Jump to content

Menu

Fess up... do you spoil your pets?


Mandylubug
 Share

Recommended Posts

Right now my dog is sitting in my lap watching me type.

 

When I take him out to do his business and he is wasting time, I tell him he will get a treat if he goes - and he does right then.

 

He's not spoiled, though, right? :tongue_smilie:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Is it spoiling when you do what your cat asks? You know she paws at you when you're sitting at the kitchen table until you sit with her on the rug in front of the sink. She likes me there when she eats too if the other cat has moved on.  :lol:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am thankful my cat allows us to live here.  The only thing she requires is occasional grooming (preferably a lion cut), me to turn on the faucet to a slow drip (so she can sip at her leisure), and a clean set up (indoor delight food only).  You do realize cats were once worshipped by the Egyptians, right?  Cats have never forgotten this.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As I lay sleeping on my fourth of the bed allotted to me by our hound, I'm quite sure we don't spoil him! :)

 

That's me!

 

My (our) 75lb. hound will only sleep with me - he spent his first night home from the shelter as an 8 week old, on my pillow, and hasn't left my side in two years.  If DH complains about not having enough room, or being woken up, hound and I go sleep on the couch till morning.

 

He gets the same cuts of organic chicken or beef as my kids get at the dinner table - in addition to his top-of-the-line dry kibble (which is usually mixed with organic rice to make it more palatable, poor guy)  ;)

 

He's black/brown, and allowed on the furniture.  Did I mention ALL of our couches and chairs (and bedding) are white?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We bought a $$$$$ RV so our dogs never have to stay at a boarding kennel ever again. :)

 

The cats could come if they wanted to. But they tell me they prefer staying home and having their Grandma come take care of them. ;)

This is us. I hated the thought of leaving them in a kennel, and we plan to travel, so the fact that they could come with us was a big factor in us getting an RV.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would be lying if I said our dogs aren't spoiled.

 

Special treats, unlimited couch and bed access, spend their days lounging on the pillows and blankets and being let in and out into the yard as frequently as they want, (that is the real reason we're home, right?)............

 

Nope. Not spoiled a bit.

 

 

We also don't kennel. They either travel with us or vacation at grandma's house. She bakes them fresh cookies each morning.....

 

Not spoiled a bit.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I admit it. My dog is very spoiled.

 

She doesn't like the way her nails clip on the new hardwood floors and is afraid of slipping on the two stairs down into the living room so she will bark until I come put her down or sometimes will wait until I get there, touch her, then will go down on her own. (She is tiny at five pounds.) She will also bark for me to lift her on the couch even though I know she can jump up.

 

After she does her business outside in the morning, she expects a special little treat of whatever leftover meat I might have in the fridge.

 

She sleeps on the bed on her own special fluffy blanket. I put her on the bed and she goes right to her own blanket to curl up though if it is a cold night, sometime during the night she will use her paws to dig at my blankets and get underneath to curl up by my tummy.

 

Forgot to add…whenever I sit down even for a minute, she wants up on my lap. When dd practices violin, she has to first play a certain etude of double stops so the dog can "sing" (howl in different keys) then the dog will go and sleep somewhere for the rest of the practice.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Maybe...just a tiny bit. To keep them from getting hungry during the night, they get "second dinner," a meal consisting of 15-20 pieces of kibble. And although they each have their own pillow to sleep on, they often choose to sleep with us on the bed. We are a no-kennel family too. Either we get a full-time dog sitter, or we stay home!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have two dogs. One is an independent sort. She's affectionate on her own terms. The other is my dachshund who is extremely spoiled. He follows me around the house, even when I go to the bathroom. I think he worries a back door will have been installed in the bathroom and I'll disappear. He sleeps in the bed with me. He lays on my lap during the day. If I put the laptop on my lap, he uses his nose to knock it out of the way so I have to put it on the side of me. I feed the dogs a high end food recommended by my vet. And I take them every two weeks to have their nails filed at a ridiculous price. Unfortunately, I cannot take them with me on our once a year one-week vacation. And I cry when I have to drop them off and I call the kennel to check on them during the week. Pets are for spoiling, IMHO.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

No spoiling. I consider everything I do for them to be absolutely essential for their health and well-being.

Well, playing the chicken piano at night when the birds are on their roost and singing their bedtime song might not be absolutely essential...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oh, King Doggy of the Universe is not spoiled at all, lol.

 

I'm not sure why I won't let my grown son get a job because I don't want the hours to interfere with my classes. I would just hate it if King Doggy had to be home alone for 5 minutes.

