It's a bloody dog!

[MammaKel]

Ugh, I didn't realise how batshit crazy people were about their "furbabies."

We went to a family gathering yesterday where SIL and BIL and their DDog were - they don't have kids, and DDog is their baby but omg.

I could get past the calling each other mummy and daddy, calling my in laws grandma and grandpa and telling my kids he was their fur cousin and showing us pictures of taking him to see " Santa Paws" but there were two instances that genuinely made me cringe a bit ..

We were exchanging gifts, and they asked me where DDogs were, I laughed because I thought they were joking, but nope, totally serious and was upset he'd be left out, so I apologised (for some reason) and moved on very quickly..

The next one was that the dog was getting a bit agitated, and they said he was tired and getting a bit cranky, so they were leaving so he could have a nap..

I'm mostly being light-hearted, and I'm an animal lover (have 4 cats), but I just didn't realise how far it went AIBU or is this just the norm now?

Having a gluten free treat available isn’t harder than having a pup treat available.

My dog has loads of cousins, one of which is a vet. She did have a grandma until recently. We also have "sleepytime" because she's a baby of 9 months, she needs regular naps, food, play.

It's not batshit. It's nice. She's gorgeous.

It is batshit and I think it is usually much more about the owners happiness and much less about the happiness of their dog.

Things dogs like to do when left to their own devices:
Eat interesting things that they find.
Socialise with other dogs.
Fight
Mate
Sleep a lot
Chase other animals and kill them, especially in groups.
Join in an evening chorus of barking with other dogs in the area.
Wander about freely when the mood takes them.

I suppose quite a lot of that is similar to humans but not in a fur baby way.

My dogs are uncle and niece. The sister of my eldest dog had pups and we got one of hers.

Where do you live? Republic of Ireland, Spain? I rarely see a dog wandering about in England on it's own, and if it happens, there are lots of people who try help it. Where are you?

Just left our in-laws where their fur-baby dog sits on someone's knee at the dinner table. Ridiculous behaviour from both dog and humans who encourage it.

Seek help

There’s nothing wrong with it. At all. People don’t get it; they’ve never known the love of a dog. As the saying goes, “The more people I meet, the more I love my dog.”

Seek humility.

Sorry if I upset you/ pissed you off with my comment.

I don't get gifts for my dog - but I do buy her things she needs around Christmas. Chews, new fleece, new enrichment toy.

However, this year she was given three wrapped up gifts from family and a friend!!!! Must be a trend. She gets more than I do.

That level of identifying a dog as their “baby” is emotionally deranged. It’s a goddamn dog, ffs.

You can love it to the ends of the earth (and I hope people do love their pets very much) but it’s not a child, a grandchild or fur-cousin or anything else to a human being; it’s a pet. A living thing that is also a possession.

Its needs are not the same needs as a person. Trying to pretend they are is prioritising the weird mindset of the owner over what actually benefits the animal.

I don't need help we're happy and hurting nobody, you seem sad and mean though, maybe take your own advice

Seek help for....behaving how they wish in their own home and respecting other people's homes???

I think you might need the help if you think that's a problem...

The biggest issue is that she thinks she is doing an environmental good thing when dogs have a huge carbon footprint themselves. A medium sized dog has the same footprint as a 4x4 including build costs. Puggy probably more like a fiesta.

It can be a bit cringey, although I think there are two types of owner.

There are those who seriously see their dog/cat as a baby, and expect friends/visitors to do the same. This seems to particularly affect owners of expensive mongrels cross-breeds.

But there are those who see it in a fun way. For example, we refer to ourselves as the auntie/uncle to friend's dog, but it's all a bit silly and we all laugh about it. But of course he's a dog at the end of the day!

Loving this thread! I’m in the “batshit crazy” camp but… 30,000 yrs of parallel evolution, dogs responding to our behaviours and us to theirs, have got us to this point. Add in global targeted marketing of Christmas pet products and it’s hard to escape!
Im guessing the OP has not experienced this behaviour before- certainly not witnessed it as a part of her own family Christmas when she was a child. The best our dogs could expect was extra scraps. So no wonder we view it as crazy…
But we will adapt and reshape our views I’m sure- it’s more about the OPs care and love for her human family and her wish to bring them joy at Christmas.

OP I’m with you- the very term furbaby makes me nauseous!

Sorry, but your dog is not a cousin of the vet!
Unless your vet is one of those talking dogs with a job that you find in cartoons???

What? Read my comment properly please.
She's not my dog's vet. She is my cousin - we are blood relatives and she is a qualified vet. She calls my dog her cousin because I am her cousin.
FFS 🙄

My dog has loads of cousins, one of which is a vet

Nothing wrong with the previous poster's reading skills, you CLEARLY said "my dog has loads of cousins". Not "I have loads of cousins". The vet is not your dog's cousin.

You’re saying that like I’m the crazy one…😅😅 the only ‘cousins’ your dog has are… puppies
Though I’m a little relieved to hear that it A vet not THE vet ( though why your relatives profession is pertinent is beyond me) because I could just picture the vets face as people bring their animals in going ‘oh look, Bingo, here’s cousin Vet!’

We have a dog. We LOVE our dog. Our dog is spoiled rotten. We plan around dog. Take dog on holiday.
At no point however have we:
insisted that any relative - HUMAN relative - is a aunty, cousin etc. EVEN if, and this bit is important, EVEN if that person is a vet
Nor have we expected anyone to buy doggy a present - though sometimes they do
Or refer to doggy as a ‘fur-baby’
Or insist on taking them everywhere

I used to feel this really strongly about friends of my parents. In retrospect though I feel quite ashamed. They couldn’t have dc and their dog was their world. I don’t begrudge them having that enjoyment of their dog and who were my parents’ friends harming? No one really! So live and let live I say. Each to their own and we can let them ‘do them’ while we do having pets our way.

YANBU you should have asked them where the cats' presents were!

Why do either of you have to be crazy? You feel differently, that's fine. Neither of you are crazy. It hurts neither of you how that family refers to one another. It could hurt someone to be called crazy, however.