Are Dogs Like Children?

I am pretty sure it drives most parents crazy when they hear a non-parent person say, “Well, I have a dog so I am pretty prepared to have a child”. I always try and watch my surroundings or see who I am with before I make this statement. Having many friends with kids I know that when I jokingly say this I am not actually completely confident that having a dog will make me a good mother. I can put my dog in a crate and go to Rite Aid for two hours while I browse the ‘As seen on TV' section and I am almost positive that wouldn’t make for a good parent. I do have to pick up their poop and sometimes I wipe the bottom of their feet which would be like wiping a babies butt…but then again, maybe not. I think that maybe in the beginning when an infant sleeps a lot of the time, that it will be like Oscar and Diego napping for 18 hours out of the day while I lay on the couch and watch Seinfeld…but maybe that won’t be the case. I take my dogs to a dog park and there are other dog parents there and all of our dogs run wild and stand around peeing and pooping. We all yell their names when they wonder too far and sometimes they don’t listen…why yes there are those similarities.

I think people say this because at that point it may be the closest thing they have had to so much responsibility for someone else’s life. I feel like Oscar and Diego are my children at this point in my life because they are the ones I worry about getting sick…or getting hurt. I worry that they may not have food in their dish and that they need fresh water. I worry that they get cold at night or that they get lonely when I am away. I buy them toys to make them happy and I feel content when they look cozy. Until I actually have a kid you might catch me slipping up and saying my dogs are my children and that I am already well prepared. Please do not hold this against me when I am a parent complaining about the people who have dogs who think they are already parents because really it’s all relevant, right?