Did You Just Compare Your Dog To My Baby???

I have a dog. He's alright. I like him a lot. He occasionally steals my sandwiches and often gets into the trash, but he LOVES my children (children is still odd to me) and would probably give his life for them. He is loyal. He is full of energy. He helped me off the toilet when I was pregnant with Josiah. He chases cats away from my truck and he's NEVER lifted his leg to the Christmas tree. He is a GOOD dog, but he is NOT family.

I have several friends, who may be offended when reading this blog, that love their dogs. They love them like family. They said, "My dog is a part of my family and having a dog is like having a baby."

Did you just compare your dog to my baby???

I'm deeply concerned by this insane statement. I firmly believe that the dog is NOT family. In fact, these words have came out of my own mouth. Trooper, my 60lbs boxer, has a concrete place in my house. He is the dog. He is not my child. He did not come out of me. I like him, but he is not my family. People often ask me why he's so well-behaved. I kennel him. I occasionally show him whats up. I do not baby him. He is a dog. His purpose in my home is to protect me and the children. In the event that he doesn't perform his said purpose, I will have no problem trading up. He doesn't need to live in my house if he can't pull his own weight. If my house is burglarized and my dog isn't lying on the ground dead, he will be put up for adoption to another family who likes sissy dogs.

Now, I have no problem saying this because my dog would go the distance for my family. Once, Robert came in our house wearing his motorcycle helmet. The dog had never seen the helmet before and he quickly went into his best "sick 'em" position and let out a deep, defending growl. He got down ready to attack just as I walked around the corner and I had to quickly give the command to have him back up out of fear that I'd have to rush Robert to the emergency room.

Trooper walked me to the toilet and helped me off of it all through my pregnancy. He sits next to Isaiah's side when Isaiah has a 107.8 degree fever. He entertains Josiah and has stood guard next to him. He has stood, with his hair up, while I took an application of a sexual predator. When the applicant asked if the dog will bite I simply said, "Yes."

Trooper is a good dog. He is a keeper. But, he is not my family. Human food always before dog food. The heater is turned on for babies, not dogs. If he bites one of my children, I'll take his ass out myself.

I needed to write this blog because dogs are not like babies. They are animals. I would give my life, sell my body, starve, to feed/cloth/protect my sons. There is no comparison. I would not do that for my dog.