 

He also refuses to sleep unless I swaddle him like a burrito at the foot of my side (only) of the bed and lay in there with him with my legs all scrunched up so he can get his beauty rest.

 

He turns up his nose at anything except organic grain-free lamb kibble.

 

He will stare daggers at the poor fool who doesn't hear/recognize his loud *SIGH* when his water is too tepid for his enjoyment. His little tummy only tolerates ice cold water.

 

He also refuses to enter the house after his morning "business" unless someone wipes the dew from his paws.

 

He wouldn't know what to think of a kennel because he goes everywhere with us or stays at the homes one of his two grandmas, who both fawn dearly over their grand-doggy and re-arrange their lives while he graces them with his divine presence.

 

No, not spoiled. Just loved dearly.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not spoiled.  Unless you count premium pet foods, which some might consider a worthless expense for pets but others who make their own or do raw might think I'm evil, lol.

 

I love my pets, but I've never been able to become a Pets As People kind of person. Mostly I get annoyed by hair and tripping over cats/being stepped on by dogs.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

two of my cats will bang their plates like drums when they want to be fed. It started with just one of them doing it and then a 2nd one started copying him. I just hope the other 6 don't catch on to it.

 

In our previous house we did not have central heat or air, each room had its own control.  I would turn off the heat downstairs at night and most nights all of the cats would be on our bed.  However, sometimes a couple of them would stay downstairs and I would catch dh turning the heat up for them so they would not get cold lol.  In our new house we do have central heat and air and this winter only a couple of them continued to sleep on our bed so that means the others in the old house were just using dh and I for our body heat.

 

sometimes dh will turn on the fireplace just for the cats so they can  lay in their little beds that are right in front of the fireplace.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Once upon a time my living room was littered with children's toys. These days it's littered with a cat tree, cat house, cat scratcher, another cat scratcher, one of those rings with a ball for cats to push around and an actual toy box for all the other toys for the cats and dog. Nope not spoiled at all. Good grief I've lost my mind.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is us. I hated the thought of leaving them in a kennel, and we plan to travel, so the fact that they could come with us was a big factor in us getting an RV.

 

Our dog goes to stay with an old lady in the village.  The first time we went to pick her up, Agnes said, 'She's quite the lapdog, isn't she?'  I don't think Blondie gets a lot of exercise, but she gets tons of cuddles.

 

L

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Looking at my own attitude to my "boys", I'd say they get adequate care - canned and dry food, keep water bowls filled and take to vet once a year (unless there's an obvious problem). I don't say I pamper them, but I certainly don't abuse them. On a scale of one to 10 (1  =  total neglect, 10 = totally pampered) I think I'm around 7.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not here... Our poor German shepherd is an outside only dog and while we feed her, make sure she has water and play with her she is by no means spoiled.

 

Brittany, that makes me so sad. I have a German shepherd and he is such a couch dog and wants to be with the family constantly. Well, mainly me. GSD tend to attach to one person.

 

And they're so danged smart. I'm wondering if yours needs more cuddling and play time.

 

Please don't think I'm being rude -- I'm just feeling badly for your shepherd. They're used by the cops and military because they're so great in so many ways.

 

Alley

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Brittany, that makes me so sad. I have a German shepherd and he is such a couch dog and wants to be with the family constantly. Well, mainly me. GSD tend to attach to one person.

 

And they're so danged smart. I'm wondering if yours needs more cuddling and play time.

 

Please don't think I'm being rude -- I'm just feeling badly for your shepherd. They're used by the cops and military because they're so great in so many ways.

 

Alley

Oh, I think German Shepherds can be perfectly content outside. My brother has one. She was restless in the home and wasn't happy fenced in. She is now the community watch dog. She seems to like to "herd" the kids and sits watch. Barks if strangers arrive and will not leave kids side. Super sweet. Super happy and roams widely. Now, this is a dead end street of family members. Think family compound road. Wouldn't work with a huge busy road or many families.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Maybe...just a tiny bit. To keep them from getting hungry during the night, they get "second dinner," a meal consisting of 15-20 pieces of kibble. And although they each have their own pillow to sleep on, they often choose to sleep with us on the bed. We are a no-kennel family too. Either we get a full-time dog sitter, or we stay home!

 

We call this "fourth meal" a la Taco Bell's old ads.  The cats get 'fourth meal' while the dog gets a big 'cookie' to help keep the midnight munchies at bay.

