Dogs have long existed as man's best friend, and with 48 million American households owning a dog, they will continue to hold this title. However, because dogs are typically pets instead of workers, people have started to question the need for purebred dogs. Purebreds are genetically predisposed to certain conditions that lower their quality of life. Purebreds are, however, still used for many necessary reasons, such as guide dogs, protection, and hunting. Not all purebreds are guaranteed to have genetic conditions, and if breeding is done away with, these dogs will no longer be born to be adopted, having no life at all.

There is a difference between service dogs and ESAs (Emotional-Suport Animals). Service dogs spend hours and hours training on how to be both extremely obedient and helpful to those with disabilities before ever publicly interacting with one. ESAs on the other hand usually get their certificates from online and don't require much training if any. Allison sees a problem with this, given that when it is usually an ESA that acts poorly, trained service dogs receive the bad rep from their actions as well. Some people only label their pets as ESAs as an excuse to get them into places they usually can't. Should there be more standards set in place when it comes to labeling a pet as an ESA? Should the distinction between service dogs and ESAs be more distinct?

Millions of animals are surrendered to shelters every year, many of whom are euthanized, and many of whom might have been kept by their families if affordable veterinary care were available. Frankie has always wanted to adopt a dog but doesn’t feel confident about having the time or money to properly care for a canine family member. Sam is the proud parent of Ellie, an adopted shelter dog. Sam doesn’t always have as much time to play with Ellie as they’d like but reasons Ellie is still better off bored living with Sam than she would be in a stressful shelter environment.