Daddy/mommy or owner/handler?

[Tortilla]

I've pretty much always referred to myself as their owners. Sometimes I joke around and call my mum Seamus' grandma just to annoy her (she says it makes her feel old ). Sally is the family dog and we got her when I was eight so it'd be sort of weird if I referred to myself as her mum, lol.

When I started working at the dog daycare I thought it was kind of weird when we referred to people as 'Lucky's mum' and so on. I tried to resist for a long time and just call them the owners .. But now I've just gotten used to it.

[Toller_08]

I really find it weird when people refer to me as one of my dogs' mom. It's just... odd. I'm not a mother to anything. That said, I do tell my dogs to "go see mom", but only because she's my mom and that's what I call her. So they know her as 'mom' as well. Same with my dad when he comes to visit. And my grandma. Basically, they know people by anything that I personally refer to them as. Except for Keira and Ripley's breeder. They know her has "Auntie Sue"... I don't even know why, haha. But hey, it works.

But anyway, I've never really referred to myself as anything. I call them "my dogs", but don't really like the term owner. I don't feel necessarily like I own them like a piece of property (because I love them more/they mean something different than a typical piece of property), eventhough they are just that essentially. But I certainly don't feel like a parent to them either. If somebody were to ask me though, I guess I'd say I am their owner. Because I do own them - they are mine.

As far as terms like fur/skin kids, I don't really mind furkids, although I do not refer to my dogs as such. Furbabies bothers me much, much more. Skin kids is kinda weird though. Makes me think of aliens, haha.

Working in pet retail I get much better reception when I call a dog's owner their mom or dad. When I worked very briefly for a big chain store it was a requirement, actually. The place I work now doesn't require it, but I find some people get a little offended if I refer to them as their dog's owner rather than their parent.

[RD]

I don't like the parent/child thing, the furkid thing (and the word FURBABY just freaks me out) or anything that tries to make dogs more like furry human children.

My dogs are my dogs, my companions, or my friends. I am not mommy. My boyfriend is (usually) not daddy. We call ourselves their owners because no matter what touchy feely crap people want to assign to it, about how you never really own an animal, we freaking own them and they are ours.

[*blackrose]

I refer to the dogs as, well, "the dogs". Can you let the dogs out? Have you fed the dogs? I bought a new toy for the dogs. Actually, Gracie, Cynder, and Cooper are "The Munchkins". Chloe is "The Fuzzy".

When we are impersonating the dog's voices (you know, when you talk for them ROFLMAO), Mike and I refer to each other as Mom and Dad. And my mom refers to herself as their "grandma". When we bring the dogs out, she says, "Oh, look, my grandkids/granddogs are here!"

If someone asked me, "Are you Chloe's mom?" I wouldn't find it odd or be grossed out/offended. But I refer to myself as "owner". I own her, she is mine, she is not my child. Although when I sign my name to pick up prescriptions from Walmart, I say I am their "guardian". lol

Either way, they are dogs. Pets that are a treasured part of the family. They aren't just "a dog" (not part of the family), but they aren't "kids" (I own them, they aren't furry little people). They're that perfect in-between.

[AdrianneIsabel]

I seriously think anyone who doesn't talk for their dogs must be missing out.

[StillandSilent]

I will chime in to say, though, that when Argon and Gambit were both alive, I referred to them as the 'Little Men" to other people. No, I really have no idea why, it just started one day.

Now that it's Gambit and Shiva, I call them the heathens.

The cat is referred to as either 'the fat' or Brittany. Yeah, her actual name is Cheshire.

[sassafras]

I refer to Maisy and Squash collectively as "the youngsters" sometimes. Even though I use "mom" or "dad" at home, and even "brother" or "sister" between the dogs, I don't think I've ever used the word "kid" or "furkid" - which honestly kind of skeeves me out a little bit.

[AdrianneIsabel]

Shamoo is our grandma and Arnold is our weird uncle. Backup is the child no one claims and Sloan is the perfect child.

In pairs it's the pit bulls and the Malinois or the bullies and the gators.

[~Jessie~]

Originally Posted by AdrianneIsabel

I seriously think anyone who doesn't talk for their dogs must be missing out.

Each of our dogs totally has their own voice. Haha

[MandyPug]

Originally Posted by ~Jessie~

Each of our dogs totally has their own voice. Haha

Izzie has her own voice too. A kind of gangsta bitch voice... She swears a lot and is rather demanding.