Redundancy – Or the Cups Runneth Over with Dog Stuff

Click here to read the complete article
228 – September, 2022

By Chris Robinson

The longer a person is active in dog sports, the more likely it will be that they have accumulated a plentitude of “dog stuff” and a lot of it will be duplicates, triplicates and even greater “cates.” In fact, if you are the average “dog sport person,” paraphrasing King David’s words in Psalm 23, ‘your cup runneth over with dog stuff.’

Don’t believe that’s true? Then answer a question. Have you ever taken an inventory of your dog stuff and also estimated the cost? I mean a real, honest-to-God, no-fudging-or-face-prosecution-for-perjury inventory? Or, does the amount of dog stuff you’ve accumulated and the expense of it fall in the category of, “It’s better I shouldn’t know.”

I would much prefer to be in that latter category, but since I write for dog magazines and the dogs are frequently not only the subject of stories but also pose for photos for those and other stories, dog expenses are tax deductible. So, once a year the Internal Revenue Service and the state revenue department demand an accurate accounting of those expenses if there is to be an allowable tax write-off. This means that on a yearly basis–since I’ve never been able to summon the nerve to look at the combined cost for say, ten years–I have to face up to the amount I spend on dogs and dog stuff. I’ll admit that it’s a rare year when that sum isn’t impressive. If “hunting expense/dogs” is added to the mix, since I write about hunting with the dogs for both dog and hunting publications, the number gets downright scary. A fair percentage of it, I’ve discovered over the years, results from what can only be termed “redundancy.”

 Click here to read the complete article
228 – September, 2022

Short URL: https://caninechronicle.com/?p=243725

Posted by AnthonyA on Sep 20 2022. Filed under Current Articles, Editorial, Featured. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.