Do you really think your dogs are children?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a friend who puts her dog down for a nap and will say things like: “I’d love for you to come over tomorrow, but can you come around 2:30? Daisy is napping until then and you know how she gets if she misses nap time!” Or flat out “sorry I won’t make it, I have to have Daisy in bed by (insert time here), so that won’t work.”

So? Dogs aren't cats. You can't just leave some food out and life your life. You do kind of need to keep them in mind when you're planning your schedule.

I am aware that dogs aren’t cats. I am also aware of having to take my dog into consideration when making plans. But my dog will also fall asleep whether or not I tuck him in. As dogs do. Shuffling your whole day and having people plan things based on your perceived need to tuck your dog in for a nap is insane. It’s not a baby/kid. And even those sometimes nap on the go (not all of them, I know).

Maybe your friend just doesn't want to see you.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a friend who puts her dog down for a nap and will say things like: “I’d love for you to come over tomorrow, but can you come around 2:30? Daisy is napping until then and you know how she gets if she misses nap time!” Or flat out “sorry I won’t make it, I have to have Daisy in bed by (insert time here), so that won’t work.”

So? Dogs aren't cats. You can't just leave some food out and life your life. You do kind of need to keep them in mind when you're planning your schedule.

I am aware that dogs aren’t cats. I am also aware of having to take my dog into consideration when making plans. But my dog will also fall asleep whether or not I tuck him in. As dogs do. Shuffling your whole day and having people plan things based on your perceived need to tuck your dog in for a nap is insane. It’s not a baby/kid. And even those sometimes nap on the go (not all of them, I know).

Maybe your friend just doesn't want to see you.

I don’t blame them at all.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If my dogs are my children:

I have owned approximately 7 children in my life.

I had to rehome two of them.

I had to have two of them put down.

The oldest lived to be 8 yrs old.

One was special needs, she lived to be 6 but was quite feisty despite having a seizure disorder and lame back legs, she was a great swimmer though!

All my kids are gone now. I live in a condo and don't want to subject any kids to that lifestyle. I prefer big kids and they need room to run. Also, so hard to take them on a long trip, can't leave them in the car but can't take them in the restaurant. Some people aren't too excited when you bring the kids along to their house either.

Bottom line: Dogs are dogs. I loved all of mine but they were not kids.

7 dogs and the oldest lived til only 8? What the heck are you doing?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Dogs are better than kids.

I bet your parents came to believe that too.

[Anonymous]

I have 3 teens and a newly adopted adult dog. He came to us already trained.

I love my dog dearly, way more than I ever thought possible. He is just so cute and sweet in my eyes and I adore every little mundane aspect to him. It’s similar to how I felt about my babies. He is also still willing to cuddle with me, in contrary to my teens! Lol

But I don’t feel maternal towards him. I’m not trying to improve him or worrying about his future. I just enjoy him as he is. He’s more companion than child.

[Anonymous]

Our dog’s daycare workers refer to owners as So and So’s parents. I think it’s cute.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No, but I was unable to have children so this is all I have.

Same.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why do you care what other people say about their pets? Why don’t you have a life?

DP, and I don't care, except when those terms translate into things like:

-Letting dogs freely roam off leash, when it's illegal and when doing so harms people
-Letting dogs sit on, jump on, sniff incessantly, bark at, etc., guests
-Prioritizing dogs over grandchildren (yes, this is my issue, MIL does this and it drives me bananas, mostly because she also complains about never seeing her grandkids)

If you call your pets your kids and you still have good boundaries around your pets, have at it. I could not care less. But if you're a selfish pet owner who doesn't care what impact your pets have on people then yes, I do care.

I can only speak from what I've observed in the years since I've had my dog, but the owners who let their dogs roam around off-leash are usually checked-out owners who also don't get their male dogs neutered, don't notice or care when their dog is limping, and don't pick up after their dogs. The slightly over the top dog-mom types are pretty neurotic and don't even let their dogs off leash at the off leash parks. Most asshole dog owners are assholes in general who really don't care that much about their dogs. If they did, they wouldn't let them off leash in the first place.

Some of them fit this bill, for sure. In our neighborhood, and in others I know, it's also people who think their dogs need to roam free or that leashes would crush their spirit or some other such nonsense. It's the belief that they don't need to leash their dogs because their dogs are like people and I'm so over it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our dog’s daycare workers refer to owners as So and So’s parents. I think it’s cute.

My Vet practice does this too. I don't refer to myself as "Daisy's mom" but I think it's cute when the Vet does.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why do you care what other people say about their pets? Why don’t you have a life?

DP, and I don't care, except when those terms translate into things like:

-Letting dogs freely roam off leash, when it's illegal and when doing so harms people
-Letting dogs sit on, jump on, sniff incessantly, bark at, etc., guests
-Prioritizing dogs over grandchildren (yes, this is my issue, MIL does this and it drives me bananas, mostly because she also complains about never seeing her grandkids)

If you call your pets your kids and you still have good boundaries around your pets, have at it. I could not care less. But if you're a selfish pet owner who doesn't care what impact your pets have on people then yes, I do care.

You do realize that dog owners who don't refer to their dogs as "children" are also guilty of this? And I would ignore your MIL. You can't do anything about that if she doesn't want to visit your kids.

[Anonymous]

No I don’t consider my dog to be my child.

My dog does what I ask. My teenage children do not.

My dog happily jumps in his bed at night to sleep and happily gets up. My teenage children stay up to late, wake u late and are grumpy.

My dog happily eats whatever I give him. My teens are picky and complain about everything.

My dog is far superior to my children.

[Anonymous]

Caging my children during the day instead of paying for daycare would have saved me a fortune.
Yes, let’s DO start equating dogs and children!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Does the term “fur baby” bother you as well? I don’t typically use either phrase to describe my sweet, wonderful lab who was my late husband’s service dog, but she is part of the family and treated very well. I do not treat her the same as a person, though.

fur baby is one of the most obnoxious phrases ever.

--dog owner

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Caging my children during the day instead of paying for daycare would have saved me a fortune.
Yes, let’s DO start equating dogs and children!!

Funny, when I told my mother years ago that I needed to crate my toddler like my dog, she laughed and said that you can--baby gates or baby play yards.

[Anonymous]

Children? No. Family? Yes.

I don't call them my fur-babies or anything similar. They are my dogs.