Jump to content

Dogs are not fur babies.


asal
 Share

Recommended Posts

This chap totally nailed it
May be an image of dog and outdoors
Alfonso Hurtado Guzman
YOUR DOG IS NOT A BABY
Today's culture is absolutely ruining dogs.
People are treating their dogs like people, and no matter how much you say it, or what you think, they're not kids, they're dogs... A predator with forty-two teeth on the head and a bite pressure that can break bones.
They deserve to be treated like dogs!
Somehow treating your dog like a dog has become a taboo topic and it's because of today's mentality.
Can't say no to a dog.
I can't go with a dog in cold weather.
Can't let a dog get muddy.
Can't give a dog a job.
If your dog is in shape, he's too skinny.
We’re walking through a world where giving your dog a job is cruel beyond belief, but having a 30kg overweight dog with diabetes that can’t move is absolutely fine. Something totally distorted, twisted and wrong.
They are dogs! Treat them like dogs. You can't have any animals and pretend to be a baby. Hi this is my whale he is my baby. It doesn't work like that.
We need to push this current mentality back because it's literally killing dogs. Dogs are dying everyday simply because no one told them what rules they were supposed to follow or because they didn't get a job they so needed.
Let’s start honoring our dogs for the absolutely amazing creatures they are. Dogs are magnificent, majestic, intelligent and robust. To me they are the best animal on the planet so let's stop killing them and treat them for exactly what they aren't.
Honor your dog.
  • Like 9
Link to comment
Share on other sites

One thing I have always been confused about is people who walk their dogs simply to physically exercise them. They aren't allowed to stop and sniff things - they are pulled to go from A to B in a set amount of time. I've always let my dogs meander wherever they want on our walks (as long as safety is maintained). Jonah in particular loves a good sniff and it really gets his saliva going so he always needs a good clean up around the chops. Stussy just wants to be out front seeing everything. I normally have one arm pulled in her direction and the other out behind me while Jonah is still standing somewhere soaking up the odours. It's their walk, not mine. I want all their senses to be engaged.

 

And both mine have jobs - jobs they are naturally inclined to that suit our household and fit their personalities. How boring would their lives be if they couldn't get excited about something or feel they had a purpose in our packs?

  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Harper was socialised as a pup, with other pups, older dogs, foster pups, foxes, dingo pups, people, public and social settings, etc... but she still decided once she got to a certain age, that she doesn't like going for walks, meeting new people, etc. Her preferred state of being is ensconced on the lounge or my bed. She has a large back yard with 24/7 access, that she only wants to go out in to toilet. She isn't interested in toys - never was, even as a little pup with her siblings. I don't treat her as a surrogate human child by any stretch of the imagination... but she is well loved and cared for in such a way that suits her particular needs.

 

Dogs are dogs... each individual is also different... and we should just be mindful of that, yes?

 

T.

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

try taking a Dandie or a Westie for a brisk walk...not a hope! Those four short Dandie legs just plant themselves like 10 ton blocks, no moving until the sniffing is done!

(at this time of year they are following the wood duck poo-trails along the road :laugh:)

  • Haha 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

4 hours ago, tdierikx said:

Harper was socialised as a pup, with other pups, older dogs, foster pups, foxes, dingo pups, people, public and social settings, etc... but she still decided once she got to a certain age, that she doesn't like going for walks, meeting new people, etc. Her preferred state of being is ensconced on the lounge or my bed. She has a large back yard with 24/7 access, that she only wants to go out in to toilet. She isn't interested in toys - never was, even as a little pup with her siblings. I don't treat her as a surrogate human child by any stretch of the imagination... but she is well loved and cared for in such a way that suits her particular needs.

 

Dogs are dogs... each individual is also different... and we should just be mindful of that, yes?

 

T.

This was Tempeh too. Hated leaving the house! We just worked around it and found other ways to exercise her physically and mentally at home - why torture her with something she doesn't like? I do regret not trying Nosework stuff with her though - I think she would've enjoyed that but again, it would have to be at home.

 

One human thing I did start doing with her though was talking to her a lot. I've never talked to my dogs before but we saw some animal communicator (I know, I know....) and they said she would benefit from being talked to. She did and now I talk to all my dogs far more than is probably normal! Stussy of course is deaf and Jonah doesn't care but I still do it! That is probably the most humanising crime I still commit.

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Little Gifts said:

That is probably the most humanising crime I still commit.

I don't see that as a humanising crime.  I talk to the dogs, they like to be included, and either their ears perk up or they couldn't care less LOL.  They come looking for me if I am in another room for too long by their measurements.  They like company and part of that is hearing a voice focussed on them.   

 

As for "furbaby"  -----  :mad  :mad

  • Like 7
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I talk to every animal I meet... it just seems like a natural thing to do...

 

Some people used to poke fun at me for talking to the animals at the farm I worked at... and then whinged that the animals all seemed to respond to me better than nearly everyone else. Ummm... I also fed them... lol!

 

Funnily enough, talking to the animals at the zoo I was working at worked a treat for forming bonds with them too... even the ones I wasn't in charge of feeding. The camels, meerkats, emus, cassowary, lions, deer, llamas, etc were very responsive to being talked to... I get lots of positive reactions and cuddles from them all. Even the cranky intact male goat who would beat up on all the keepers loved being chatted to... he never beat up on me, just would follow me around like a lost puppy looking for more cuddles and chats... and the odd treat never hurt there either... hehe!

 

The tigers that used to live at Symbio zoo even recognised my voice, and would come over to the fence and chuff at me when they heard me there... that was so cool!!

 

Talking (vocalising) is we humans' main communication tool... animals DO respond well to being talked to... we just need to learn their methods of communication to "hear" their responses is all.

