Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Puppies vs. Babies

Being anti-child/baby, I have never really understood the Mums of the world.

I love my own mother dearly - as you do, but when people fill their face book full of bowel movements, constant hospital/doctor visits and rants of sleepless nights – I wonder why people do it to themselves. Babies take up not only time, with their playgroups and need for attention but also money and seem to be a never ending pit of causing your income to become completely disposable. 100’s can disappear a week on ‘formula’ and ‘nappies’. Diet and nutrition is also high on the topic list as people try their kids with various foods, seeing what is eagerly consumed and what ends up splattered all over the wall and carpets and what will cause another trip to the ER.

I could go on but I’ll be here all day.

Anyway, then we got Ella.

I spent months calling and emailing possible breeders. H2B and I went to numerous shows, meeting and greeting possible parents and carers, to make sure we were getting the right one for us. We wanted a breeder who was knowledgeable, willing to help any frantic midnight calls we may have during that first week home and we wanted parents that would produce a wonderful, healthy pup for us to adopt as our own.

We found all that, plus much more with our girl.

But now that I have been thinking about things, I find I have become a parent.

They do say get a puppy or another living thing before children to like prep you for it. In the weeks leading up to bringing her home we spent hundreds buying bedding and toys, I read 5 different “bringing home your puppy” books and others of that genre. We went through and puppy proofed the house to protect the curious little one. I have spent hours reading through diet blogs and plan to feed her only a natural raw diet.People parents are now all about "organic".
And now that we have her, to keep her socialisation up we are constantly having play dates with people and dogs, we send her to day care, she goes to “school” and has a boyfriend, whom thankfully we approve off. We went through toilet training and were blessed with no sleepless nights and at least 5 times before 8 am my fingers have to go down her throat to retrieve something she shouldn't have in her mouth.

I don’t see the differences these days between that of a mother with a toddler and me with my dog.

And that has never been more apparent than when I take her to Day Care. She has only been 3 times, and each time as I drop her off, I can feel my heart strings pulling. I think of her all day until I go and pick her up after work. You would think this would be easier than the usual of leaving her at home alone. But no. She loves it as well. They take her behind the gate and I no longer exist to her as she meets the other dogs and the people that will be looking after her that day. Her tail doesn’t stop wagging and her happiness is very obvious. And then at the end of the day, after all that playing and fun, I have a worn out little pup that when she comes home is every parents (human or dog) favourite.

So really they’re not that different at all. I know I have learnt a new respect for Mums when they freak out over facebook that it's their babies first day at school or kindy and day care. I understand now.

That said, I would still rather ruin my carpets than my life with a human baby!!

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