If I see any more comments on Mumsnet of it's just a dog

[Lifeneedsaresetagain]

Do people not realise that for those who welcome them into the family they are part of the family. And if you have a dog and say it's just a dog, I'm not sure you should have one.

Do all these people who put animal life on the same level as human life think we should have cats up in court when they kill mice?

Your family member is (just) a dog. 🐶😀
Cheer up!

I completely agree @Lifeneedsaresetagain but you'll get no joy here. Many posters on Mumsnet hate dogs. I don't have them, I'm a cat person, but I do actually quite like dogs, and always had one or two in the home when I was growing up... (Some dog owners are arseholes - but the dogs are mostly fine! And some dog owners are fine too!)

However, you can't value them over a human life (IMO) but they are definitely members of the family and it's heartbreaking when they die. (Or go missing!)

Thank god I’m not like you!

Ok you're crackers 🤣

Nobody was being unkind. They were explaining that other people's dogs are 'just a dog' to them and why.

Nothing to do with my social skills, I just happen to think the majority of humans are twats. You kind of prove my point

Who said they were? This is what I don't understand.
Humans are animals. Canids are animals. But a dog is not a person and a person is not a dog.
What point are you trying to make?

Maybe they don't like the interim environment and not having one person who they can bond with.

And I honestly think this thread uncovers some serious insanity in some people, also lots of harsh truths, because we are "anonymous".
Of course I would choose to spare both dog and a child, probably and naturally reaching for child first (oh wait, depends who's closer!).
Insane. 😁

There’s a Swiss research paper which shows that both dogs and cats start to eat their owners within hours of their deaths. Dogs prefer to eat the face and neck.

“Loyalty” is pure anthropomorphism. Rover will happily dine on your flesh.

I think so. They consider it narcissistic to consider humans as ‘above’ dogs😂. It is quite amusing. Somebody needs to tell the lion in the jungle that it is not superior to the cockroach in the food chain. Evolution was wrong!

We’ve had cats as well as dogs, and I’ve loved them, but there’s honestly no comparison. Anyone who says dogs don’t get attached to people has no idea.

When our dog was an adult, but not yet old, I went away with my mother for 9 days. The dog didn’t stop eating, but dds told me that she’d sat by the window almost the entire time, watching and waiting for me to return.

Our cat showed zero reaction, and certainly showed no excitement when I finally came home.

Similarly, while living overseas we acquired a dog from a family who’d had to,
leave in a hurry. He was a bit unsettled for a while, but soon became part of the family. Every summer when we went on annual leave, dh for a month, me and dds for two, we left him at home with very good care and company in place.

On our eventual return he would go absolutely mad with excitement, barking his head off and running round and round our small outside space like a loony!

RIP long ago now, both of them, ❤️🐶🐶❤️

My cats absolutely do show affection when we've been away. If anything I've found my dogs more aloof.

However, I still don't think either species relate to human beings emotionally in the same way humans relate to each other emotionally, because I am sane.

Some dogs and cats, not all dogs and cats. Otherwise every time a person dies within their home they would be eaten by their pet dog. Except we know this isn't true because we have rescued lots of dogs and cats whose owners have been dead for longer than a few hours and the corpse has not been eaten. The reserach also showed that it was more common with cats, not dogs. ALso some of those cats were not owned by the person who died, they had arrived in the house after the death and started eating.

Loyalty is not anthropmorphism, it is a trait that dogs naturally have within their own packs. Wolves are loyal, dogs are loyal. Its a survival instinct to be so.

Uh huh.

Maybe we should start a campaign to rename this page to ‘dogsnet’ ?
😂

This.

You are making yourself sound quite silly by replying with a comment like that - dogs are not and will not ever remotely be comparable to children!

I do worry that there's a growing class of quite strange people who seem to want to put dogs above members of their own species?! Yes your dog is important to you but the fact remains it's a pet not a person

Just to add, the ‘overseas’ dog was called Bonkers! ❤️🐶

Exactly this. It is the ‘just’.

@Pricelessadvice i would save my dog also.

Our dog is definitely not 'just' a dog, he's a family member and we all love him so much. Stepchildren call him their furry sibling😂

Also, dogs and cats are maintained in a state of puppyhood and kittenhood (hence why they bark / purr, wild adult canines or felines don't) - they need their owner.

I went to Chernobyl, there are plenty of stray dogs, they are survivors of the pet-killing operation that took place in 86, these dogs are still proper dogs, despite being strays, they'll come to you to say hi, get belly rubs and will show no aggression at all. These dogs have been strays for 30+ generations, yet the bond remains pretty strong.

Off topic, but you went to Chernobyl? What was that like?