Not sure if this is just a British problem but stop comparing your dog to a baby!

Some of us have infertility and struggle to have babies so our dogs/pets are our babies! Also, some of us consider our dogs/pets as family. You also made a comment about “can you train a dog to be left alone?” Well can you train a baby to be left alone? 🤣🤣. You also said “it feels so invalidating when people keep acting like their dog is the same” well it’s invalidating that you’re shaming those who possibly can’t have kids that are loving their animal! Puppies are a lot of work and I’m sure that’s what they are referring to. Yes, I absolutely agree that babies are a lot more than that but still. Maybe my comment will make you see both sides of it. God bless you.

I genuinely say to people having a dog is like having a baby. Just a easier. They're not the same level, but they are the same principles. They follow you round all day. Play and chew with your belongings. Need feeding and watering. Want cuddles and attention and walks. They also sulk and have their own personalities. They even teeth! (Holly cow those puppy teeth are brutal!) And they need to be toilet trained! You have to teach them how to behave and take them to the vets. They are very much part of the family. In no way is having a dog as hard as having children, obviously, but the fundamentals are there. And if you have not had children before, chances are, you have had a pet, and it's the closest thing...

I take it you’re a cat person then?

People voting that dogs and babies are the same 🤣

I think you’re taking it too literally. To many people their pets are their babies too, I have a human child but my cat is my baby too! I think having a puppy can be compared to having a baby in the sense that it’s really hard work, it’s 24/7, a huge lifelong commitment, etc but no one is diminishing just how hard having an actual baby is by saying that. It’s interesting that this irks you so bad, do you feel like your struggles aren’t being recognised?

I love my dog, but I hate the term fur baby. I have no idea why, but I just can't stand it 🤣

@Chloe I'm with you there, it makes me cringe! 😅

Tbf having had both a puppy and a baby they are both hard work...

Aussie here & my dog is 100% like having a baby. And I’ve had 2.

i dont really think this is a “problem” as such, the people who do it aren’t hurting anybody and nobody is taking away from the fact you bled for however many weeks and were hormonal Both are similar in a way, they both heavily rely on you and neither can communicate its a whole guessing game trying to figure out what a crying puppy and baby want and both are just as hard i don’t know why anyone would feel so deeply invalidated by it its not that serious

@Candice came here to say the same thing. I struggled with infertility for over 10 years. During that time, my pets were my baby’s. Now I have a baby, Id say it’s not really that different. OP - so if you adopt or use a surrogate is it the same? As your partner also isn’t bleeding or in pain for 6 weeks. Nor are they trying to breastfeed 🤔 I think YOU are the one invalidating others tbh.

I have two golden retrievers and a cat. I love them dearly but they’re not my son. I can leave them at home for hours and return like nothing happened.

I got my dog 3 years before I had my little girl, yeah you’re right they aren’t the same - but they’re still both damn hard work.. and my dog was very much my baby before my daughter came along. I had nights I cried when I first came home with him thinking I made a mistake, I had those very same nights when I had a baby. Emotionally I feel you go through similar feelings with both. 🤷🏼‍♀️

I agree it’s not the same but I think tone and context matter here. Maybe they were just trying to relate/ find ‘common’ ground? If they don’t have kids, conversations about kids/ motherhood can sometimes feel a bit excluding, so maybe they were just trying to be involved. Agree with some of the comments above about fertility and whether someone is childfree by choice or not maybe playing into this and to give a bit of grace. Either way someone being super soppy over their dog is usually harmless. I think it’s different if they were actively trying to minimise motherhood/ parenthood or take you down a peg or two. (Have seen this before). But can’t really tell that from what you’ve said. As a bit of a side note, I do think generally society is much kinder and more tolerant of dogs than they are of babies/ kids though which I find strange and sad. Wonder if that could be any part of you feeling bothered by this.

Shortly after my daughter was born my sister’s dog had 3 puppies. The amount of times she told me “oh I know how you feel, these puppies are like having a baby” made me want to punch her 😂 I’m sorry but it’s not the same. I’m a single mum with a newborn baby and you are supporting your dog who is the mum to the puppies 🤦🏼‍♀️ it drove me mental.

