The Family Ferrari
My son wants a Ferrari for Christmas and I'm thinking about getting it for him.
I can afford it; my neighbor has a used one for sale. Apparently it's been "too much car" for him, so it's sat in his garage.
I will definitely give my son driving lessons - I know that owning a car like that is a true responsibility. My son hasn't learned how to drive yet, so I may have to make some modifications to the car, just in case it turns out to me be "too much car" for us as well.
Performance cars have special tires; they allow the car to corner at high speeds and provide exceptional traction. Excellent in a racing car, but probably overkill for our family, so I will take it down to Costco for some regular Honda tires.
Performance cars also tend to be noisy - my neighbors are going to object if every morning the car roars to life. Part of the problem is the muffler - or lack thereof, so I'll need to add a muffler.
Obviously there are liability issues with a fast and powerful car, so I'm only going to let him drive it when I'm there to supervise. Otherwise it will stay in the garage where everyone can be safe.
Some of you may be thinking a Ferrari is overkill for a child, but my son really needs a hobby, and it does appear that there are a variety of tools and modifications that I can use to settle the car down. A little change here and a little change there, and soon I'll have a Volkswagen interior with a Ferrari body. The car doesn't care if we take out every ounce of it's Ferrari nature - it's just a car.
You should see what my neighbors want to buy for their family. A working line German Shepherd. The dog is supposed to become a hobby - the husband needs something to do when he gets home from work.
They know that a working line dog is a huge responsibility. They guard the property and can be suspicious with people - but they've heard that the right tools can control that. Rambunctious in the house? That's why you should kennel a working dog. Boredom in the kennel causes barking? Got a special collar to stop that. Dog's brain spins 10 times faster than the trainer's brain? That's OK too - all sorts of special tools can slow the dog down and suppress his instincts, so the owner will have some time to think about what to do next while the dog bubbles over with frustration.
Soon, he'll be well behaved. Quiet. No trouble at all. And delighted with his incompetent training simply to get out of his kennel.
The potential owner of this dog has already been warned that "high drive dogs" aren't like other dogs. They require a firm hand, lest they attempt a hostile takeover. Cannot live in a home. Require a wide range of power tools, because "no one can train a dog like that" without suppression.
No one.
Lightening quick, responsive and designed for performance. In a car, that's my worst nightmare. In a dog, that's my dream. I wonder how the dog feels about the modifications that are designed to take out every ounce of who he is and what he's been bred to be, so that an unsophisticated trainer can handle a dog that is way outside of their skill level.
My son cannot even drive a car, so I will not buy him a Ferrari. It takes more than desire; it takes time and dedication to develop the skills to handle power intelligently, and common sense suggests that a novice learn on something easier rather than blaming the car for its design. You don't get a Ferrari if you haven't succeeded at freeway speeds with a Honda; stronger brakes and heavier bumpers are not the answer.
Might be something for my neighbor to think about.
47 comments
Before I got my driver’s licences I swore my “First car” would be a Porsche. And indeed, I saved enough money to buy a used Porsche when I was in college. I blew up the engine before I learned how to really drive that car, but once I learned more about what the car could do and how to drive it, I had many amazing, dream like drives on winding canyon roads, flying along deserted highways in the middle of the night, adreline fueled, fabulous drives – driving just for the pleasure of being behind the wheel of an incredible machine. I loved that car, and even though it was a lot of car for a young driver I learned a tremendous amount and loved the experience. When I needed to get more practical in my life and transportation was more important than drives just for the pleasure of driving, I sold the Porsche. It wasn’t “transportation” – it was a dream on wheels. You don’t buy a Porsche (or Ferrari) just to run errands.
I made mistakes with my first dog, too. She used to be my back seat driver in the Porsche, and she was just as inappropriate for the novice dog owner that I was – as that car was for me as a novice driver. But I learned so much from her – a field-bred Irish Setter who needed a job, and compelled me to learn everything I could about training her and giving her jobs just so we could live together. She taught me a lot about dog training, and every dog since then has added to the lesson. That inappropriate first dog made me love dog training and want to be a better trainer with each dog I added to my life.
The Ferrari analogy is a great one. I have never owned another car like my Porsche, but the dogs in my life are all “Porsches”. The Porsche was never “just transportation” – and my dogs are not “just pets.” I love what I can do with my working dogs, the teamwork is its own incredible adreline fueled rush when we do something together in perfect harmony. When people tell me they want a dog like mine, I think, no, probably they don’t. The partnership they see is the result of many many hours of training and time spent learning how to make my dog be the best that he can be. There is so much to learn, and so much time spent before you can have the magic partnership that makes living with the canine equivalent of a Ferrari (or a Porsche) the dream it was meant to be.
Thanks, Denise, for an eloquent description of what it means to own that Ferrari – and choosing a dog (or car) for real life and not fantasy
I am so glad you posted this! The analogy is perfect and certainly personifies a number of folks I know who purchase a highly driven line puppy with the sole purpose of exerting CONTROL over them. What a train wreck this usually ends up to be——-a livid owner and a completely confused, maladjusted and sometimes hostile dog………sigh
Know Thyself SHOULD be the first principle of choosing a dog. I was able to condense it for myself when looking for a new puppy a couple of years ago—I was thinking about switching breeds, & told a breeder that what I wanted was “a very sweet dog with a good work ethic and an off switch”. There’s a REASON I don’t have a BC, or herding dog of any breed—much as I love watching them work, all that intensity would drive me bonkers. In the end, I went with another flat-coat from a friend’s litter, carefully selected by her as “the relationship puppy”. She loves to work, & in an hour or so, when I pick up the training bag, she’ll be bouncing off the wall with delight. Right now she’s lying on a dog bed at my feet, gnawing an antler, & we’re both content. It’s all about choosing a dog for your real life, not your fantasies.
And shame on the breeder willing to sell a WL shepherd…..
Yet another excellent post. I really wish more people would think about their breed choice before getting a dog.