Pets as Part of the Family

[DrumNFeather]

I logged on to facebook last night and was reading through all the status updates for the day. One said something to the effect of "Jenny and John, I am so sorry for your loss, sometimes we just don't understand why things happen to us."

When I saw the satus, I figured these two (whom I don't know) had lost a close relative...perhaps parent or heaven forbid a child.

Turns out it was their dog.

I am no lover of dogs, so I can't really fairly answer the question, but do people really view a pet as part of the family? On the level where when said pet passes, it is a really big event in the family and people are sad and mourning and saying things like "sometimes we just don't know what the Lord has in store for us."

I had a co-worker compare getting up in the night with my infant daughter (at the time) with getting up early to feed her dog. That irritated me to no end.

What say ye pet lovers?

[happyone]

Yes, they do become like part of the family, at least ours have. We had to put our last dog to sleep a year or so ago and it was hard on both the kids and my wife and I. That said we got another dog about 3/4 mths later.

[TripletDaddy]

I think I put this in my peeves thread.....pets as humans....annoying.

This includes:

dressing pets with clothes

toting a pet around in a purse

canceling or shortening vacations or other sojourns out of concern for the mental welfare of your pet

referring to the pet as one of your "babies" or "children"

treating pets extravagantly: boutique food, super expensive haircuts, etc.

pictures of pet on your desk or in your car

pet dander or fur all over the place...sweater, couch, floating in the air, etc.

comparing the care or responsibility of your pet to the care and responsibility for my human offspring

talking to me about how hard it has been to housebreak your pet, crate your pet, or sooth your pet to sleep at night

not properly restraining your pet in public areas, assuming that I want your pet to jump up on me or my children

assuming that your pet's behavior is totally predictable, then providing a lackluster excuse when your pet misbehaves

telling me that your dog "only wants to play" when he jumps up on my and puts his muddy paws on my pants.

the smell of your stinky pet, esp when it is wet

[happyone]

I think I put this in my peeves thread.....pets as humans....annoying.

This includes:

dressing pets with clothes

toting a pet around in a purse

canceling or shortening vacations or other sojourns out of concern for the mental welfare of your pet

referring to the pet as one of your "babies" or "children"

treating pets extravagantly: boutique food, super expensive haircuts, etc.

pictures of pet on your desk or in your car

pet dander or fur all over the place...sweater, couch, floating in the air, etc.

comparing the care or responsibility of your pet to the care and responsibility for my human offspring

talking to me about how hard it has been to housebreak your pet, crate your pet, or sooth your pet to sleep at night

not properly restraining your pet in public areas, assuming that I want your pet to jump up on me or my children

assuming that your pet's behavior is totally predictable, then providing a lackluster excuse when your pet misbehaves

telling me that your dog "only wants to play" when he jumps up on my and puts his muddy paws on my pants.

the smell of your stinky pet, esp when it is wet

I agree with most of this (not the picture part) and I love dogs. Pets are not human. You still become emotionally attached to the things though.

[TripletDaddy]

I agree with most of this (not the picture part) and I love dogs. Pets are not human. You still become emotionally attached to the things though.

I should have clarified. I agree with you...we loved our dog growing up and when he died I was very sad about it. There is nothing wrong with loving your pet. But as you said...pets are not humans.

[RobinFinderson]

I think that if you are going to have a pet, a serious choice, you ought to treat it like it was a member of the family. If you don't plan on treating a pet like family, you probably shouldn't get one. It is a sentient being (assuming we are talking about dogs... I'm not sure about cats, and fish and lizards are NOT sentient) capable of love, hope, and happiness. When it gets ignored all day, it experiences serious depression. It should be considered to be a family member with special needs.

[SuperGabers]

This is how I feel about crazy pet lovers: I would eat your pet during famine.

[RobinFinderson]

This is how I feel about crazy pet lovers: I would eat your pet during famine.

