Not A Pet, He Is My Baby

Earlier today, I read a post from a friend that bothered me and though it was not addressed towards me, it annoyed me on so many levels. Dobby is not my pet, he is not my dog. He is my child, our child, our son and our baby.

I don’t care what the training world believes or what the proper way to treat an animal as deemed by the professionals may be. Dobby spent his life being loved, cherished, and catered to. His healthcare ran into thousands of dollars because we would have gone completely broke to save his life time and time again. He was our life, we planned around his needs. Dobby’s allergies prevented him from going outside and his pancreatitis prevented him from living normally. We gave him our all to give him as much quality of life as possible and I would do it a million times over if I could.

To those who think I am wrong for calling him my baby, let me correct you now. He is and will always be my baby even though he left this world too soon. I knew his habits, his quirks, his needs better than some human mothers know their human children. I knew his face, the wrinkled brow when he had a headache, the mole that he would bump and it would bleed because he sneezed too hard and his mouth hit the floor. I knew his scar from where we almost lost him due to a blockage. I knew every freckle on his belly, the skin tags that popped up almost overnight. I knew the soft fur between his toes, the one black toenail while the others were white, the receded gum line on the left side, the paper-thin tongue he kissed so lovingly with, the ear that always was up unless he was in trouble or sleeping and the freckles across his nose. I knew when he was sick, when he was pouting, playful, curious or just needed love. Why?? Because I was and am his mama. He is and will forever be my baby.

The advice you give to people may fit your training life but it does not fit a pet parents life. There is a difference between a pet owner and a pet parent, you see it how you will but from a heartbroken mama’s perspective I see it as a loss of my child, a void that cannot be filled.

I am his mama, and Dobby Abu Evans is and always will be my BABY!!

Angel