Why People Treat Their Pet Like a Child

I’ll be honest with you, I hate the phrase “dog mom.” I think it’s basic, and I try my best to shy away from that. I have to balance out the “basic points” I already have due to my great love for avocados and red wine. So when I hear people talking about their pet like it’s a child, I just wait to see if they’ll throw in the kitschy phrase.

The truth is, I recently got a pet of my own. I wholeheartedly blame it on Covid Quarantine.

Whatever the motivation, I now share space with this adorable little dachshund I call Poppy.

When I say “share space,” I mean it. He takes up more of the bed than I do, I trip over him as he follows me from room to room, and he licks my face while I’m in savasana during my at-home yoga sessions.

The weird thing is that I now think about him like a child. I freak out if I see him walk with the slightest limp or itching too much. Really, the list of concerns and worries goes on. My anxiety reached an all-time high in our first week together. I will still never call myself a “dog mom,” but I understand why people treat their pet like a child. 

I can’t speak for everyone here, just myself and my observations. 

I’m single, and I don’t have a family of my own. My family still implies my parents, brother, sister-in-law, and nephew. I love my family more than anyone on Earth, and they are my best friends and role models. However, I often feel isolated and lonely during family gatherings. Everyone has their person to worry about, their companions to process with, and people to go home with. While I’m “freewheeling” through my wonderful single life, I think it’s lost how lonely it is to not have those things. 

There’s something weighty about being the only single person in a family of couples. I do love my life, and I would, currently, not have it any other way. Yet that doesn’t make the loneliness easier. 

Enter, pets. 

They fill the house with another personality, a reason to talk-out-loud, and an annoying amount of hair to clean. I think single people who own pets are more likely to treat them like children. Personally, there’s a space in my soul that can only be filled by caring for another being: Pet or person. Sharing our purpose with someone is fulfilling (even if we aren’t bored or aimless before them). I think this purpose ignites a sense of belonging and a needed distraction. In short, we want a responsibility that makes us feel less alone. 

Now at family gatherings, I have someone to look to when everyone is in their smaller family units. Sure, it’s a dog that’s unable to process with me. But he certainly provides comfort to those moments. Also, caring for Poppy is helping prepare me for if I ever have kids of my own. He has taught me that disruption to my schedule can be good. I also learned that everyday matters, and to practice awareness in what we need on a given day because it’s not always the same thing.

You may relate to my annoyance with the phrase “dog mom,” and you may think it’s lame for people to be so obsessed with their pet. However you feel, I hope this sheds some light on why pet owners can be a little obsessive. 

Small things often teach big lessons.