A family member is a family member at the end of the day, doesn't matter if they are two or four legged (or 0 or 3 or any other...).
All family members should be loved and cared for in a way which is appropriate to them. They are all individuals and should be treated as such. Some need that extra babying while others need more space. Some need extra care to stay clean and fed while others can and want to do that alone. And generally speaking just because that is the case today doesn't mean it will be the same tomorrow.

What I'm trying to say is that people shouldn't judge you on who or what you are talking about but they should judge and model their reaction to how you feel about it. My OH doesn't like cats, but if someone he cares about loses a cat he supports them and tries to help and understand what they need.

He left his last job after a bit of a falling out with his boss and some other colleges. It wasn't the only issue there but it was something he couldn't get past.
To try to keep it short, it was a poorly run family company where Dad owned the company and his grown children were all in a position of power regardless of what they knew/could do.
One daughter was pregnant with twins, both of which were very ill and clinging to life. It was a horrible time for them and everyone in the company was trying their best to be supportive and getting on with doing their jobs to keep things ticking over until the family came back. Everyone had a lot of time off, when they did come in to check on stuff they were short tempered and the staff continued to do their best regardless while trying to support them.
After everything has settled down and unfortunately one of the babies didn't make it they returned to work. Everyone was trying to be supportive and understanding. Flowers and goodies were brought in, everyone put in extra work. Anything to try make it easier.
Pass a few months and things as they do return to normal, whether you want it to or not.
Our Cookie became very ill and my OH and I were understandably upset (well devastated) and when he asked for an afternoon or morning off to see the vet with Cookie and I they told him no, he had to book holidays 2 weeks in advance. When we found out he had cancer, they said well best put him down and get a new one. When he improved and there was no sign of cancer anymore they only asked how much we had spent and we could of probably got a pedigree for that much and still have some left over. And quite a few of these people were dog owners.

Cookie will always be my baby boy, even though he's no longer with us he will always be in my heart and I miss him every day. No he wasn't a child, but he spent 10 years at my side, comforting me while I was upset or ill, making me laugh, being with me through thick and thin, sleeping in bed with me every night and spending every minute with me that he possibly could. He has a personality and thoughts, he has likes and dislikes, he has bonds with other people and animals. He is more than just 'a dog'. He is our dog, he is our baby and he will always be part of us.
I'm sorry to all those who has had an infant pass if these seems heartless but a woman carries a baby for usually 9 months, if that baby is stillborn she can go to meeting and get sympathy from every person because that was a baby, a child. You lose a pet that was with you years and years and many will just tell you to go get another one. There is something wrong there.

That's something that impressed me about the vet we go to. When my daughter's rat Cupcake had a tumor that had grown almost half the size she was it was time to say goodbye. The vet was so kind in putting her to sleep and treating her body respectfully.

To many people a rat is vermin...trap them, drown them, shock them or beat them to death with a broom. The one store I work in must have a zillion poisons for rodents.

Gah...think about that for a moment. In some countries dogs are considered pests not pets. But for many of us the above methods applied to dogs? It would be a barbaric outrage right?

But for our family the rats are pets. You love what you love.

People also are funny about food animals. In some parts of the world, dogs are food. To some shallow and hypocritical people, this makes them barbaric savages. We do the same things to cows, pigs etc. Religious nonsense that picks and chooses what foods are appropriate to eat for some people doesn't make those who don't follow it less than them.

I'd eat whatever I had available if I had no choice, I'm not going to lie through my teeth and say I'd NEVER eat dog. If it was life or death and all I had, I'd sure as hell eat it. Nearly everyone else is the same, simple survival. Deny it, but very few people would starve themselves to death if there was any food available.

I'd not eat it if someone handed it to me now and told me what it was, but that is just because I've been conditioned by my society to think there is something wrong with it. It's illegal in many places, but again that is because the government apparently gets to choose which foods are "ethical" to consume and everyone just follows suit.

Given the fact that there are so many animals that are being mistreated daily, I have no qualms about spoiling my dog rotten. I can't save every dog out there, but I can damn well make sure mine lacks for nothing, even if I have to go without. And yes, that includes keeping up a one-sided conversation and (sometimes) anthropomorphising my dog

Let her laugh Logan, her world is poorer for not understanding the rewards that come from being loved unconditionally

It's not the fact other cultures eat dog/ horse or any animal. What is barbaric is the way they treat them before the eat then, skinning animals alive is barbaric and has nothing to do with religious cultures..it's fine out of lack of empathy towards other species.

There are animals I refuse to eat, simply because it does not sit well with me as I see the as let's, and not part of the food chain.

My dogs are loved and cared for, but I don't treat them like children they are not children they are dogs, that being said, there is not a lot of difference in how you bring them up.

Well, I've seen meat factory documentaries several times. You'd be surprised to know that our meat is often treated extremely cruelly in those places, as well. Cows still alive when their throats are slit, filthy conditions for the fowl, it goes on and on. And this is NOT just American butchery, either. But sometimes we see only what we want to, and say only what makes us feel better.

People have said that to me too. They laugh it off but I'm fairly sure it's meant as a criticism rather than an compliment.

I don't want children, but I don't judge anyone who has them. It's natural after all! Having companions is hardly a new thing is it! These people who look down their noses at us pet lovers seem to get all holier than thou about their kids and how dogs are not children etc etc then i do go into defensive mode. I'd rather fill my family with four legged friends, and that's just how I think of them, family. I'd never call them my children and they are not a substitute for children. If other dog lovers want to consider their pets to be their children, that's absolutely fine. I mak no criticism of that at all!

What gets to me is why some people think hey have a right to comment in such a way as to say that we are wrong to love our pets as much as we do. I suffer with anxiety and I'm damn sure that no human would help me out as much as my dogs do.

Here here gnasher.

I think most people forget that humans are nothing more than a species of animal, some of them jumped up, some of them cruel but most mercifully are normal.

But then again there are many types of people I would not give the time of day too buts that's a different matter entirely.

I love all animals, I just prefered to share my life with a dog.

Never a more true thing spoken...

I've never wanted children, never had that urge that so many seem to have and don't understand it. Not knocking anyone that feels like that, just saying its not me.

My Harvey was never a child replacement because I never wanted a child but he was a member of family to me.

I put him first always, he was loved every bit as much as someone else loves their child.

I didn't see him as a dog, or a child, he wasn't a person he was just Harvey, he was his own entity and personality.

He brought joy into my life that no human has ever been able to. Yes I've been in love (with a human partner) but the bond we had was totally different. In human relationships there is ALWAYS a game going on, be it a power game, or an end goal or some other crap.

Animals love in the most pure way, they want to be with us selflessly and unconditionally.

Feeling pride or love for an animal of any kind is not wrong and feel so sorry for those who are so blinkered.