The Danger of the “Fur-baby”

When words like ‘fur-kid’ and ‘fur-baby’ started to become part of our everyday lingo, it initially gave me pause. Gradually, I started to feel mild annoyance when hearing them. Fast forward a few years and now, they elicit a deep frustration in me.

I’ve been wanting to write about this for a while, but let’s face it, this is likely to be a controversial topic. I anticipate ruffling a few feathers, but I hope you will bear with me and keep an open mind.

I have not idea what the origin was for these terms. Who knows where they started. Likely as an attempt to be endearing. Perhaps it was a clever meme that coined them and got traction. Regardless, people ran with these terms and now, they’ve become a normal part of our lingo.

So, what’s the big deal? They’re just words!

I hear you — that’s where I started in my thinking too.

The problem is, it’s another way of anthropomorphizing (applying human qualities and tendencies to things that are not human) and that is almost NEVER good for our dogs.

Anthropomorphizing is dangerous for our dogs!

At best, it continues to skew the line between two species and clouds the FACT that there are HUGE differences in how we think, feel and communicate.