 

T.

  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Molly has always been socialised and walked. Some people and dogs she takes an instant dislike to though.  Out walking I can tell by her body movements which it is going to be and I change the direction if I think she’s going to bark at them. She’s definitely a little more picky these days since the attack. She gets 2 walks a day and this is as much for her as me but she dictates whether it’s a sniff and stroll or a good fast workout. I’ve always talked to all animals too. And I think to a certain degree they understand and I’ve always had a good bond with my pets. They too come looking for me if I disappear for too long. Molly always perks up her ears but the same can’t be said for Lucy cat. Even my cockatiel appears to understand me. In saying all this, I still know they are animals and treat them as such. A dog can snap at any time and I wouldn’t trust any of them. 

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

As with you LG, I hate seeing dogs forced to walk purely for exercise. People forget that a dog’s primary sense of being in this world is very much tied to smells. They communicate this way, and they learn and explore this way. Mine all wandered as they chose and they set the pace.
 

I also hate seeing dogs trying to quickly urinate while an idiot owner doesn’t even realise and and drags them off mid wee. 

I think I’m excellent at recognising that dogs are dogs and cats are cats - and not little humans in fur suits. Sadly, I think while we continue to use language such as ‘part of the family’, and ‘fur kids’ and people think of themselves as leaders of their dog’s pack, we will see a decline in real understanding of companion animals. 

Edited by ~Anne~
  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm a dog walker. Some days we can walk KMs other days we get two houses down the road. I walk the dog for them, not me

 

Yesterday I had a dog just walk 2 doors up and sit in the corner, he was so happy just watching life, so we sat there for half a hour and came home. :Rofl: 

 The owner said he was exhausted and slept all day ! 

 

  • Like 3
  • Thanks 1
  • Haha 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Teebs said:

I'm a dog walker. Some days we can walk KMs other days we get two houses down the road. I walk the dog for them, not me

 

Yesterday I had a dog just walk 2 doors up and sit in the corner, he was so happy just watching life, so we sat there for half a hour and came home. :Rofl: 

 The owner said he was exhausted and slept all day ! 

 

That is just so right @Teebs.  I remember (a lifetime ago) when I was a volunteer at a pound, sometimes in particularly hot weather we would just take the dogs down the road to the park and sit under a big tree.  The dogs loved it.  
 

One of my dogs (now gone to god) could take 5 minutes just sniffing in one spot.  
 

I live in a very popular dog walking area and it takes me every bit of self control not to give some owners a whack around the head at their total lack of understanding (or even desire to understand) a dog’s needs, personality, etc.  And as for those who get all embarrassed because the dogs start sniffing each other.  God help the dogs:banghead::banghead:

  • Like 6
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, Teebs said:

I'm a dog walker. Some days we can walk KMs other days we get two houses down the road. I walk the dog for them, not me

 

Yesterday I had a dog just walk 2 doors up and sit in the corner, he was so happy just watching life, so we sat there for half a hour and came home. :Rofl: 

 The owner said he was exhausted and slept all day ! 

 

That’s what walking pugs was like - except they just propped and you had to carry them. :laugh:

  • Haha 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's funny how different our dogs can be socially. If we go to a pei meet up Jonah has to circumnavigate the whole park and pee on every single little thing while Stussy has to run straight into the biggest pile of dogs to say hello. Eventually Jonah comes back to say hello to the humans and sniff his doggy mates and Stussy needs a time out in a quiet corner because she's gotten way too excited with all her new friends. The outcome is of course the same - two very tired dogs!

  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am always talking to my dogs just as if they are part of the family (which they are).  I can't see the problem with that.  I prefer to call my boy (am I allowed to call him that?) my sole mate.  In his mind he probably calls me his "dog mum" I refer to both of them as "kids"...can't see the problem

  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

16 hours ago, sheena said:

 In his mind he probably calls me his "dog mum"…

Sorry - but there’s the issue right there.  
 

He’s a dog and he doesn’t think like a human. He doesn’t even know what a ‘mother’ is in such a context. As a newborn he relied on instinct, as his mother did. She didn’t look at the litter and think ‘look at my beautiful babies’ anymore than he is looking at you as his mother. 
 

The language we’ve created allows people to place dogs in a human context. There are people who use these terms and don’t anthropomorphise but the majority do as you just did. Most will not have any problems thinking this way and no harm is done, but there will be those who take it to extremes and overall it erodes the understanding that these are canines - a totally different species to a human. 

Edited by ~Anne~
  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

10 hours ago, Loving my Oldies said:

I call my dogs “my babies” because they are my lovely little creatures.  They are my responsibility and they depend on me for everything.  HOWEVER :laugh: :laugh:, I do not mistake them for babies with fur on.  They are dogs first and last.  
 

Me too. I call Obi my beautiful boy and Daisy my dipsy girl, but they’re felines at the end of the day. 
 

Don’t get me wrong, I shower them with affection, I talk to them, I tell them I love them - but I don’t think of them as my children. They’re two very much loved, very spoilt cats that I adore. 

  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't like hearing men call women "baby" either.  Infantalising...

 

But there's nothing wrong with emotionally bonding with an non-human animal, so long as you respect that it isn't human.

 

Wasn't so long ago that many scientists denied that non-humans had emotions.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was reminded of this thread today while helping out Denise At Paws rescue group.  They have a Cocker x Cavalier puppy up for adoption and, needless to say, they were absolutely deluged with applications.  Someone made the executive decision to task me with going through the applications (I am considering what revenge to take) and I was amazed at the number of people who called their dogs their Furbabies - frightening really LOL.  However, depending on other circumstances, I forgave them.   

  • Like 3
  • Haha 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...