Of course they’re not exactly the same experience but tbh I found my two dogs SO much harder than my baby! I cried for weeks and got 0 sleep for months when I got my dogs (love them now but my goodness the first year was HELL) I do think they’re as closely comparable as you can get but everyone’s experience with babies is different and everyone’s experience with pets is different

Omg I completely agree 🤣

Also people want to help with a baby - nobody wants to help because of a dog!

@Chloe it gets under my husband's skin so bad when he sees that haha. And cat mom/ dog mom. He has a lot of bumper stickers and I told him I'm going to sneak a cat dad sticker on there when he's not looking 😂

Why are people hating on this post so much lmao, I was looking after dogs by myself at the age of 13. If you put me on my own with a baby at 13, there is NO WAY I would’ve coped. Dogs are piss easy to look after 🤣😭

@Chloe I’m with you there🤣🤣🤣

@Donna Woods right!!! And yesss your point about adopting and surrogacy is so true!! I’m so sorry you went through infertility for 10 years, I couldn’t imagine. We have been trying for the past year and 9 months and I finally was able to get pregnant and am 6 weeks on Sunday!!

Why do you care?

Some of you don’t own a French bulldog and it shows 🥲🥲🥲🥲

I do think pets are like family and some people who can’t have kids treat their pets like “babies”. But you can’t compare the two. My dog is crate trained and has been since 4 months old, he goes outside to poop and pee. A baby is dependent on moms for everything whereas a puppy is way more independent. I think two statements can be true at once, child free people can love a pet the way they’d love a child, however caring for a baby/child is not the same as caring for a pet.

Granted dogs and babies are very similar, they are not the same

In my opinion people who treat their dogs like "babies" are usually awful pet owners and think they're being nice to their dog when in reality they are creating a under trained/over weight/anxious mess. Everyone I've met in the training dog community who ACTUALLY works with their animals to promote happy healthy dogs live in reality and understand their dog is first an animal and worker, and second a friend. I've literally never met someone with a well rounded healthy trained dog who refers to them as their baby lol.

I'm in America and a lot of people outrightly place their dogs above human relationships and kids. It's weird. When I was a kid dogs lived outside with a shelter. I personally find dogs in the house too much stress and mess. And I knew a few guys who got puppies and wondered why no one wanted to date them. My husband had to rehome his dog when we got pregnant - she was reactive and just awful.

@Sera Kay ✨ my sister in law had 2 that just passed away and they were some smelly, ugly little things 😅

@Cerys yeah these comments are a little cray. One is an animal and one is a person

@Candice You can’t leave a baby alone like a trained dog; their needs are constant and complex.... Equating them is dismissive to the unique challenges of parenting a child, and we don’t have to live in your delusions to validate your feelings. Both bonds are special, but they’re not the same. I see youre only 5 weeks pregnant. I really hope you understand you cannot "train" a baby to be left alone. Even when they're in a crib, they're being monitored by video constantly. This is not the same as me tossing my doodle in his crate and saying "see ya!" For 4 hours. I've had fertility issues and 6 miscarriages. Dogs are dogs. Babies are babies. This will become very apparent to you when your baby is sucking your cracked bleeding nipples off at 3 am or youre having a post partum psychosis episode and have to be checked into to the er because your hormones are out of wack. I would rate the difficulty of puppy ownership as a 2. And newborn difficulty as an 8. Nowhere near each other. Not comparable.

@Marina you’re so rude. And dismissive yourself. Your condescension is gross 🤚🏽 People’s individual experiences are subjective. I didn’t have cracked bleeding nipped at any point and I’ve been breastfeeding for 4 months. I also didn’t have any issues postpartum. For me, a puppy is an 8 and a newborn is a 2. Also, if you’re “tossing” your dog around, you probably shouldn’t have a dog.

