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.

People only end up making comments about the dogs because the owners so often leave you with no choice. Trying to bring it to your house, not controlling it when it is being annoying, not being sensitive to people with allergies. This list goes on.

BILs gf had a huge go at me once and told me I had to compromise on my dog allergy because their dog will be part our OUR family for years. Well no I don’t actually and you don’t get to decide your bloody animal is my family member. Keep it at home, keep it away.

And yes, it.

The thing is not all dog owners are like this but the normal ones are getting so incredibly rare we have to speak up and say the emperor’s got no clothes on. A dog doesn’t know it’s bloody Christmas, it doesn’t know it’s being “left out”. It is JUST A DOG

I also think as well people end up having to say it is just a dog because increasingly it genuinely looks like people can’t tell the difference. In a town near me they are offering a Santa Paws experience - bring your dog to meet Santa and children are welcome too but only as an afterthought.

It worries me. The new generation of “pet parents” who aren’t emotionally equipped enough to have actual children but still want the Parent Experience - they want dog Mother’s Day cards etc etc. It’s very sad and a bit pathetic really and they do need to be told that it is just a dog because sometimes it seems like they don’t realise!

Bring your dog to meet Santa?!?!?!

https://events.dobbies.com/event-detail/?e=4380&v=0&r=v

I see the haters are out in force this morning. Safety in numbers?

What I don't understand on these threads is the hypocrisy.
We are repeatedly told that people are more important than animals, yet these dog haters, who claim to have endless compassion for humans, feel they have the right to insult and demean dog owners. Who are human. To me that is a lack of compassion. I find it difficult to reconcile the level of cruelty shown on this thread towards those of us who love our dogs, with the idea that humans are more important than animals. Is there some sort of get out clause to be kind to your fellow man unless they share their life with a dog? Because I really don't think handing out abuse and ridiculing dog people - some of whom are disabled or have mental health issues - shows any compassion at all.

I am not ridiculing dog people, I am an animal lover, but I don't think being disabled or having mental health issues gives you a free pass to demand that everyone else sees your dog as akin to a human child. If you want to, that's on you, but I don't think it's reasonable to act insulted when other people think that isn't normal behaviour. The anthropomorphisation of animals is not harmless fun.

Without wanting to be the Mumsnet cliche here, it's akin to men pretending to be women and demanding everyone else accept them as such too.

What worries me, as a dog owner myself, is intolerance and lack of compassion or empathy.

We don't need to be told that it's "just a dog". I don't sit here imagining that I gave birth to a 55kg canid. Please stop projecting. I know a lot of dog people and I can't think of one who got a dog because they "want the parent experience". Most, in fact, are parents or grandparents themselves.

I mean personally I won't be taking my dog to Santa, I don't do Mothers Day cards or wrap presents for her. She's not that type of dog. But I don't understand why it affects you if somebody chooses to do that. The level of cruelty you show here is far more sad and pathetic than someone taking the dog to see Santa because it makes the grandkids happy.

It wasn't me who said that about the parent experience, I think you're referring to another poster.

Yep - it's just a dog only comes up when the person has been acting delusional about their pet. Have never ever ever known of someone to say this unless a weird, precious or entitled demand is being made of them in regard to a dog.

Who has ever asked for their dog to be seen as a human child? Certainly I have not, with my dog.
Most of the anthropomorphisation on these threads comes from the dog haters, not the dog owners.
You're the cliche with your fake human kindness and compassion that doesn't extend to dog owners.

Literally what are you on about. I've got a dog myself.

But if you read it, it is not to make the grandkids happy at all. It is purely for “pet parents” and their “furbabies” with the reluctant option for a real parent to bring their child along with their dog if they want to.

So why are you being so horrible and insulting here?

I just don't understand it.

Where have I been horrible and insulting? By saying I don't think it's normal behaviour to take a dog to see Santa?

