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.

That was AMAZING, probably my best experience ever, it's unreal seeing Pripyat, so post-apocalyptic.
It's closed to visitors at the moment obviously.

I find it baffling when people let their entire lives be dictated by children. Neither my DD or my dogs have dictated how I live my life. You make accommodations and compromises based on your own family. My dogs would only be left with my in-laws if we went away, daughter with my parents. No kennels or unknown babysitters.

There are wild cats that purr. Cheetahs can purr, among others. I used to watch Big Cat Diaries and there would be cheetahs draped over their jeeps, which I thought was funny. 😊

I understand the point that a dog is not JUST a dog is coming from the perspective of how much they mean to the humans, but I have a slightly different take on this.
A dog is not JUST a dog, but it is a dog. It's a being that has its own needs/preferences. Yes a dog can be part of a family, but as a dog. That doesn't make it 'less than'.

Dogs are not inferior humans, equal humans or superior humans, they are dogs. At least some of the behavioural issues dogs have are caused by a failure to manage their behaviour in accordance with their actual species.

Same with cats. Yes, you can keep a cat indoors, but if you are going to do that, you need to give them species relevant stimulation.

I've loved and lost two beautiful cats. No matter how much the last one loved to be on my knee, he was still a cat and we needed to make sure he was able to be a cat. Not a human child, an adult cat. Doesn't mean he wasn't loved. Doesn't mean he wasn't part of the family, just that we respected him as a member of his own species who shared a space with us.

Were you nervous? I think I would be too frightened to go, even if they say the levels are safe, I think I would panic about it! I also did not know it was currently closed to the public...

As well as the dog lovers and those who are indifferent to dogs there are those who like animals but strongly hold that treating it as a pet letting it sleep on your bed, fussing it and giving it food that makes it fat is just wrong.
Animals yes Pets NO.

Surely you can't compare a dog to a child🤣it's a dog end of. They are no way equal!If there was I fire I don't know one person who would say they would save their dog first.......

My dogs are not “just a dog” to me. They are a huge part of my life and I love them unconditionally.

If other people don’t like them or don’t want to be near them - that’s fine. I have enough people in my life to shed the excess and have no qualms about doing so.

Everyone has the right to their own priorities.

You would choose your dog over the life of another human? I can’t wrap my head around this at all? And I absolutely adore dogs!

A human baby, no less.

But it is conditional, isn't it, because you would have your dog put to sleep if it mauled you or it mauled a child, and you wouldn't do that to a person.

Id save my partners kids, but I’d save my dogs over an unknown child without hesitation.

Then you are a psychopath.

What the fuck? When people say dog people are crazy this is what they are talking about.

@Notadame there’s nothing psychopathic about saving your own family before someone else’s. If you want to understand the actual definition of psychopathy I suggest you read Cleckley’s The Mask of Sanity.

I’m hoping that for work you’re not in any sort of caring profession. There is truly something wrong with you.

The fact that you would prefer a child to die rather than your dog is mind blowing. But it is a good reminder that people like you exist.

Thanks but I work in the field and therefore do not need your advice on what does and does not constitute psychopathy.

Dogs and other animal life is not equivalent to human life and that isn't just my view, that's the law. Otherwise you'd be in prison for squashing a mozzie, and cats and dogs would be in prison for killing mice and squirrels and each other.

No. It isn’t.

How is it not conditional then?

So be it.

I just saw a TV trailer for a documentary called "one of the family" about a family with a pet bear.
The bear was posed wearing a birthday hat, with humans snuggled into it. It made me think of this thread. It may have been a wonderful bear. But still, a bear.

Jesus H Christ.

No words.

If nothing else, this thread goes a long way to explaining why there are so many dangerous dogs around.

Sadly the OP treats her daughter the same as her dog and sees them as the same. A bit worrying really.