Poor Gakko, and poor Mariko and Kuro too. I think dog owners feel some sort of pressure to present their responsibilities as hunky-dory easy-peasy so as not to come off as negligent, like of course I don't resent taking him on walks all hours and dealing with his barking and mess and meals etc etc what am I some sort of monster? But it is a lot of work! I grew up on a farm with farm dogs where all you had to do was leave out bowls of food for them and they'd roam around and take care of themselves otherwise. When I learned about all the work of taking care of a dog in a city, I was shocked that so many people bothered lol.