@Marina my comment about “training” a baby was in reference to the OP’s comment about it. So maybe reread that. But like @Donna Woods said, you’re rude, dismissive and your condescension is gross!!! And like she also said, everyone’s experience is different. My puppy experience would be at least an 8. I’m sorry you had a shit experience with postpartum but there was no need for half of what you said. Also, if you actually read what I had said, all I said was that puppies and babies are a lot of work. I also said that I agree that babies are a lot more work than puppies but both are still a lot of work! I also said I was just trying to hopefully help the OP see both sides. God bless you 🥰

@Candice buckle up because your baby experience is about to be a 20 if a puppy was 8. Your frame of reference for what is hard is going to change.

I don’t think the problem is if dogs and babies are the same tbh I think it’s when a mother is talking about her baby like a human child and someone starts talking about their baby which is literally a dog lol. Dogs are a lot of work, I’ve raised one from pup and I’ve also raised a human and tbh I think babies are even easier 😂 but no matter how much I love my dog I would never compare it to the child from my womb and if someone did that to me I would actually shut it down straight up. A dog and a human will never be the same period. If you can see your dog as equivalent to a child then you should be ready to accept if your man decides he’s leaving you to marry a dog 😂😂😂😂

@Donna Woods tossing is obviously a form of expression not a literal term. Sorry you guys are mad 80% of people agree you guys are delusional.

@Marina sure 👍🏽 The only thing I am mad at is your disgusting attitude towards someone who expressed their experience and opinion. You’re dismissive and assumptive. Not everyone has a shit time postpartum. I haven’t. It’s been a fucking breeze! As was my pregnancy. My baby is an absolute dream and easy as fuck. My puppy was not. I think you’re just a nasty little mean girl trying to make a new mum (who has struggled to get to this point) feel like shit for no reason. It’s gross.

@Marina and you know what my experience will be how?? This puppy is now a year and a half and still the most difficult puppy we have ever had. The first was perfect and soooo easy compared to this one. You are very rude for absolutely no reason. I’m sorry you have so much hate in your heart. I hope you find God, you need it! 

@Donna Woods thank you so much!! You’re so sweet and this person has so much hate in their heart for no reason. I feel sorry for them.

@Candice because I'm a mom AND a dog owner. You're not. Good luck to you. You'll be thinking about this in 1 year and think, shit. She was right. It may be uncomfortable but its the truth. I've also got a 1 year pup. We've been doing 2xs a week training and pack walks. He's a 10/10 when it comes to dog difficulty intensity. He's still 90% easier than my toddler and babies.

@Marina she is a mum already. Ugh. So fucking gross.

@Candice I can’t stand bullies and bitches. And sadly, I think she may be both x

@Donna Woods right!! Lmaooo

@Candice she’s one for the block list. Fuck taking any advice or conversing further with her 🤚🏽 Good luck with your pregnancy. I hope all goes well and welcome to motherhood babe 🤍🩷

@Donna Woods thank you so much🥰🥰🥰

I have both and neither is easy although babies are harder/a different challenge as they are utterly reliant on you for everything. You can’t just put food out for a baby to help themselves, let them into the garden to do their business etc But dogs still need a lot of care and attention. My dog likes to think she’s one of my babies and even helped herself to her own dummy after my firstborn which she still has. She also likes to try and be held like a baby in my lap but at 36kg, it’s not happening 😂. I know quite a few people who haven’t had children but do have a dog(s) which they treat as their children and that’s their prerogative as was mine to have kids. The only negative experience I’ve had with these people is that the dogs have been quite possessive around the owners and aggressive which is obviously a concern with kids

It’s not the same, but I don’t see this as a problem. It’s more likely they are trying to relate rather than invalidate. As others have said, if you can’t or don’t have kids, having a pet may be the closest experience you’re ever going to get.

Puppies and babies are absolutely not the same while puppies are hard they can be trained while raising a child changes all the time from newborn to toddler, teenagers all the way into adulthood I don’t care if people consider their pets their baby I consider my dog a part of my family but it’s still not the same in my opinion

The main difference to me is the stress of keeping a human alive and helping them grow into a happy well rounded adult

Its not a British problem. I randomly got suggested dog strollers as a good online purchase. A lot of people treat them like kids here and bring them into places that say no pets. I just leave this dog mom stuff alone. It won't hurt me if someone compares but I get it's silly.