Can you love a dog as much as a child?

[Bluemooninmyeyes1]

I’m not a dog owner and I don’t have children so I’m pretty clueless on this subject but genuinely interested! I work with someone who talks about her dog more than her own daughter and is constantly posting photos of her dog on social media.

So..is it possible to love your dog as much as your kids?

YABU- You cannot love a dog as much as a child

YANBU- You can definitely love a dog as much as a child

@GlummyMcGlummerson

Calling my response to loss 'extreme' is really not fair. You wouldn't say that if the cat had been a person

That's because the death of humans is more devastating than that of animals.

Are you the friend of @LindaEllen who told someone she knew how she felt losing her child to cancer because you lost your pet?

That's because the death of humans is more devastating than that of animals.

That may be the case for you, but for many of us the death of a beloved animal can be worse than losing a person. I know this was definitely my experience. I know how I felt. Yet I have some random stranger telling me I am wrong to feel this way.

I think it's really unkind to dismiss the emotions of others in this way, because their beliefs differ from your own. No wonder there is a mental health crisis. And no wonder I would save a dog over most humans. People are very unkind.

@Lockheart Thank you.

@GlummyMcGlummerson
I don't expect you to experience the death of an animal as worse than the death of a person. But I think you are wrong to be so dismissive of the thoughts and feelings of other people because they have a different belief system from your own. You are basically TELLING me how I should experience grief and loss depending on if it's an animal or person. Don't tell people how they should feel. People can feel and think differently to you on this subject without it meaning that you are wrong, or they are wrong.

isabellanova

Just ignore her. Some people like to make everything into a competition and can’t accept others are different. She’s just some random person on the internet. Her thoughts about you are irrelevant.

[quote isabellanova]@Lockheart Thank you.

@GlummyMcGlummerson
I don't expect you to experience the death of an animal as worse than the death of a person. But I think you are wrong to be so dismissive of the thoughts and feelings of other people because they have a different belief system from your own. You are basically TELLING me how I should experience grief and loss depending on if it's an animal or person. Don't tell people how they should feel. People can feel and think differently to you on this subject without it meaning that you are wrong, or they are wrong. [/quote]
I'm not telling you you can't grieve your pet. But what you feel will not compare to a human who has lost their child. Believe me.

@Lockheart how am I "persistently bullying" and which poster?!

You know fine well @GlummyMcGlummerson. You have been vile to @isabellanova for quite a while.

Disagree to your hearts content, but your comments to her are disgraceful.

I'm not telling you you can't grieve your pet. But what you feel will not compare to a human who has lost their child. Believe me.

Seriously, not everyone is the same. You can’t possibly say this and know it to be true.

II wouldn’t want you talking about my loss of a child on an internet forum if I was your cousin. But obviously your cousin doesn’t mind, you know, cos we’re all different.

I'm going to say yes. Of course I love them in different ways, but I wouldn't say I love my dog less than my child.

I adore our dogs but I would save even someone else's child over any of my dogs.

Maybe she cares for her kids privacy more than her dogs

@Lockheart disagreeing with what she is saying and expressing alarm that she'd be happy to see a baby mauled by a wild animal, is not bullying.

Which comments exactly are "disgraceful" @Lockheart ?

To claim what my cousin is going through is the same as someone losing their pet in one of the most insulting things I've ever read on here

Id probably say I love animals more than people but obviously human deaths in real life effect me more. In films though-I wont watch it if I know a dog dying is coming up.

A dog will die and be replaced in the years a child will grow up to become a scientist/doctor to serve humanity
or to be a murderer, or rapist, or terrorist...

I did comment (under a different name) on the much talked about "who would you save from a burning building" thread. I said I would save my dog.

I think that love can't be defined, or counted. As in, you can't say I love my kid this much and then this other person that much. I think a certain amount of smug parent privilege is prevalent on these types of threads. The type of "you don't know love until you have bred" rhetoric that is untrue, and unhelpful.

It isn't unheard of for people to acknowledge that humans are animals. An intelligent species of animal, but an animal nonetheless. Our sense of superiority has led to many, many issues that have quite literally led to the destruction of other animals.

I don't know your child. I know my dog. I am not a psycho, or a sociopath if I choose to save the species (canine) that is MINE, over the species (human) that isn't.

As an aside, all the above is irrelevant for me personally as my dog died in September.

It is just an opinion. We did used to be able to chat about these things on here.

To claim what my cousin is going through is the same as someone losing their pet in one of the most insulting things I've ever read on here

Your cousins grief will be her own. It will be unique and will probably be very different to even another parent who has lost a child because everyone is different. There is no need for competition. No one should be comparing grief, it’s inappropriate and pointless.

@BadTattoosAndSmellLikeBooze so you think the friend of the PP was justified in telling her mate who'd just lost her son to cancer "I know how you feel"? Do you think that was appropriate?

I don't know your child. I know my dog. I am not a psycho, or a sociopath if I choose to save the species (canine) that is MINE, over the species (human) that isn't

It would be a hugely self serving thing to do. Put your own mild sadness over losing a pet over other people's extreme sadness at losing a relative...it's hugely lacking in empathy and quite silly seeing as chances are you will outlive your pet anyway.

so you think the friend of the PP was justified in telling her mate who'd just lost her son to cancer "I know how you feel"? Do you think that was appropriate?

No. Because you shouldn’t compare and can’t possibly know how someone else feels about anything, even if you have been through exactly the same thing. You are not them so you can’t know.

I know I will outlive my pets but that doesn't diminish the feeling.

I very much respect your views formerbabe. You often post things that I wish I could "like" (if we had that facility on here!).

@formerbabe

I don't know your child. I know my dog. I am not a psycho, or a sociopath if I choose to save the species (canine) that is MINE, over the species (human) that isn't

It would be a hugely self serving thing to do. Put your own mild sadness over losing a pet over other people's extreme sadness at losing a relative...it's hugely lacking in empathy and quite silly seeing as chances are you will outlive your pet anyway.

I am actually taken aback by how many people proudly state that they would let another human or child die so they can save the key that they expected to outlive anyway.

The funny thing is they think there lovely because they're animal people. Ha

@CarlGrimesRightEyeball

I know I will outlive my pets but that doesn't diminish the feeling.

It should be a factor in choosing to save the life of a human child though. You'd deprive that child's family over 80+ years of their life so YOU can spend a few more years with the pet you'd outlive anyway? Can't you see how selfish that is?