{"id":3769,"date":"2011-11-05T21:50:21","date_gmt":"2011-11-05T21:50:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.wineanorak.com:\/wineblog\/?p=3769"},"modified":"2011-11-05T21:50:21","modified_gmt":"2011-11-05T21:50:21","slug":"why-you-need-a-dog","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wineanorak.com:\/wineblog\/uncategorized\/why-you-need-a-dog","title":{"rendered":"Why you need a dog"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Or two dogs.<\/p>\n

We’ve been dog owners for five years now. For almost a year, we have had two of them. Everyone should have a dog.<\/p>\n

On one level they are a massive inconvenience. They cost lots of money. They create logistical challenges. They smell. You have to pick up poo. Owning a dog is an extra responsibility.<\/p>\n

On another level, there are great benefits. The dogs have expanded the family. We got RTL at a time when things were very tricky with our boys, and – to a degree- she was therapeutic. Families are often too small and too intense; dogs expand the family in a helpful way.<\/p>\n

And there’s the walking. It could be seen as a hassle, giving the girls two walks a day. Isn’t that a waste of time? Not at all. Taking time out every day to go for a walk is really healthy, both for the body and the mind. I find it a really important component of the day, adding a bit of balance to my rather odd work life.<\/p>\n

It would be easier not to have dogs, but they bring a richness to our lives that is worth the price we pay. Pictured top is an autumnal scene from this morning’s walk on Hounslow Heath.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Or two dogs. We’ve been dog owners for five years now. For almost a year, we have had two of them. Everyone should have a dog. On one level they…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3769","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wineanorak.com:\/wineblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3769","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wineanorak.com:\/wineblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wineanorak.com:\/wineblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wineanorak.com:\/wineblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wineanorak.com:\/wineblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3769"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.wineanorak.com:\/wineblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3769\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3777,"href":"https:\/\/www.wineanorak.com:\/wineblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3769\/revisions\/3777"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.wineanorak.com:\/wineblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3769"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wineanorak.com:\/wineblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3769"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.wineanorak.com:\/wineblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3769"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}