Fur Baby

We live in a new era where our pets have been become a fur version of children.

With many people pursuing their career goals and thriving in their work, the “fur child” (the commonly used term for a pet dog or cat) has exploded in recent years. Far less people are having children in their 20s and 30s and instead their raising a pet much like one would a child.

When I started matchmaking, I never asked my clients about animals or pets, because the primary focus was always on having kids. However, present day, animals are taking up a much bigger part of our lives and somehow morphed from pet to child status.

I grew up with a dog (her name was Pinky) the cutest Schnauzer I ever did meet. My mother loved that dog like one of her own children. I still remember when my mom would come home from work, Pinky would run and greet her like they had been a part for weeks. She’d gush over that pouch like one would a newborn baby.

It’s not so much that more people are owning dogs as it is the shift in the way they think of their dogs. But the trend is in and I don’t foresee it dissipating anytime soon, especially with so many celebrities rescuing dogs, giving them a better life and chronicling it on social media.

I’m a huge pet lover but I must admit, there’s some extremists out there; like those pushing their dog around in a pet version of a baby carriage or smooching their dog at a red light.

Notwithstanding the fanatics, we’ve entered the modern pet era where some people would rather interact with their dogs than humans. But why not, dog is man’s best friend, right? And they offer unconditional love, which is something that is safe to say, we all crave.

What spouse comes running to the door after a long hard day of work to kiss, hug and greet you?

Maybe we should take some notes from our pets and treat our partners with the same level of love and affection. Learn to love unconditionally, without expectation or judgement and learn how to share and give more versus taking and demanding on the daily.

Though it may seem a little foolish and unrealistic that a pet could show use the simple pleasure of life, it’s not much sillier than all the people who are so self-involved, materialistic and social media crazed by their own volition.

I met with a potential female client some time ago, who during her interview told me she went on a first date with a man she met on the internet. After dinner she went back to his place, but upon opening the front door, the two were faced by the man’s dog who had torn up a paper with the woman’s profile picture and details on it.

The man spun around and told her she’d have to leave because his dog didn’t like her and was a good judge of character.

It took everything in me not to burst out laughing, but in complete truth, animals are a lot like children, they are observant and in tune with their feelings, so they can typically read people better than adults.

I’ll end by saying that in contemporary times we have split custody battles over animals. I’ve been told by clients that it was easier to settle the matter of children and financials during their divorce, but that the hardest part was the battle over the dogs.