Having a dog instead of a child… Like Sophie, some women imagined starting a family, but their pet dissuaded them, for several reasons.
Adopting a dog is a decision that must be carefully considered. You must think about its well-being, the budget that a pet represents and the organization of the family: “Who will take him out morning and evening?” “Who will keep him to go on vacation?“. However, these balls of fur often turn the lives of owners upside down, who consider them as a member of the family, sometimes as a child in their own right. There are those who, overwhelmed by so much love, believe that it is enough to have a dog rather than a child, and others who would have liked to start a family, but who changed their minds after bringing their pooch into their life…
Sophie Taylor, a 29-year-old woman from London, adopted Miley and she didn’t expect to take on so many responsibilities in the first six months of her life. “I wasn’t sleeping, I wasn’t eating very well and I was very overwhelmed by it all. I wasn’t taking time for myself and I wasn’t taking care of myself at all.” she confided to the iNews website. She who thought she would become a mother at 25 has completely revised her motherhood plans: “I grew up in a small town, and before we moved to London, that was exactly what we did: get married, have kids, and that was our life.“, she confided. This exhaustion comparable to that of parents, Sophie is ultimately not ready to take on more by becoming a mother.
But besides the lack of sleep, it is the responsibility that discourages some dog owners from becoming mothers.I think the general anxiety I feel about his well-being has shown me that I don’t think I can handle the anxiety of having a child.” said Rebekah. Added to this, according to them, is the lack of freedom to go on vacation: if it is already difficult to entrust your dog to someone, how can you leave your child for several days or weeks? Finding a trustworthy person is indeed essential, and going on a weekend or vacation on a whim is not given to all parents.
All dog owners will surely agree that having a dog is as fulfilling as having a child. However, parents of children who have adopted a dog enjoy the joy of seeing their offspring having fun in a complicit manner with their other “baby” and the latter watches over the child like a true protector, proudly playing its role as guard dog.