[senior citizen]

Originally Posted by KathieI

I like dogs, and LOVE my dogs, but I would never have them drinking out of a water fountain that was meant for humans. Yuck is right!!

I've also never seen anyone lift their dog up to do this, but the OP did and we're all commenting on it... Us animal lovers really need to use common sense.

You just said it all. Common sense in raising and training a family pet and they will be welcome visitors and wonderful companions. We have friends who have the cutest pooches who are always welcome as they are well behaved and treated like the dogs that they are......not like babies or children or wild animals.

Even children have to have rules, limits and learn appropriate behavior to grow up to be loving, considerate, compassionate people.

Below this "beginning explanation" is an ONLINE BLOG. NOT MY WORDS. But I can relate.


However, it does express what an awful lot of folks feel....or the dismay they experience when people treat their pets like children. Animals need boundaries. We've been to homes where there literally was no place to sit. The huge pooches claimed every sofa in the place and sprawled out for their "naps", shedding dog hair and all. We've had visiting dogs who drink out of our toilets as "that's the only way they've ever done it"......so the visiting adult takes out my "toilet deoderant" so the dog has fresh water. What?


I can laugh now, really. Also, huge dogs that sprawl across a door's thresh hold and very elderly people (my mom) who can't lift their legs very high due to lack of mobility, are stranded with no way to pass. Rude behaviour on the part of the pet owner......we've seen dogs knock over my husband while on a hike. and on and on, with no apology by the pet owner.


Pets should have limits and should be trained.....to be a welcome guest in people's homes and not drink out of the toilet.............or, my worst pet peeve, eat off the dinner plates. So much for the sterile tongue (read my earlier post). Eating off the dinner plates is not very appealing at all.


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FROM ONLINE BLOG:

"""A dog is not a child. A child is that tiny human being that lives in my house. It walks and talks and poops in a toilet (finally!). It cannot be left alone for the day chained in the yard with a bowl of water and a rawhide bone. It doesn't sleep in a cage or in my bed. It has never chewed up my shoes or drank out of the toilet.

I love when we go to a party and we meet "dog parents." We make small talk and it finally comes up: "Do you have kids?" I'll ask.

"No. But we have a dog."

"Oh...that's nice."

"Yes. It's just like having a child. She's our baby. Would you like to see a picture of her?"

At this point they are met with an awkward silence from the Hubs and myself, because we truly do not know how to respond. If we open our mouths, we will surely say something rude like, "Hell no. It's a dog. I'd barely be interested in seeing a picture of a real baby if you actually had one so I definitely don't want to see a picture of your dog."

Or I might say to them, "Oh your dog is like a baby? Oh really? Do you prefer Pampers or Huggies? Are you nursing? Isn't pumping a bitch? Who is your daycare provider or are you home with the little darling? Is she talking yet? Is she eating solids yet? Who is your pediatrician? Where do you do Mommy & Me classes? Does she sleep through the night?"

And then I'd just go on my rant:

Yeah, your dog is nothing like a baby.

You can knit sweaters for it and put bows in its hair and push it around in those weird doggie strollers or carry it in your Prada bag but it's still a dog. You can talk to it in baby talk and cuddle it like a baby - but it's not a baby.

Your dog is not a person.

Your dogs licks its own b___s. I don't know any people who do that. You don't need to leave the TV on for it when you leave the house to run errands. Your dog does not like CSI. (And BTW you can't have it both ways. If your dog is like a baby then CSI is completely inappropriate. Real babies don't watch CSI. Better try Dora instead - then maybe your dog could learn Spanish.) You don't need to take your dog to see a shrink when it seems sad and get some Puppy Prozac or a medium so it can communicate with you. ("Your dog is telling me how much she loves you and wishes you'd rub her belly more often. That'll be fifty bucks.")

I will never go to a memorial service for a dog. (These exist, people. I've heard about them. Slide shows set to music and eulogies for Pepper the Best Dog in the World.)

I know that your dog is nothing like my kids because I'll feel bad when your dog dies. I will. (I'm not heartless!) But losing a dog is nothing like losing a child. If you lost a child, I'd be heartbroken for you. I wouldn't be able to fathom the absolute unbearable pain you would have - because that was your child.

That was the little person whose first word was "Mommy" and draws "foldable hugs" for you to carry around in your pocket so you can have a hug anytime you need one. Does your baby want Shape Ups? Or an iTouch? Or a DS? I doubt it - because he's a dog.

OK dog lovers, let me know what a jerk I am. I can take it."""""""



Again, the above is from a BLOG which has a lot of humor involved.....................