Tuesday, October 13, 2015

Are Dogs The Alternative to Having Children?

Getting engaged or married to a person you love is one thing; having children is another entirely. Societal rules do encourage one following the other naturally, but few consider that there may be couples out there who would go ballistic when asked if they are planning to have children. However, the interesting thing is even as they say they are not ready for to have kids, they may not necessarily disapprove of the idea or reject it outright either.

Credit: Creative Commons
Caught up in the never-ending fear of having or not having kids? You see, most such people end up adopting a dog! Is it a trend? Or are dogs really – swiftly – becoming your alternative to children? Is singing songs to dogs, dressing them, talking to them, asking questions, and snuggling together as a family to watch your favorite TV show the same as what you would experience with your own baby? Or is different and referring to your husband “dad” while talking to your pet an embarrassing scenario?

Dogs are identical to toddlers
That is the theory, favored by the following points:

  • You have to bear with the stench from the mess they created in your house; teaching them repeatedly about it doesn’t help
  • You will still have to take time out to feed them
  • You are going to be picking up after they have played with their toys and left them scattered all over the place
  • You can’t help avoid the fact that they bite people, that they don’t know table etiquettes, that they are curious, have a general aversion to being given a bath and to medicine, and that if they are awake, there is no way you are getting any sleep

Understanding the logic behind
According to one pediatric neuropsychologist, this is because the digital age of today has left individuals in an increasingly isolated environment. Young adults, fixated with Twitter and Facebook, are the ones particularly victimized. And to them, dogs fill in the loneliness, provide the social and emotional comfort, and respond to the nurturing and love showered in the same way as a child would. Besides that, reasons like walking your dog facilitates real socialization and sticking to a productive routine cannot be ignored either. Thus, the strong bonding dogs share with such owners is thought akin to the one children share with their parents so much so that they even have their own health insurance.
Unlike the few similarities pointed out to above, there are too many differences between them to render any comparison between a child and dog in their relationships to a parent or a childfree person respectively unreasonable. Some of these (married) individuals, childless by choice or otherwise and parents to dogs, do maintain that they are not real children even if all their plans, including vacations, are made keeping them in mind. The comparison and preference stems from their need to channel their affections, especially if the companion can fit in more easily with their lifestyle. So where a child would always have to come first, the dogs too afford a similar sense of purpose to lonely people.
What is your opinion about it?

About the Author:
Info provided by Alex from Spoilt Rotten Dogs, a boutique dog care centre in Sydney. Alex is a passionate dog carer who have worked with equally passionate dog professionals from groomers to vets. At home, you can find Alex either playing with his three adorable dogs or writing another helpful guide for dog owners.

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