Dogs vs Children

I found the last part of the article sad.....
 
But otherwise, for the most part, that's me.  Childless by choice, choosing to fill my life with horses & dogs.  I don't like children; I love animals.  My parents have finally accepted that their grandchildren (from me -- by brother gave them real ones) will all have four legs & fur.  They love Luke like a grandkid and my mom spoils him like mad.
 
There are lots of women out there now who don't want children, so I can definitely see this sort of thing rising in the US as well.  Society no longer dictates that a woman must get married in her early 20's and start popping out kids.  More and more of us are making a go of it on our own and being quite successful at it.  My animals are my family.  I find them much more pleasing to hang around with than the average human.  []

I totally understand it. I, too, have animals instead of children. My Mother-in-law calls them her "Grand-kitties" and "Grand-doggies". 

OMG!  When we stumble out of the bar at night we go find a hot dog vendor or a 7-11, not a pet shop!  Thats insane!

It says that where Japan goes the rest of the world will follow.  It seems to me that Japan is a little behind in terms of animal welfare... no?  I mean I can totally see people dressing their dogs up, some here already do.  But as for the rest of it.  I thought we were starting to improve on the whole puppy mill front.  At least the education is out there.  It seems these people don't have a clue.

The article was interesting. I also choose not to have children. I am content with a dog and two cats and I feel my life is fulfilled. Although it seems to me that this article really empthasizes the tendancy to humanize these dogs. I am concerned that alot of this desire to own dogs is merely a result of celebrity trend considering the dogs mentioned in this article were all toy breeds... the article doesn't mention anyone is buying a larger sized dog... the focus is on breeds that are suitable to dress up and cart around like they are children. I think that is where caution should be expressed. I hope that after time these dogs don't go to the wayside after the dog trend collapses. There is more to a dog then just dressing it up and taking it shopping....IMHO.  

Interesting. I wonder what the statistics are for the USA when comparing dog population with the number of children of that age.

I hate it when people view dogs as "child replacements". I don't have kids, and my dogs are NOT a replacement for them. I have them because I like dogs.

That was a great article, but sad at the end with the all night puppy stores.

I don't want children either & instead I have a puppy.  Anytime I tell people I don't want kids & I'm satisfied having a dog, they look at me strange.

It's amazing that even today, people still expect you to follow the norm: marry, buy house, have kids.
 
ETA: It seems like Japan is moving forward more so than the US.  The only city that I know that's animal friendly is NYC, where you can bring your dog to outdoor cafes, bookstores, apartments, & everywhere else.  It's a shame that in most other areas (including my area only 10 minutes outside of NYC) certain parks are not dog friendly & forget about apartments!

it makes perfect sense to me... i didnt read the article because i dont have time.. but from what i have read here tells me enough.

the reason society(its my opinion by the way) thinks women need to be baby factories is because we have only just come out of situations where the population was rather thin. in no particular order childbirth was risky(and still is) for both mother and child, two world wars, westward expansion.... its normal for a species to try to outbreed the death rate.... rabbits do it!

but now we have over population.... many people are catching on to it, some arent.. the way I see it is... not everyone SHOULD have kids. sometimes these people realise that themselves.... sometimes these people cant even take care of themselves.. some are too selfish for children.. or they just plain dont want to have them. they would rather help out and improve the world in another way.
but when they decide this they get funny looks. when was the last time the population of people was over 6 billion? yeah a lot of folks are in the dark ages, they still have the instinct to breed breed breed, you dont want kids?!!? why not!?!? kids are great!!! what about the future!?!? your are you going to have a possitive impact on the future without kids!??!?!

see my point? there are several ways to improve the future... people are living longer too... so there is no excuse why you cant do something positive while you're here for 90+ years....

the other thing is, these days with internet and television and pet care there is no excuse for someone being alone. you're never alone! even if you want to be alone.... sorry. not gonna happen for very long.
its ok to choose a pet for companionship. let people think you're weird. its your life after all!

I hate it when people view dogs as "child replacements". I don't have kids, and my dogs are NOT a replacement for them. I have them because I like dogs.

I agree.  I treat them with the same amount of love and attention I would a child, but it's not the same.  I used to nanny for 4 kids, full time, one had a mental disorder.  I know that I don't want kids...right now.  I'm sure I will someday, and I'm sure I'll still have cats and dogs and still enjoy them just the same even with kids around.  There are lots of reasons not to get married right out of college, but the one good thing is that I'm young enough to have 10-20 years for DH and our pets before we have kids, if that's what we want.

 
She says some of the dogs in all-night pet shops are used in elaborate con schemes: a hostess will ask her wealthy, drunken lover to buy her a little dog; the next day, she will bring the dog back to the shop in exchange for cash. The shop keeps a cut.

Sad.
I wonder if it's too late to return some of my kids[]

I think I see my dogs as "kids", and the reason I use the term "kids" is that I put as much time and energy into my dogs as most parents do their kids.

I don't drive a carpool, but I do take them all to and from training, shows, vet appointments., social outings. My time outside of work is arranged around what is on the dog agenda. My nights are filled with homework from our last training sessions, and I work hard to make sure I am providing them with a balanced diet so that they are healthy, and that all their medical needs are met.

That sounds a heck of a lot like a real kid to me, but then again I don't have any real kids at this point.

I don't dress them up to be a child, like this article talks about, but I think "kids" is applied differently by different people.


ETA: I think I just mean that I take my responsibility as my dogs caretaker as seriously as I would take the job of being a child's caretaker. Providing everything they need because they can not take care of themselves.

IMO, Luke is better than any kid I've ever known.  He was potty trained at 12 weeks.  When I tell him to leave me alone and go lay down he listens to me.  When we go to PetCo he's happy to pick out just one toy and doesn't beg for the whole store.  []  He eats what I put in front of him and doesn't complain.  I've been able to leave him home alone unsupervised (out of a crate) since he was about eight months old.  It's way easier for me to find a babysitter for Luke than it is for my brother to find someone to watch his three kids.  Best of all, he can't mouth back to me.  Oh, and worth pointing out again -- he LISTENS to me.  That seems to be rare with kids these days....
 
When you look at it this way, is it any wonder that more people are choosing to have dogs instead of kids?  []  Now if only I could teach him to vacuum up his own dog hair.....

Interesting.....and sad in some ways.
 
I understand there are eople choose not to have children and will never have children, but there are some people who WAIT to have kids and use the dog as a space holder until the kids arrive. Then the baby arrives and the dog has to go [:@]
 
I know most people don't do this (and certainly not anyone here!) but I wonder if a person who buys a dog on a whim at an all-night pet store is going to be more likely to dump the dog if he/she decides to have a child.
 
The "animal as accessory" thing just makes me twitch. I have had handbags longer than some people keep their dogs---and that's just wrong. Will Japan be seeing a surge in dogs needing homes in the next five years?
 

ORIGINAL: polarexpress

Will Japan be seeing a surge in dogs needing homes in the next five years?

Good point, and sadly, I am guessing they will.