It occurred to me the other day that I have never seen a puppy sonogram posted as a facebook profile picture.
GMP recently wrote a post entitled, "Of Dogs and Kids and Judgement Abound." It might be my favorite post ever.
I don't have kids. I don't particularly plan to have kids.
I *do* have a dog. I do refer to my dog as my child, largely to remind my kid-owning colleagues that yes, although I am sans children, I do not always need to be the one representing the department at evening or weekend college events.
So who are more annoying: people with dogs or people with kids? Is it ever okay to consider your pet your child?
9 comments:
According to Cesar Milan (a dog expert), treating the dog like one's child may fulfill the human's emotional need, but is not best for the dog. But if the dog behaves coolly, I guess it's not much of a problem.
I work in a building (yes, a lab building!) where many people bring their dogs to work. There are, of course, NO ANIMALS IN THE BUILDING signs posted, but they're largely ignored. The dogs are well-behaved, so it's not disastrous...in fact, it's kinda nice to see OMG CUTE PUPPY walking back to the office in the middle of a day of failed experiments. And then at 3 PM every day the dogs all go out onto the lawn to play. It's, uh, pretty awesome.
If people brought their children to work frequently, you can bet I'd complain pretty fiercely. (This, despite the fact that I'm allergic to dogs and not kids!)
I was just commenting to my husband, b, today that I've reached the point in my life where I smile indulgently at dogs and their owners on the street more than children and their parents. My child is grown and out but my dog is always there. It's not that I don't like small children or don't realize that they are cute, but to me dogs are more relevant.
Cats are better. Much more self-contained! :-)
But it does irritate me a bit when people refer to their pets as children because they are ANIMALS, not humans! It seems kind of insulting to the animals, who are wonderful partly because they aren't human (one doesn't have to help a dog with homework or teach your cat about being kind and empathetic, dogs adore you and cats bestow their affections for just being you, not for anything you did etc.).
Mind you, it annoys me when people use ANYTHING that makes their life choices different from others as an excuse not to take their full share of duties other than in an emergency (and a pet in surgery is as much an emergency as a sick kid or an elder-care crisis, in my book).
Hmmm, maybe today is just a grumpy day! :-)
Meh. I don't discriminate. People are equally annoying about their dogs (and cats and iguanas and whatever else) as others are about their kids.
When a baby or toddler cries on the plane, you can definitely tell who has kids and who doesn't: people who don't have kids are upset that their comfort is disturbed by the noise and give the kids' parents an evil eye; people who have kids are largely unfazed, just happy that it's not them this time that everyone hates.
Re parents versus dog owners, my attitude is much like Alyssa's: there are terribly obnoxious people in both camps. My favorites are the super-self-centered people: those who will smother you with their own stories and photos of kids (pets), but do not display even the slightest interest when you try to share the same of your own kids (pets).
Cats are obviously best.
I don't mind someone referring to their animals (as long as it isn't totally seriously) as their kids. I get that it fills a similar sort of social relationship at home whereby you are caring for another living creature. And I'd much rather see a picture of your adorable dog than of your stupid baby. On the other hand, please don't let your dog run up to me and jump on me and lick me. It's true that people always love their own dog and their own kid. Everyone else thinks they smell different and sometimes disgusting and same as I don't want to hold your kid I don't want to pet your dog either. Don't take it personally, it's just that I will then feel the need to go wash my hands after.
That being said some pet owners take things WAY too far in a way that completely inconveniences others. I'm more willing to tolerate a toddler's temporary bad behavior than I am a dog. GMP's analogy, I hate screaming children on a plane. But whatever, that's life. However, a dog should be trained and not barking at me with you doing nothing. But for the most part dogs are way cuter than pets and I feel I have more in common with dog owners than with parents. Also if you are a dog owner and I pipe up with a story about my cat, don't be all superior in your dog-ownerness, ok? I get that dogs are more work and more mobile than my cat, but that doesn't mean my pet story isn't as valid.
Being awakened by your neighbor's dog barking at 7 am on a Saturday is way worse than screaming kids on a plane.
Worst is your kid being woken up by your neighbor's dog at 3 am. I'm very grouchy today...
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