Are your animals your "babies" or your "pets"?

[NMAmy]

I love our dog dearly but she's a pet. She does sleep inside (lately in dd's bed) which they both love. I am referred to as her "mommy" mainly because dd refers to me this way to the dog. If someone told her, "Go tell Amy you need to go out," she'd have no idea who to go to. She has a room in the basement that she stays in when we're at work and school. This is dh's den and is fully finished but has a tile floor so it's certainly not abuse--dh spends a good deal of time in that room, as well! When we're gone on vacation, she'll stay at a kennel.

I've had many dogs over the years and most have been a combo of inside/outside dogs. With larger breeds, they don't necessarily enjoy spending all their time inside. I had a german shepherd mix that loved to run around in the yard all day--at the same time, I had a cocker spaniel mix whose favorite place to laze around was under the bed--I'd have to coerce her outside to go to the bathroom. My ex was a K9 cop and the K9 did live outside all the time--he had a kennel and a doghouse. He was a working dog. Now that he's retired, dd tells me that he sleeps in the house and is a big ole baby.

I've done it both ways and all the dogs were always loved and well cared for.

 

[binny]

We are strongly considering getting a puppy. I believe that a pet is a member of the family...but my dog will never be on the same level as my children. I can love my dog and I may playful call it my baby but I am not it's Mommy and it is not my child. I'd take a family photo with our dog....but I wouldn't feel like I had to have the dog in every family photo.


Jess

ITA

Yep, I love my cats and dog but they are my pets

 

[Marseeya]

I don't mind the treats, presents, pictures, Mommy/Daddy kinds of things, because everyone should be able to be as silly as they want to about those kinds of things. If I talk to my dog in a special voice or have fun making him bark for a treat, that's my personal business. But when the concerns of the animals override what the family could be doing, I draw my line there!!!

I totally agree with everything else you said, but this in particular reminded me of something.

Last summer we went to an ice cream shop and there was a couple there with their dog. They took the dog right in line with them and got it a cup of ice cream. Oookay, whatever floats your boat, I guess. Well, what made it worse was there were several other people waiting in the lines and they wouldn't move the dog! They sat the ice cream down right where they stood so the dog could eat it there, and it was getting snarly at people who looked at it.

I mean, come on! I wouldn't let my kids act like that, let alone a dog!

DH and I thought they were kind of whacko, but then about a month later we went to DQ to get ice cream and we ended up bringing the dog along and got her a baby cup. But at least we kept her in the car to eat it.

 

[MrsNick]

Our dog is a "pet," not a "baby." Do we love him as a member of the family? Absolutely. Is it sad that he's getting old, and one day he won't be in the living room on his bed anymore? It is. He's a great dog, and has his own "will" and very definitely an id and an ego. But, he is not a child.

As to outside vs. inside dogs...Well we don't have a choice in the matter since we've never had enough money to have a private yard (we live in a condo with a beautiful 7 acre shared yard). So, he's an inside dog.

If we had our own yard, he would definitely spend more time outside than he does now. He's a Rottweiler, and he loves being outside. He prefers the cold to the heat. I don't think it's cruel to have outside dogs, if that's how they're raised. Since our dog was raised as an inside dog, I don't think we would decide to make him an outside dog if we suddenly had a large property. He just wasn't raised that way.

I do think dogs relate differently to their owners if they are outside dogs vs. inside dogs, and there are pros and cons to each. Outside dogs do get to run and chase birds and romp and play. But my dog doubles as my watch dog, and that's his "job." He's a pain to clean up after (hair, etc.) but when I'm out walking him and he protects me from danger, it's all worth it. He's a friendly dog, not vicious, but you wouldn't want to attempt to assault me while I'm with him. I think he feels more bonded to me because he's an inside dog. Not that outside dogs don't bond to their owners, because they do. I just think it's not exactly the same.

 

[Keli]

I guess we're somewhere in the middle on this one. We keep Maggie in the house, we buy her gifts for christmas, and she occassionally sleep on our bed (when we're not in it, no room if we are). But we don't refer to ourselves as mommy and daddy, we don't take her with us to visit friends, and we don't think of her as our 'baby'. But she is very much beloved and we do mess with her all the time. She gets a lot of attention.

 

[KristaTX]

DH and I have been married for 15 years. We have no children. So Bert and Ernie are definitely our 4 year old "babies":

 

[SleepyMom]

Dash is a very loved member of our family, but I do not consider him to be my baby. Probably because he is supposed to be DD11's dog, we got him for her. DH and I were fine without having a pet, but she really wanted a dog. Now of course since we have him, neither of us can imagine why we didn't want a dog all along.

Since he is a smaller dog, he is an indoor dog. Only going out when he wants to or needs to. Right now he is outside, it's a beautiful sunny day and he loves to lay on the deck, so when he sat at the back door and whined I put him out. He'll let me know when he wants back in. Inside he is allowed on the furniture and such, but doesn't sleep yet with anyone, he sleeps in his pet porter/crate. DD eventually wants him to sleep in her room at night and we are fine with that. He doesn't eat human food and usually goes into his crate while we are eating (it's in the dining/kitchen area).

We use our first names when talking to Dash, he has figured us all out. When DD's bus comes home each day I put him outside so he can wait for her... he hears the bus and waits until he can see her then takes off (to the end of his tie-out) to greet her. When he hears DH's car pulling up he runs to the garage door to wait for him to come in. I'll say to him "where's J?" or "where's B" and he'll go looking for DH or DD.

We do buy him presents and have already picked out what he's getting for Christmas, he will have his own stocking. And yes, as you can tell by the picture below we do have clothes for him. It gets very cold here so we didn't want him to freeze every time he goes outside this winter.

Since getting him we haven't gone anywhere out of town, but I know it will be hard to leave him the first time. Our vet does boarding there, so we will probably always use them to watch him, plus he loves everyone there. He goes to obedience classes, because I want him to be well behaved when around others and not have to worry about him jumping on people and such.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Our cats are our pets. Nothing more...AND nothing less. Pets are wonderful and cute--but I cannot compare them to my human babies.

 

[jbdreamer]

Last year for his birthday the other dogs in our family came to celebrate including my friend jb (jbdreamer here on the dis boards) and I had dinner(hamburgers for the dogs), cake (frosty paws), and presents for my baby...I even had party bags for the other party goers.

Hey! I don't remember getting a party bag!


As for my two cats, they are deffinetly my babies. I talk to them all the time in a "baby talk" voice. I don't have kids, so I need someone to 'baby'. But I am sure that will all change one day.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

DH and I have been married for 15 years. We have no children. So Bert and Ernie are definitely our 4 year old "babies":

Oh my--your white kitty is the first I have seen that is almost EXACTLY like my white kitty!

 

[KristaTX]

I had a white and black cat with very similar markings when I was growing up. As soon as I saw Ernie, I knew we had to have him and his brother .

 

[helenabear]

We don't have kids, so our pets are definitely our babies!!! If we have kids, I am sure they will not be on the same level, but they won't just be "pets" I'd do anything I had to for them

 

[scoutsmom99]

Hey! I don't remember getting a party bag!


As for my two cats, they are deffinetly my babies. I talk to them all the time in a "baby talk" voice. I don't have kids, so I need someone to 'baby'. But I am sure that will all change one day.

well if you could somehow turn into a dog then you would get one!!!