[AConklin03]

Do you think of yourself as your dog's (or other pet's) mommy or daddy? I do in a way..I'm not crazy enough to truly think they're my kids LOL but I do think of them as members of the family and we call ourselves Mommy and Daddy to them. To cats this doesn't much matter because cats don't pay attention to things like that and I don't think they think of us with any sort of name attached. For example if I said to my cat "Punkin, go to daddy" he'd just stare at me.

Dogs however; are completely different. My dogs know the names of all our family members and I can tell my dog Sammi "go sleep with S_____" and she'll go to my daughter's room. or "Go sleep with G_____ and L_____" or "Go sleep with the boys" and she'll go to my sons' room. Likewise if I tell her "go see daddy" she'll walk to my husband. I have always used "mommy" and "daddy" with animals and can't imagine using our first names. Is that weird? LOL

So, what do you call yourself to your dogs? Do people look at you funny?

 

[RoughCollie]

I refer to myself as Mama when I'm speaking to Aidan, but not when I'm issuing commands. He knows my kids' first names and that my husband is Dad and R__. Both of the dogs I've had since the kids were born know me as Mom, because that is what the kids call me. Whenever our collie did something the kids didn't want him to do, all they had to do was yell, "Mom!", and our collie would instantly behave.

I tell Aidan to get specific kids for me. He's real great about that. He gets them out of bed by getting into their stuff or by barking at their door if it is closed. When my husband calls to tell me he is nearly home, I tell Aidan, and he waits by the window through which he can see the driveway. When my husband opens the car door, Aidan goes to the front door to wait.

 

[spanielorbust]

My Dad used to call his dogs our 'sister' or 'brother'. He'd say stuff like Tunie, your sister's visiting, as he sent his dog(s) to greet us.

I HATED THAT.

So, no, I do nothing of the sort.

I'm as much a dog fanatic as any person, and more of one than most, but I cannot call myself their mom and I can't see that changing.

SOB

 

[dagwall]

I don't refer to myself as Jubel's mom but a lot of other people do and I don't correct or make any effort to stop it. My brother and I don't really have need to call each by name that often so he hasn't really picked up on either of our names. I do tell him "Go see Andy!" or "Go to a nap with Andy!" sometimes he'll go and sometimes he'll stare blankly at me. Pretty sure he really doesn't know either of our names. But he does have a concept of "Go" and "Go see" so I think sometimes he just assumes I mean the only other person in the house.

 

[AConklin03]

I think maybe it comes more naturally to call ourselves "mommy" and "daddy" because we have kids. So, it'd be weird to me to say "Go see Mike" because I don't ever call him "Mike" to anyone else in the house..it's "daddy". And since there's multiple people in the house I guess the dogs grow to know the names so they can differentiate. Just like they know each other's names because if I call one dog they're ALL going to come running...but if I call a cat they don't...I guess they figure if I'm calling a dog maybe it's treat time..but if I am calling a cat they're probably not going to get anything out of it.

Maybe if I didn't have kids it wouldn't seem as odd.

 

[Abbylynn]

I think maybe it comes more naturally to call ourselves "mommy" and "daddy" because we have kids. So, it'd be weird to me to say "Go see Mike" because I don't ever call him "Mike" to anyone else in the house..it's "daddy". And since there's multiple people in the house I guess the dogs grow to know the names so they can differentiate. Just like they know each other's names because if I call one dog they're ALL going to come running...but if I call a cat they don't...I guess they figure if I'm calling a dog maybe it's treat time..but if I am calling a cat they're probably not going to get anything out of it.

Maybe if I didn't have kids it wouldn't seem as odd.

I believe you may be correct about not having kids and it seeming weird to call yourself anything but your own name ... to the dogs.

We call ourselves " Mamma" and " Daddy-Grampy" in this house. But I found it hard to call myself "Mommy" for the first time ever when I had my first child! Lol! It made me feel old. Calling myself " Mamma " to the dogs makes me feel like I am doing a good job raising them.

 

[RoughCollie]

My Dad used to call his dogs our 'sister' or 'brother'. He'd say stuff like Tunie, your sister's visiting, as he sent his dog(s) to greet us.

I HATED THAT.

I hated that when my Mom did that with our dog, too.

When we had our collie, he was my best friend, more like another adult, than a kid. I made it a point not to refer to myself as his mother, and certainly I did not call him the brother of my kids. Aidan is different -- much more like a kid than Teddy the collie ever was. We do not have the same kind of relationship at all. I don't rely on Aidan for anything - I suppose if I ran a circus, he would be a great help. Also, my kids are nearly grown, and they for sure know they are much more important to me than any pet will ever be.

I like having Aidan because my kids are becoming independent and don't need me very much. Aidan fills my need to nurture very nicely.

 

[Max and Me]

While I may be a bitch from time to time, I do not consider myself my dogs' mother. LOL They are my dogs not children. They are part of the family and are loved just as much...or more in some cases...as the human family members.

