It's a bloody dog!

Yeah but so many women on MN refer to "D" H when talking about an absolute arsehole, another dear about them but they still add it. So I respect people who refer to D Dog, and most of the time they are better than most humans it appears!

I find people like this have a high chance of having fertility issues so I am kind

And this affects you how? Seriously, never has the phrase ‘get a life’ been more appropriate.

Yes. i've met people who are like that over their pets, it doesn't bother me. I would have bought the dog a gift, I gave someone's cat a cat stocking and she sent me a picture of the cat sitting next to it before it was open. We had a little chat about it.

Pets are part of the family and even more so when a couple does not have children.

It takes all sorts, let's be tolerant.

Love the Siamese grandcats buying a Jo Malone reed diffuser.

Nearly as bad as referring to a dog as d-dog. Seriously, why not just say dog.

I can't stand it when people baby dogs. It's especially cringe when they refer to themselves as Mummy and Daddy.

OMG we refer to ourselves as Mummy and Daddy🤦‍♀️ In our defence we have young children who call us Mummy and Daddy so it’s just caught on from that.

100% I don’t get why people on MN get in such a tiz about what goes on in the privacy of someone’s own home. If they want to refer to themselves as mum and dad with their pets, or anything else, that’s their choice. If you have a friend or family member who does this, and you’re so worked up about it, then just go low or no contact. I do think though that the kind of people frothing at the mouth about dogs are probably uptight in other aspects of their life too.

Yeah, I'm one of these people and defo pretty sane but if you spend a lot of time with your dogs, you do get to know when they're happy, cranky or whatever and you don't like to see them unhappy.

I don't particularly like the term "mummy" either but it works for the dog...

My dogs always know if they have a pressie too and love to open them, tho I'm grateful (non-dog) family haven't bought them any this year as the presents were the doggy equivalent of complete tat and actually dangerous to the dogs.

Completely with you, OP. Your SIL and BIL sound utterly crazy. I've been a dog owner for 30 years in my adult life and I am horrified by how totally irrational so many dog owners are these days.
Doesn't benefit the dogs at all. in fact it puts a lot of additional stress and nonsense on them. And it can be pretty unfair to a lot of human bystanders, if they are expected to play along.

Thing is it's a dog. And I loved my now late dog but I didn't confuse him with a human. Maybe they had just had enough and used the dog as an excuse to go home.

For sure. But I am one of those insufferable "furbaby" types... and someone pointing out to me that it is wrong, or whatever.... well, they can fuck off.
How I talk to my dog affects no one at all.... if you are so delicate with your sensibilities that you can't handle living in a world were there are people who love their pets..... then get some therapy.

Madness! I’ve always wrapped up a gift for my own pets just for fun but I would never expect someone else to get him anything, I get that they are devoted to him but it’s just a bit much!

I think it's really sad when people go down this route. They really are setting themselves up for major heartache.

One day you may have to make the decision to put your furbaby to sleep for their own good. They can get injured, sick, bite someone, get into accidents. The average life span of a dog is 10-13 years (obviously some will live longer but this is the average).

Its great to love and care for your pets but it's very unhealthy to go down this route as a society. People who do this really can't see it as they only see what need it's serving for them but it's not psychologically healthy.

I've had dogs for years. They were beloved family pets but definitely not fur babies.

They can call themselves King and Queen if they like, it’s got nothing to do with anyone else what they refer to themselves as.

Do you never get the pick about anything? Or something makes you cringe? Sure, it might not affect your life but most comedy is pointing out the absurd.

Exactly, I agree with this. We refer to ourselves as mummy and daddy with our dog and horse. It makes us smile, sometimes when my very unemotional mother comes over I call her grandma. It's just a bit of fun, we don't have children. However, I do realise she is a dog, and the horse is a horse and others might find them a pain in the arse so behave accordingly around those people. But for us they are the best thing we have. We were not lucky enough to have children but they are not a substitute for that, but they are still family members with feelings and emotions.

Why do you think you have the authority on how someone refers to themselves?

When I mention I am allergic to dogs & this is the reason I try to avoid them the owners often give me a suspicious look & treat it like a huge insult.

Loving your dogs as animals is great, but as soon as your start comparing them to and treating them like humans ( and worse expecting others to as well) then it gets weird

Why? Why does it matter is someone loves their pets that much? It doesn’t harm you. I think judgmental people are best avoided

You are NOT mum and dad

YANBU. Speaking as a dog owner that seems batshit.

I feel that way when people go on about their children 😂