 

I'm embarrassed to give examples of how our animals are spoiled.  ;) Let's just say they aren't considered 'people', but they are fed very well and don't lack for anything.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My dog eats venison and sweet potato food and wheat-free biscuits out of elevated bowls.  His shampoo costs about five times more than mine.  Until recently, he had four different dog beds scattered throughout the house.  He whines at us to be "tucked in" bed with a blanket.  Apparently, just lying down like a normal dog isn't good enough, even with a heating pad in his bed.  He has a coat for cold and rainy weather.  He gets presents for all major holidays and knows exactly how to open them. We never traveled anywhere without him until he grew too old to travel comfortably.  He's racked up more air miles than most people I know.  He is still with us at almost 15 years old, in spite of being, quite frankly, a rather nasty (aggressive) little dog.  So, yes, I suppose he is spoiled.  :o

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The cat won't go to bed unless we take him down for bed. If we don't do it right, he will come up to yowl at us in angst.

Our cat has slept on the foot of youngest's bed for years -- she (the cat) has her own pillow and blanket there. I have sung Dreamland to each DC at bedtime for years (complete with kisses), and the cat got included in this, too. When the kids slept over at their grandparents the cat didn't settle down until I sang Dreamland FOR HER. And now she follows me to each bedroom so she gets Dreamland twice...

 

Nope, she's not spoiled, is she?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I buy pricy canned food with real tiny shrimp that I can only find online because the cat turns up her nose at substitutes. I also mix it with a bit of people canned tuna because she didn't like the people salmon so I fed it to the dog. Lol

My cat likes Meow Mix and no other catfood. She does enjoy a spoonful of canned tuna (packed in water, not oil) now and then, so she gets tuna for Christmas and when I need to chum her inside for some reason. I have little metal prep dishes -- these have become her tuna dishes. If I need her inside I scrape a metal dish against a can and she comes running.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Well, the cat and dogs, not so much. Much love, yes, but not really spoiled. The horses, on the other hand...yeah. And they're total brats, too. Lol.

FIL's horses are spoiled, especially the youngest (first one acquired). When the dogs go to the fence to bark with the neighbor dogs she sometimes goes, too. She will come to the vehicle when people get ready to leave if she doesn't want them to go yet. She persists in eating MIL'S flowers (on - going battle there), and wants to come up on the deck. Basically she acts like a big dog much of the time, following FIL around the place.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My pet spoiling didn't start until after the kids were old enough to fend for themselves. Once they could my instinct to mother moved on to the next smallest creatures in the house.

I agree. Our cat wasn't spoiled at first. I find that the older the kids get, the more it is just me and kitty reading in the evenings and there is definitely more time for spoiling. The kids spoil her too.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wait. Are you people saying that most people *don't* sing to their pets, and give them second dinner, and take them on vacation? How strange. :D

Hey, I remember thinking my MIL insane when she gifted my child's old baby toys to her cat. Pushed it around in her baby stroller...well, it did go too far because the cat was treated better than her grandkids. Heck she gave her cat yearly dental cleanings at the vet but didn't take her own kids to the dentist ever.

 

There are people that spoil their pets and then thereare the insane ones....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There are people that spoil their pets and then there are the insane ones....

 

Too much spoiling of the wrong kind isn't good for anyone, human or animal! I think most of the examples people have given in this thread are pretty harmless and fun, though.  (And some are exceptionally sweet and kind!)  There aren't many animal lovers in my "real life" circles, so I always enjoy hearing from the ones here.  :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We have a cat, so she's not as fun/easy to spoil as a dog.

BUT…she gets regular kitty massages morning and night (I was a Licensed Massage Therapist after undergrad)….but she also gives them.

 

She only likes Iams cat food, so that's what she gets.

 

She gets "tuna water" whenever we open up a can/packet of tuna.

 

Everybody always says "Assalamu Alaikum Sabrina" when they come in the house (Muslim greeting, means "Peace be upon you Sabrina") and she is told numerous times per day what a Masha'Allah (think beautiful) kitty she is and how lucky we are that Allah/God sent her to our family.  We also praise her hunting skills in catching lizards.  

 

On Eid (Muslim holidays) she gets a new packet of catnip mice.

 

Oh…when we look at homes to rent, whether or not Sabrina would like it (is there a pool cage or big porch for her to explore) is a major consideration.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I spoil my pup.  I bake him treats.  Fresh ground flour, all natural peanut butter, or applesauce, or cheese.  He loves them.  When I am really feeling motivated I cut them into little bone shapes.  Most of the time I cut them into rectangles.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...