 

[dagwall]

Haha what's funny to me is that he DOES know my neighbors name. If I say "here comes Bill, wanna go say hi?" or simply "I think I see Bill" he gets all excited. I can say the same thing with someone else's name and he won't react the same so it is recognizing Bill's name rather than the key phase like "here comes _____". Sometimes if I asked him if he wants to go say hi or tell him to go say hi to random people he'll get excited for a second thinking I saw someone we know then look at the person in front of us sit nicely for a pet but he's usually somewhat indifferent to random people.

 

[Niraya]

I am not my "mother" or "sister" to my dog. My parents - in Bella's eyes - are "mommy" (she doesn't really know) and "daddy" (She knows) but that is because that is what -I- call them. I wouldn't refer to my parents by their first names.

So by the meaning of the thread - no I don't consider myself (or my parents) her mommy (daddy). But she does know the name "daddy" and who it refers to.

 

[HollowHeaven]

My mother refers to me as 'mommy' to my animals, even though I call her 'mom'. All I can really say about it is I hate being called 'mommy' to my animals because I did not give birth to them -.- I love them, yes, but I'm not their mother. I have a nasty habit of calling my cat 'son' though. If he's acting up or something wrong it's "son, stop it." or "quit doing such and such, son.'
Draevyn and Troubles know my actual name, thanks to my mother who makes sure she yells 'here comes Lindsey!' whenever they're doing something wrong. I think Aleu and Diesel might, but I don't know if my mom talks to them while I'm gone.
I do know, however, that Draevyn and Troubles will only listen to what I have to say when it comes to commands and what not. Only me.
Aleu and Diesel will too... unless mom is around. They seem to know that, ultimately, she is the boss and if they have permission from me, they need it from her finally before acting. Or if they're doing something wrong and they're told to stop, they won't until she tells them to. .-. They know her as 'mom' and nothing else.

 

[KaywinnitLee]

I call myself mommy in reference to my dog because it works as a name that she knows, not because I see her as my child. I am maternal, but she's a dog...not my child. One of my friends refers to her dog as her son which is a little much IMO...I think "mommy" and "daddy" are nicknames when around pets, not really believed titles...in most cases.

 

[Tofu_pup]

I get a little weirded out when I get a text from my gf that says,"How are the kids?". One of these days I'm going to respond with,"OMG, we have children?!! When were you planning to tell me about this?!"

I don't correct people when they refer to me as Kaki's mom. At work, the dog owners are all referred to as "Boomer's mom", "Bailey's dad", or "Lilly's parents". It's not something I really think about. All of the dogs in a family are called siblings, even my own. Though the closest they get to being related is that Kaki and Tyler are from the same state(MO).

What I don't understand is why everybody around here calls their dogs "mama" or "papa". I never heard that before moving to Colorado.

 

[AKDogTrainer12]

I agree with Kaywinnitlee...it's more or less nicknames.
Me and my husband can't have children so we do tend to dote on them a bit more, but that doesn't make them our "Children". Just well loved furry, four legged family members.

 

[AConklin03]

I am not my "mother" or "sister" to my dog. My parents - in Bella's eyes - are "mommy" (she doesn't really know) and "daddy" (She knows) but that is because that is what -I- call them. I wouldn't refer to my parents by their first names.

So by the meaning of the thread - no I don't consider myself (or my parents) her mommy (daddy). But she does know the name "daddy" and who it refers to.

I think this is why we use "mommy" and "daddy" for us...that's what we do for the kids so that's usually all we go by at home!

 

[dmatthew]

Since i am very busy with work and all, i was not ready to have kids but then i wanted to have a somewhat comapnion around the house since i started living alone so i got myself a dog, they are man's bestfriend after all!
After some time, i have realized that my dog really became more of a family to me but not that i see himas my child though, but i do take care for him a lot and i really value our bond.Im just really glad to have a companion whom i know will always be around

 

[RonE]

I'm not Esther or Molly's dad.

As soon as I think of myself that way, I'm opening myself up to all sorts of trouble. They'll want to borrow the car. They'll be bringing questionable friends home with them. They'll stay out too late on school nights. They'll want to go to expensive colleges.

When I was growing up, we had a beagle named Charlie. Quite unintentionally, my dad would say things like, "Has anybody let Ron out yet?" or "Has Charlie left for school yet?"

At least I think it was unintentional.

(I should probably be grateful that, in those days, people didn't neuter their dogs.)

 

[Niraya]

At least I think it was unintentional.

Makes you wonder, doesn't it? lol

 

[sassafras]

I use the words "mom" and "dad" as a convenient label for "the female person in authority" and "the male person in authority" for lack of a term I like better. Which is funny because I despise when people use "pet parent" in conversation to describe owners. But I feel way more weird saying things like "go find your male owner!" or "where is <mr. sassafras' name>?" than I do saying "where's your dad?" so... there it is.

I also refer to them as one another's siblings, but if I had kids I wouldn't refer to the kids and dogs as each other's siblings.

 

[Red Fraggle]

I'm the Mom in this house. I have two kids, there are no other adults in the house. I'm Mom. So yeah, I guess I'm Wembley's Mom too and I'm sure the word gets thrown around in that context, but I don't get sucky and goopy about it or anything. It just is.

Sassafrass- I've never heard anyone use "Pet parent" that way, but I don't much like the term "owner" either in reference to a family member. I usually refer to other dogs' owners as their "person", "human", or "people".