So everybody under the sun knows I have this greyhound, I love him to bits, I talk about him constantly. I got him from a local rescue, and their rather sizeable kennel is only about 20-30 minutes from my house. I got to their quarterly Spa Day events (a bath and nail trim for greyhounds, $25 and it goes to funding the rescue), I volunteer at their booth during a local annual festival, and have on occasion shown up to volunteer at booths at various pet stores.
With that in mind, I have had a hard time shaking the feeling that those involved in the group look down on me. I am in a lower financial bracket than most of the other owners, I have to count my pennies and that means I can't give my dog all of the things that apparently they feel he should be entitled to, and I've had to learn the way to interact with him and understand him properly over time.
Here's an example: the most recent Spa Day came up, and because money was tight and Rock really needed a bath, I decided to go and just get the bath done, and then later in the week when I got paid I could take him to the local PetSmart and get his nails trimmed for only $4 more than I would have paid at the kennel. The nail folks at the kennel were going through dogs quickly, and the lady coordinating it - I'll call her Y - asks me if Rock is getting his nails.
"No, just the bath today." I tell her, and she looks at Rock and starts insisting that his nails are getting quite long and he really needs it done. There are other people sitting there, in earshot, and I don't want to explain to her that the extra $10 I'd need to fork over needs to go into my gas tank. I insist again that we'll get it done later, and she cuts the price in half, which...is more viable, but will still make things a bit more difficult for me. But she keeps pushing, and I feel ashamed, so I say yes.
These people constantly make me feel awkward and incompetent, and I try very hard to determine whether this is just me projecting my own insecurities or if this is actually snobbery. I also have no idea how to communicate with people and explain how this makes me feel without coming off like a drama queen. I want to work with the group, but it's hard to do when I'm made to feel like the grubby cousin who never should have gotten a dog in the first place.