I know it would probably suit you to believe I hate dogs and want them all rounded up and shot but that simply isn't the case. As I've stated multiple times on this thread, I am an animal lover and pet owner of many years. Never been without animals. I simply don't believe it's healthy or normal to have the view that they are akin to human children for those that have them - and sorry, but PLENTY of people on this thread have said or inferred that they are. Said the life of their dog is of more value than the life of a stranger's human child and I find that extremely disturbing and worrying.

Children are not lesser versions of adult humans - you don't get to say, "well why should you object to having my dog in a cafe when your child is allowed to be in a cafe", because ultimately the child has more right to be there than the dog, because the child is a human. The fact that people think their dogs should or ought to have the same rights as people is partly why there are currently so many fatal or near fatal dog attacks.

I'm sorry if you feel any of that is insulting but it's the truth.

I don't know any more. I'm just so fucking confused by these hate filled threads.

I guess if I'm honest I do agree that Santa Paws is a moneymaking pile of shit, but I'm also one of the "mental" people. Who has no children because of being emotionally retarded or whatever you all want to think.

I'm a mass of contradictions, I hate dogs in shops or cafes because it's tantamount to animal cruelty, I'm averse to crating, but at the same time the lack of kindness on here bothers me.

I have a livestock guarding dog and she is not treated like a baby, she gets long country walks, but to me she is not JUST a dog. She IS a dog, not a human, but I don't like the JUST because she is so much more than just a dog.

edit for clarity.

Our dog is a loved member of our household. But she IS a dog and her place in the home is bottom of the pile. I’ve no issue with people who’s dog is their entire world - just don’t expect everyone else to feel the same (or want your dog rocking up with you when you come to visit someone else in their home - height of bad manners - and has happened to me on a couple of occasions so it’s a bugbear of mine).

Ah the irony. My dogs have NEVER been near a cafe. I don't even take them into town. Never.

You say it would suit me to believe you hate dogs. But clearly it suits you to believe that I sit in a cafe feeding cake to my dog and calling her "mummy's baby". So maybe we're even on making assumptions.

I wasn't referring to your actions, I was going over what I'd said on the thread as you accused me of being horrible and insulting.

I was referring to last night. To you repeatedly saying it's "not normal" that anyone would choose their own loved pet over a strangers child in this ridiculous made up scenario of who would you rescue. Because I think it is normal, it's very normal for some people. One person's normal is not another person's normal. And I don't think any of us can say for sure how we would react in a catastrophic situation. So I don't consider it fair to judge.

I agree with this. The 'just' bit minimises the feelings people have for the roles dogs have in their lives. If Dogs owners realised dogs aren't welcome by some people and never make assumptions they are going to be welcome, and non dog owners realised dogs are important members of dog owners family and aren't 'just' a dog to them, then most of the issues between the two different views would disappear.

Exactly @ClareBlue @HangingOver it's the use of "just" in a demeaning and insulting way. Which, I think, was the whole point of the thread before it was derailed by the usual "who would you rescue?" nonsense.

There are some simple things which could be done by dog owners to prevent their dogs being a net negative to others:

1. Always on leads when not on private property.

2. Obligatory muzzles for dogs over a certain size / weight

3. Dogs only allowed in designated sections of cafes / restaurants (like smokers used to be)

4. Dog ownership requires a license, mandatory training, and owners must pay an annual fee to cover the costs of cleaning up after dogs.

If we could bring this in, I think that the rest of us will be less impacted by the externalities of dog ownership, and dog owners will be forced to take proper responsibility.

It worked for other selfish, antisocial behaviours like smoking, so why not dog ownership ?

As soon as dogs are mentioned you always get OTT comments on MN. There's another thread where certain quarters are being snippy with the OP and twisting their words purely because there's a dog involved. As soon as the D word is mentioned all rational perspective seems to fly out of the window. I don't understand the absolute hatred on here from some but I'm used to it now.

And I'm a cat person

Curious @Lifeneedsaresetagain

hypothetical scenario.

The lives of your dog and child are in danger.

You can only save one.

Who will it be?

I have only seen the term 'furbabies' on MN and IRL have never seen people treat the dogs like spoilt children. Every dog owner I know treats their dogs like pets, much loved pets, but pets all the same. I'm sure it happens, but it's not something I have come across.