Here is how I feel about people: I would eat your children to avoid starvation.

[il Padrino Ute]

It depends on what kind of animal the pet is. Those of us who are dog lovers get very attached to the dog and it really is a difficult thing to deal with when the dog dies. While it's not the same as a child, the dog is still a very loyal animal who becomes part of the family.

Back in '05, we had to put down a lab for health reasons - she was just too old and in pain from arthritis - and it was very difficult to do. She had been our pet since 1991 - before we had kids - and our children had no idea what it was like to live without a dog. It was a tough time for all of us and I have no problem admitting that it took 4 years before all of us were ready to get another dog.

[DU Ute]

This is how I feel about crazy pet lovers: I would eat your pet during famine.

Amen.

I absolutely think that getting a pet should not be taken lightly, but I lose all respect for someone when they start to compare having a pet to raising kids.

[wuapinmon]

Animals are property. I was sad when my cat of 18 years died, for about 15 mins. Just like I was when my computer monitor quit working properly.

I do not enjoy hearing about other people's pets unless it's something truly amazing. I enjoy watching sheep dogs and retrievers, and even terriers, do their work, but I feel the same thing watching them as I do watching NASCAR or an air show.

I do not tolerate people being cruel to animals, because it seems dastardly to torture something, but if someone killed my dog, he owes me money, not jail time.

People that compare my raising three children to having to walk, feed, and groom their dogs definitely annoy me, and I second everything that DDD said above.

[FN Phat]

Animals are property. I was sad when my cat of 18 years died, for about 15 mins. Just like I was when my computer monitor quit working properly.

I do not enjoy hearing about other people's pets unless it's something truly amazing. I enjoy watching sheep dogs and retrievers, and even terriers, do their work, but I feel the same thing watching them as I do watching NASCAR or an air show.

I do not tolerate people being cruel to animals, because it seems dastardly to torture something, but if someone killed my dog, he owes me money, not jail time.

People that compare my raising three children to having to walk, feed, and groom their dogs definitely annoy me, and I second everything that DDD said above.

Shocker.

I have had a dog for the majority of my life. I grew up with dogs and my kids will grow up with dogs. I love my dog and she is a pain in the ass most of the times. Does my dog compare to my children? Hell no. I am not a fan of those kind of dog owners.

I also hate drop-kick dogs. They are more like a cat than a dog.

[TripletDaddy]

Shocker.

I have had a dog for the majority of my life. I grew up with dogs and my kids will grow up with dogs. I love my dog and she is a pain in the ass most of the times. Does my dog compare to my children? Hell no. I am not a fan of those kind of dog owners.

I also hate drop-kick dogs. They are more like a cat than a dog.

You aren't in the demographic I described above. Neither is EPU.

There is nothing wrong with loving your pet.

[mUUser]

My dogs are the coolest people I know.

[Color Me Badd Fan]

I don't think I'm getting a dog any time soon. Since I live in a hot climate, I'd have to allow the dog inside during the summer. That's a non-starter for me. First, the smell gets into the furniture and carpet. It's not as bad as having a smoker around, but it's still unacceptable. Second, dogs don't wipe their buttholes and they don't conveniently produce hard candy shelled McNugget poos like my daughter was producing last week. That means the poo remnants around the dog's anus will end up somewhere in my house. That's also unacceptable.

Maybe I can get past all of this. My daughter LOVES animals (especially cows, horses and dogs- she doesn't seem to care for cats). My Bro-in-law drove through town and stayed at our place on the way to visiting my sister-in-law and her husband in their new house. He had the SIL's dog with him and was transporting it for them. It was a bulldog and of course it slobbered everywhere and shed everywhere. My daughter had a blast with him though, so I may have to one day reconsider. One great thing about the dog is it had the ability to pinch off Marmaduke-sized poos and I took advantage of the opportunity to give some payback to the neighbors who let their little punt-dog poo on everyone's lawn.