1300-Dogs are better than sprogs

My brother and SIL had a baby 2 years ago. While I don't agree with some of the indulgent things they do for her, I do appreciate the way they've taught her to respect their dog. The dog was there 3 years before my niece was, and there is no way my brother would give him up.

Damn right! I was only 5 when I had my first cat, and I knew damn well how to handle her and everything. She was a total sweetie - and I'm sure it had a lot to do with the fact that I was not a howling cunt-drop!

My former best friend, on the other hand, didn't even want to come over to my place with her sprog because I have 2 cats. Well, screw you! No wonder I ended it.

the cats here are nervous of the kids, and their moo is another cotton wool padded creature, they wont allow the kids 1 min away to play in the fresh air, she keeps them in the house virtual prisoners. and she wonders why they are screaming all the time

My two cats are terrified of sprogs. I have a coworker who retired to babyshit her grandsprog. She stopped by my house one day last summer, unannounced, with the little shit factory. My youngest cat had actually never seen a sprog before, so she walked up to her to investigate, and was greeted with a firm swat across the back. Of course, she hissed at the little shit monkey, scaring her and making her cry (tee hee!). I put her in another room and let my cojerker know I was doing it so her grandsprog wouldn't hurt her. She didn't stay long after that, and hasn't been back for a visit since. Oh, also, while she was visiting, her granddump got into the the cats' toy basket. Grandmoo hurriedly took the toy away from her, stating that it was dirty. Meanwhile the shitbag is standing their with sticky fingers and two snot trails running down her face. I made sure I cleaned of my cats' toys after she left! Dirty! Humph!

What? The nerve! Cats are a helluva lot cleaner than sprogs!

I've had breeders demand that I put my dogs in the bedrooms, because they're not kid- friendly. On each and every occasion I've refused to do it. I have no problem telling people that they're a part of my household, and their kids are not. If these jerks are afraid my dogs will harm their precious crotchturd, then don't bring them over. I've lost plenty of "friends" this way, but it's no big loss to me.

My two Pembroke Corgis, Henry and Eleanor (Yes--from "The Lion in Winter), hate brats. They are sweet dogs and do not nip or bite, but will run and hide from the noise and stench of brats if within 100 feet of the house.

It took me forever to find where there hideaway. They chewed and clawed a hole in the grating around the garage and bolt there whenever necessary. I cannot blame the dogs for doing it, because there are times that I wish my house had the "wed button" (you'll know what I mean if you are a Looney Tunes fan!) that raised the house away from them.

Dogs are sweet and special.

Sprogless: you've really had people say that to you? What a goddamn nerve!! I always tell people who might have a problem with my three dogs(including my awesome pit-bull Major) and four cats that this is their house.

I have a theory (not yet proven): People who are too lazy to train their dogs (I would include cats, by in my experience, cats aren't as trainable) and have dogs that jump on people, chew pillows, pooh inside, etc., will not bother to train their children, either. Most of my friends who own dogs have not bothered to train them, but as they have not yet started families, I cannot confirm whether my theory is true.

Anyone care to comment on my theory?

I totally agree with your theory. I also agree that cats are, like me, difficult to train! Mine do the best kitty-cat job they can do, though!

Trained cats? That's as big an oxymoron as "Conservative accountability".

I absolutely love dogs (I like cats too), I turn into a babbling idiot when someone has a puppy or a cute dog. Yup, me, going all sappy. And I definitely ignore kids if they're with the dog. This winter, I was walking by a big fenced tennis court in my neighbourhood that was closed for the winter, and this couple had their two toddlers and an 9 month old Jack Russel puppy running around inside (safe for both the kids and the puppy, there are coyotes around so you can't use the parks), and I absolutely melted for the puppy, I picked it up and went absolutely mushy over it, because it WAS adorable! Awww...puppy wuppy...the woman seemed to almost try to edge her kids over to me for me to coo oer them too, but it wasn't happening. It's just some kids, lady, nothing precious like a liddle widdle puppy awwwww.....

God, I'm a closet sap.

I disagree that cats cannot be trained. I trained my cat not to claw or jump on the furniture by using a spray bottle of water. The vet recommended this. My cat was also trained to use a litter box before I adopted her. I don't expect her to fetch my slippers or "sit" upon command, but I did have to teach her that certain behaviors are not acceptable in my home.

