For many years, humans have always had some form of a pet, the most common being a dog. Before the dog breeds we know today truly existed, there were wolves, which were the predecessors for "man's best friend". Being called a dog-lover (though I love all animals) is an understatement for me, considering I have four dogs in my house. One is my best friend, one uses me for my bed, one is my mom's shadow, and one thinks my dad is the greatest thing in the world even though I'm really his mom. We love our dogs (and other pets) with all of our hearts, no matter how bad they make us want to be admitted to the loony bin. With that being said.. you know you're a dog parent when...
1. You feed them better than you feed yourself.
At my house, my mom and I make "doggie meatloaf" for our dogs' breakfast and dinner. This all started because Luna, our dachshund, refuses to eat legit dog food in her own bowl and will only eat something made with dog-friendly people food. It smells so good when it's being made or just being heated up, making me wish that I, myself, was a dog so I can enjoy this delicacy. There are many other dog parents who do the same, or just make sure they get the most expensive and best dog food they can find. To be perfectly honest, I'll go hungry for my dogs. I make sure they're fed before I am.
2. You get excited when they learn something new.
Much like a parent of a human baby, a dog parent gets extremely excited when their little four-legged fur-child learns a new trick! It's always super exciting when they learn something new, either from being taught by you or just figuring it out on their own. It makes you want to pull out the camera and take a picture or video to keep forever! When I finally got Josie, our Papillon, to do high-fives, I was ecstatic! I get just as excited when I ask my bullie Forrest for his toy and he actually understands what I'm asking and does it!
3. You fall for "the look."
This defense mechanism of our dogs makes all of us dog parents look like giant push-overs. When you have to scold your fur-baby for doing something bad, they just pull "the look" and you cannot help but to drop it and move on. I cannot tell you how many times I fall for that trick with my dogs, especially Forrest, considering he is the biggest troublemaker out of the four. He looks up at me with those big brown eyes and my heart melts, making it extremely hard to continue to scold him. This will forever be a downfall of us dog-parents.
4. You don't care about "dog germs."
Scientists and those who act like they are scientists boast on how a dog's mouth is at least 20 percent dirtier than that of a human's, but 95% of dog parents could care less. They want kisses from their fur-babies. They make us feel good and let us know that our doggy children love us no matter what we do or who we are. Although, it is rather necessary to provide them with a denta-stick every now and again just to be on the safe side for good breath.
5. They mean the world to you.
You would do anything and everything to provide and take great care of your dogs. You love them with all of your heart no matter what, just as they love you with all of theirs. I would go to the ends of the earth for all four of my dogs as well as my cat. They're my family.
No matter if our dogs find their way onto the kitchen counter to get your dinner or if they have an accident inside even after being outside for a while, we love our babies. They are our family and we are theirs. Being a dog parent, or any kind of pet parent is very rewarding through everything that happens.
