Getting a Puppy was a Great Indication that I Do Not Want to Have Children for at least 10 Years

That's a long title for a post, but I felt that it was necessary. A little over a month ago, there has been a new addition to our household and as you may have guessed from the title, it is a puppy. My brother found her at a shelter and decided to get her. A few weeks later he decided that she should live with us in our house instead of just with him at his apartment. I really don't know what he was thinking having her locked in his apartment for a good chunk of the day as she is a puppy, but he did have some help in form of a play pen. A play pen that became useless approximately a week after she was brought to our house as she had gotten too big for it.

He claimed that she was mostly housebroken, already reacts to her name (Nymeria), and was 3 months old when he got her from the shelter. All of these things turned out to be untrue, granted that last one was not his fault so much as they were obviously clueless at the shelter. It turns out that now, about 2 months after he got her from the shelter, she has yet to grow her 3 month old teeth. So she was probably about 4 weeks old when he got her..and then would leave her alone sometimes for hours at a time. As I have grown attached to her the past month or so, thinking about this makes me really sad, which is part of the reason why I said what I said in the title.

But, getting too emotional over my puppy is the least of the reasonings. No, there are quite a few more and they are a bit greater of indications than that one. It is tough taking care of a puppy. Taking her out to use the bathroom, cleaning up her messes, making sure she doesn't chew on the furniture, training her to do simple things, and of course spending almost all of my time with her, because ohmyGod why would I leave that poor little baby all by herself, she'll get sad. So it's hard and I feel guilty leaving her alone. I don't even want to imagine how hard it would be with a human baby and OHMYGOD the guilt to come with that if I ever left the baby alone.

Sure, I may be overreacting but, I don't think I am too far off. I mean really. I am struggling with this puppy and I don't have a job and am currently not in school. Fortunately, by the time the semester starts again in August, she will be a bit older and things won't be as difficult. But, man this responsibility and feeling guilty and not knowing if the people I am leaving her alone with will take care of her like I do (keep in mind, these 'people' I am referring to are my parents) is only going to be intensified by 5000% with a child. And with that, I know I can not possibly be ready for that for at least another 10 years. I don't care if by that point I have been married for several years and we feel that there is a gaping hole that needs to be filled in the form of a child, we'll just adopt a puppy until I reach that point.