Why investing in Cleo has been worth the risk
Steady Dividends. I'll tell you up front, investing in Cleo and the dog adoption process at the San Francisco SPCA has paid steady dividends. Every year that Cleo has been with us, our life has only been richer because of her influence. As a family, we looked at our lifestyle, our ability to love this dog we knew little about in the beginning, and we were realistic about our commitment to her once we signed on the dotted line.
When we decided to adopt our dog Cleo, I couldn't help but look at the experience with a slight investment perspective. We were taking on a lot of potential risk with the hope that we would be rewarded. It was important to be sure of our tolerance level and that we were ready for a long term commitment. Can you guess that at the time, I was working for the world's largest discount broker?
Risk-Return Trade-off. When you decide to adopt a dog, it is important that you know your personal tolerance to risk. Are you ready to love this dog no matter what? Will you stick with them, even if it means altering your own behavior in order to have a balanced home life for you and your new dog? With this uncertainty, the potential reward will be the possibility of a long life with a wonderful dog who will give their everything to you. We took on the risk of loving Cleo fully, with the hope that in return she would love us back and enjoy the rest of her life with us. I can say that after six years, we feel our investment has been the right one. Cleo expresses her commitment to us in simple enjoyable ways. She's protective, lets us pet and cuddle with her for long periods of time, and from day one she has told us when she needs to go outside to pee.
Investing Strategy. The risk of loving and caring for Cleo that we have taken on has been worth it. Our life with her has been mostly up, though the period it took to identify her skin and allergy issues was definitely a down time for us. As she moves through her senior years, our current strategy is to stay focused on the short term joys we experience with Cleo. Our decision to adopt her as an adult dog was the right one, and only now with the success of our investment have I begun to consider adding to our pack with another dog. You know, diversification is a great way to reduce risk...at least that is what I keep thinking every time I see a cute adoptable dog.
This post is sponsored by the Pets Add Life campaign and the American Pet Products Association. I am being compensated for helping spread the word about the benefits and joys of pet ownership.
Learn more about Pets Add Life (PAL) a national, non-profit foundation dedicated to promoting the positive role pets play in the health and well being of people, families and communities.