My dogs don't get birthday and Christmas presents because they don't have a clue what that's all about.
I know Honey doesn't know what Christmas and Birthday is, but she DOES get pressies for these days
- she loves unwrapping them and this last Christmas she was probably more excited about her little pile of parcels than the adults who were there....
And at least this way I limit the times I buy a bunch of new toys to twice a year!!!!
(Not that we buy her a lot anyway.... we just wrap stuff up loads so she has fun unwrapping things!!!!)
When our friend brought round Honey's Christmas pressie last year, she seemed to sense it was hers (or smelled the rawhide through the packaging!!!) and was really excited by it...
I know she'd be just as excited if she got pressies any other time, but I do like to include her in events like that.
I do agree with the sentiment of your post, Hannah - and Honey most definately is our pet, not our baby (she's a well loved pet, and we've altered our lives a lot to accommodate her, but she's definately a pet!).
In general, there is nothing wrong with indulging your pets with nice stuff, as long as you also have the basics in place for them - the people I have a problem with (and this doesn't apply to anyone on here!!!) are those who indulge their pets instead of providing the basics (walks, training, boundaries, the chance to be a dog....).
Those that just provide the bare minimum (food, shelter and a grudging walk) are definately missing out on what is a fantastic relationship between dog and owner - I don't find needing to ensure Honey isn't left alone too long as a chore, it's a pleasure to make sure she has what she needs... and it's that feeling that the "it's only a dog" brigade that the OP was referring to are missing out on. I don't spend my time with her because I have to, it's because I want to.
And I'm sure everyone on this forum is exactly the same, no matter how much they actually spend on "stuff" - lets face it, if our dogs weren't more than "just a dog" to us, we wouldn't spend half our lives talking about them, finding out how to deal with little training issues, posting photos and generally telling the world how fantastic they are!!!
I have thrown Buddy his old favourite toys, and he really does seem to be extra happy about them. In fact this evening we have found the plastic bin we keep his toys in and he has had such fun dragging it around the room. Very sweet and funny.
I do still feel that he didn't really miss them, but I do think he is happy to see them again. It's just down to familiar smells etc though.
Honey is like this when we dig out a toy from the bottom of her toy box that she hasn't played with for a while... I'm sure Buddy's loving having all his stuff back with him!!!
