No A's, No Dog. :(

[Laki]

A couple things wrong with your post-
1. You said your parents are over protective and won't let you outside.. How will you give your dog the exercise it needs??
2. If your mom "hates animals" then who will bring it to the vet and groom it?? I mean, you can help with these things but I don't think it's fair to expect your mom to do the bigger things in the responsibility if she doesn't even like animals. How about a pair of rats? They can be in your room, don't need to go outside to pee and you can train them to do things. Plus, your mom never has to see them! You can play with them in the room.
A dog is a big commitment. Let me tell you. I was 10 years old when we got my dog. It was a cute family pet until he grew up and needed walks and training etc... After we moved to an apartment he needed 4-5 walks a day (because he was a terrier and we didn't have a backyard). Guess who, out of 5 people, had to walk the dog?? Myself and my younger sister. Mom, dad and my other sister got sick of taking him out.
That dog lived to be 14 years old. That's a lot of time and patience put into a small dog with little social skills (can't just let him run in a field bc he would start fights with dogs and bite running children) and a lot of money on toys (which he destroyed) and food (good quality food never runs for less than 15$ a bag)

ANyway, I'm not trying to discourage your decision to get a dog. ANd I think it's unfair your mom said you could have one if you got A's. I feel like she set you up for failure somehow. I would like you to be happy with what you have and respect your parents' authority.

I'm looking forward to finishing school so I can another dog too. Right now, in this small apartment and doing full time school I think it would be unfair to get a dog now. That's my lifestyle though.

Anyway, keep your head up :)

[AngesRadieux]

Guess one of the few things I have to say is great about my parents is that my mom's a major animal person. We've always had a dog in the house. But my parents never offered incentives to do well like that. My incentive was if they didn't like my grades they'd come down like a ton of bricks. If everything was fine, nothing really happened except for special occasions like in 11th grade when I was accepted into NHS. Aside from things like that, no incentives. Just a whole lot of grief.

But good luck getting your dog. Depending on your mom, that might be an easier sell than rats... My mom loves animals, but if I ever mentioned a rodent as a pet... Oh, boy! She can't stand them. At least from what I've seen, even though rats take up less space and can easily be avoided by family members, people seem much more adverse to having them in the house than a dog or a cat.

[SnowySurface]

Originally Posted by LebronTheBetta

Well, I don't think I'm able to do that. :\ I mean, my parents are really overprotective and don't even let me go outside. -_- I'll ask if I can, but whenever my dad doesn't work, my mom does. And vice-versa. They're tired all the time because we're saving for a house that's 550,000 something and the down payment is high.

We need to move out 1st and trust me, she really doesn't like animals. She doesn't like the fur and she can feel their "bones". :( I always try. If you want answers, you have to try.

Ok, I think I see why your mom put up such a high bar. The responsibility of a dog would clash with your school work much more than fish care. If your parents are already running themselves ragged with work, they won't be able to help you with the dog with a lot of effort on top of the effort they are already putting into saving for the house. Since it's a bad time for your parents to have a dog, it is a bad time for you to have a dog unless you can juggle school work, fish care, and dog care on your own.

If you can't get straight A's without a dog, it would be harder for you to get a mix of A's and B's with a dog. Take a step back from the disappointment and think of why you forgot to hand in that last assignment. Were you distracted by fish? Were you distracted by chorse? Did you have to much school work as it is? Did you fish with fish, chores, and school work but forgot to put it in your school bag? A combination of all four? Once you figure out what went wrong, you can fix the problem so it doesn't happen again.

If your parents are over protective, then they think you will start flunking classes once you add a dog to your plate since you are spread so thin already. All you can do is try again. Show that you can handle all the responsibilities you have already with time to spare that can go towards dog care.

[LebronTheBetta]

Sorry for the confusions...

I'm going to get a dog AFTER we get a house next year. When we get a house, I'm able to go outside. My mom just doesn't trust our neighborhood. My mom doesn't like animals but she doesn't hate them enough to ignore their health and care needs. By when we have a house, we're going to have enough money and such for animals. All I did was forget to bring in my homework that was left in my backpack. It needed to be signed and yada. I forgot because of my brain, I didn't remember.. It wasnt because of my fish, or chores, just my stupid brain. :l

[Laki]

Don't be so hard on yourself. A smart kid your age does not need the stress and responsibility it seems you are dealing with. Enjoy yourself!

[SnowySurface]

I agree with Laki. There's no need to beat yourself up about it. If you have another year to try and get all A's before you move, then just try again. It's not like you have anything to lose. :)