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" Getting a family dog always sounds like a great idea until one parent puts a foot down. And it&amp;#039;s a sure bet that person eventually does all of the vet trips, messy baths and poop scooping. But this dad finally caved to his kids&amp;#039; requests with a genius caveat: the &amp;quot;Family Dog Contract.&amp;quot; The extremely-detailed document excuses Dad from every smelly, dirty and potentially unpleasant possibility and required the agreement (and signatures) of every family member:   This parent definitely drives a hard bargain. No spot on the Christmas card? That&amp;#039;s just cold. Even with the &amp;quot;unrestricted veto power,&amp;quot; every family member did agree to the terms and the adorable Kershaw became (almost) a member of the family.   Dad just posted the entire saga two years after the fact on Reddit along with this &amp;quot;epilogue:&amp;quot; We got a three year old white fluffy mutt from a shelter that weighs 15 lbs., was already housetrained and doesn&amp;#039;t shed or drool. We named him Kershaw (veto power not exercised). It&amp;#039;s been two years, and the kids (now ages 12, 13 and 15) have been pretty good about doing everything. Kershaw eats dry dog food from Trader Joe&amp;#039;s, and so far hasn&amp;#039;t created any indoor messes that have required the use of harmful cleaning chemicals. Everyone (including Dad) adores the dog, which has been a fantastic addition to (though not member of) our family. With that happy ending, there&amp;#039;s a chance the top commenter&amp;#039;s suspicion came true: &amp;quot;Dad considers dog as a member of the family within two years, never admits it.&amp;quot; If that&amp;#039;s the case, maybe the contract should be considered invalid.  "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/life/pets/news/a39630/dad-writes-family-dog-contract/>