That being said, I would still take 10 feral cats, clawed curtains and shredded furniture over a child any day.

If you can't train the cats, then it's the children who should be trained, and no - it's not difficult to train children to treat cats appropriately.

When my oldest niece was about two years old, she and her mom - my older sister - moved in with my parents, my younger sister and me, and my parents' two cats, after my older sister left my niece's father, who was abusive to her. I was just starting high school when they moved in. My sister and my niece ended up staying with us for several years, until after the divorce was final and my sister could be trained for a good job and have enough money for an apartment.

When it became clear that they would be staying for a while, we knew we had to train my niece to be nice to the cats,and we did. We showed her how to "pet them nice" and leave them alone when they wanted to be left alone.

Everything turned out fine, even though the cats had not been used to having a small child in the house. But my parents had the cats first, and were absolutely not going to give them away just because my niece was there.

My niece is now 24 and newly married and - guess what! - she's turned into a real animal lover. She and her new husband have three dogs, and she told me recently that they're thinking about being CF like DH and me.

I've trained my other niece and nephews to also behave appropriately around animals. DH and I have two cats, and my 7-year-old twin nephews and three-year-old learned to "pet them nice." They also have a dog at home that they treat appropriately. It is NOT hard to TRAIN children - so why do breeders think that's it's only the pet who must be trained? Simply put,it's because the breeders are LAZY and can't be bothered to make the effort to discipline their rugrats.

I think my lazy dog/kid parenting theory post may have been misunderstood. I was just stating an observation, that many of my unchilded friends have dogs that they are too lazy to train. Their dogs jump on visitors, chew pillows, run into the street, etc. No children are involved in the observation at this point. Now many of said unchilded friends have gotten married and will be starting families in a few years. My theory is that they will be lazy parents, too, with poorly behaved children. I will have to wait and see. I was asking if anyone had seen or had comments on my theory: bad pet parents will also be bad kid parents because of their laziness to teach their pet/child proper behavior.

I agree that parents should teach their children how to properly engage with pets, in addition to other proper social behavior. I do not have kids, and if children somehow got into my house, I would not allow them to "play" with my cat. As another poster once wrote, "... my cat is not a toy for a child's amusement."

Finally, I have nothing against dogs. I just happen to have a lot of friends who adopted puppies, played with them a lot at first, then grew tired of them and keep them in the backyard because they are not well-behaved enough to stay in the house. I know it's not the dogs' fault.

My 13-year-old cousin's dog is the kind that dives on people and chews everything that isn't at least three feet off the floor. Needless to say, my cousin is a spoiled brat. I don't think my uncle had much of a knack for dog care prior to spawning since his old german shepherd spent most of its time in a kennel outside.

My youngest cousin (she's 5) doesn't know how to properly handle cats, and it ruffles my feathers. When she would get dropepd off at my mom's house without prior warning, she liked playing with the cats. She also enjoyed trying to pick them up and carry them around by their skin, and that was exceptionally painful to my cat Rolly, who weighs over 20 pounds. She also liked to try and make the cats play games with her and tried to force them to sit in one place, and when they ran off, she'd go get them, dragging them in by their skin. Then she wonders why I'd put the cats in the bathroom until she left - I felt so bad for the poor cats, and I tried showing her how to hold them, but she preferred the skin-lifting technique.

The sad part is that she has 3 cats at home, but I think she has learned now to pick cats up under their front legs. While not the proper way, it's at least better than picking them up by their skin.

There is nothing I love to see better than a kid getting a good old fashioned ass whoopin' from a dog or a cat whom they've pissed off - but then the animal pays the price so let's go to option #2. Kid receives a severe beating from parent.

SO inherited my 6 cats when he came into my life 2 years ago and they have him well-trained, and me as well. I have seen some cats that have been trained but I would imagine it's way more difficult to accomplish than training a dog.

That co-worker sounds like a real asshole. Typical breeder mentality. The reason the dog is snapping at him is because the kid is a little hellion. The animal is better off in a childfree home where he will receive the attention and love he deserves and not have to put with with a bratty kid.

The lazy duh said it himself. It's not the dog that's the problem. It's the brat. "It's called parenting, asshole." Couldn't have put it better myself. Sounds like the duh would like to take the kid back. Bed. Made. Lie.
Dogs are better than sprogs! Cats are better than brats!