I'm a recovering Dog Park Person.
Before my daughter's arrival, I championed the Dog Park and the community that came with it. None of the people at the dog park know each others names but we all know the names of each others dogs. I'd see one of the dog owners at the grocery store and say to my wife, "Oh, that's Checker's Dad".
Yep, I called them "dads".
We referred to our dogs as our furry children. While at the dog park we would talk about what we fed our dogs, "oh, you're doing the raw food diet too..."
We would discuss their sleeping habits, "Checkers was crate trained... he will fall asleep with us, but then sneaks away to his crate when we are asleep. It's too cute."
No, really it's not.
When we had a real baby, our dogs became our pets. Now when I go to the dog park I hope that nobody talks to me. I hate it when people talk to me there now. "I'm really concerned about Oscar, he has not been himself since the move; He's been very emotional."
Oscar is a dog. If Oscar were a real child, I might care. Might.
My question to hubski:
Do any of you have pets? If so, do you call them your kids? Do you mean it? Do you know someone like this, that really thinks their pet is a child?
Also, photos of pets if you have 'em.
I should mention that although our dogs certainly get less attention now than they once did, they're still extremely spoiled and definitely loved. It's just different now.