristics should I look for in such an animal?

Aside from dating and future spouse commitment, I think this is the single largest relationship commitment a guy at my age can make (I could be wrong). With such a large commitment, I need to carefully consider the qualities I look for in a pet. Since I have my four rules for dating a girl, I also should have an idea of what my ideal pet will be. I know, I know…there no such thing as the perfect animal. They all have their flaws. They’ll drool on you when you’re sleeping, or poop where they’re not supposed to, or even bark in the middle of the night, or dig through dry wall and chew up your furniture. But they will also have their awesome times. They’ll keep you company when you’re lonely, or entertain you when you’re bored, and will be your friend when you need one. But since we’re still talking hypotheticals, I have my perfect pet in mind.

It’d be cool to have a pet that is decent sized. None of that miniature, fit in your backpack/murse/totebag crap. It’d be cool if the ideal pet was rideable (in case I got tired of walking I’d be able to ride said perfect pet). The perfect pet would, of course, have to be cute. Furriness is optional. Perfect pet would also poop in pellets, or even better, not at all. It’d be cool to have a pet that ate anything and everything, and whatever it didn’t digest, it’d just spit right out (preferably dry) or pooped in a pellet. It’d be nice for the ideal pet to fly, though that is optional. Firebreathing is optional too.

Basically, my perfect pet would look like this:

Well…there’s no such thing as a perfect pet, but this guy sure comes close. I dunno…maybe this is too optimistic. We’ll see if anything else comes close...