Things You Should Never Say To A Dog Parent

Disclaimer: You are only allowed to read this if you bring some treats along. Woof woof, just kidding!

"Why do you let your dog sleep in your bed?" is a question that I've been asked so many times and my favourite response to it is that “Blush is my baby, so she sleeps where I sleep”. Although not enough to make them understand, it still gets the point through to some extent, at least till we meet again. Pet parents, especially dog parents, often find themselves bombarded with unsolicited opinions, suggestions & questions and, surprisingly, most of these come from people who are not dog parents themselves. A bit of a head-scratcher, isn’t it? Sometimes I just wish I could make all those unwanted questions and opinions disappear with a loud woof, like Blush does. I’m sure I’m not the only one going through this. This International Dog Day, we reached out to some Dog parents and asked them one simple yet interesting question

What is the weirdest thing you’ve been told as a dog parent and how did you respond to it?

Want to know what was their response? Continue reading. 

Dolly Singh (Mom to Phoebe)

Social Media Influencer, Comedian, Actress 

“Isko baandh do pehle”

(You should lock her up first)

Cheshta Bhagat (Mom to Gucci)

Actress, Social Media Influencer

"People often suggest, 'You should lock her up in the room.' This usually happens when visitors come to our house. Gucci is incredibly friendly and loves to greet people by licking them. So, sometimes, they'll say, 'You should lock her up.' However, I always respectfully respond, 'That's not an option. She's our family, and she's used to being on the bed and sofa.' We've never had to lock her up. Gucci is very well-behaved and always follows our commands. If we ask her to join us, she'll happily climb onto the sofa and sit with us."

Namrata Nongpiur (Mom to Buddy & Alexa)

Head of Content, Parentune 

How can you 'allow' them to sleep on your bed?

Zorawar Singh Ahluwalia (Dad to Maya)

Digital Creator

“Yeh maya ka baal laga hai?”

(Is that Maya’s hair on your face/clothes?”

Shrishti Bhatia (Mom to Ollie)

Digital Creator, Influencer

“As a pet parent, you get told a lot of weird things but there was this one incident that really stood out to me and I still remember it vividly and I was very offended. When one of my friends was having a birthday party, and she invited me over. Ollie was 3 months old back then and I couldn’t leave him alone because he was not house-trained, he just couldn’t be alone. So, I told them that I couldn't make it because obviously I had to take care of Ollie and my friend suggested ‘Why don’t you leave him with your building guard, I mean that should be fine, you are only going for like 5 to 6 hours.’ So, that really offended me and that was a very weird thing, especially coming from a friend who already has 2 dogs of her own and she has raised them as her babies. It was very weird to me. I did not go to that birthday party, and stayed at home with Ollie. I was very, very happy about that decision.”

Prakriti (Mom to Maru & Olive)

Vegan Mountaineer & Solo Traveller

“‘Who is your favourite and why!’ I always have had an answer but it is unfair to the non-chosen one, so I don’t like to reply to it.”

Raj & Sim (Parents to Poppins)

Pet Travel, Content Creators

“Poppins, our beagle is 7 years old and we’ve often been stopped by passersby to be questioned about the way he barks. Recently we were on a road trip from Mumbai to Kerala. We had taken a breakfast halt at a roadside South-Indian dhaba. Poppins spotted a cat nearby and barked at it incessantly. Once the cat was out of the picture, two gentlemen who had been sitting at the table beside us, politely asked us the same question. ‘Isko abhi bhaukna nahi aya kya? Baby hai lagta hai.’

On finding out that he’s 7 years old, one of the guys said - you know the problem with his bark is that he goes ‘aaow-aaow’ but it should be ‘bhaow bhaow’. He pointed towards his own tonsils and said something is wrong with his throat muscles here and he needs treatment & supplements. You should see a good vet immediately. He mentioned that his friend’s labrador had some condition & he’s now barking well. He rushed to his BMW, brought back his business card & asked us to get in touch with him so he can get us that vets contact. 

We just smiled through this conversation, not wanting to break his heart by saying that our dog is just a beagle.”

Tiu Hazra (Mom to Posto)

Influencer 

“I met a cocker spaniel parent at a pet clinic. She asked me ‘What did you feed Posto? He is so big I always wanted a golden retriever but my husband didn't allow’. I told her “Posto is a mixed breed. I don't know what mixed bloodlines he has. She still keeps pinging me on Instagram how to make the dog bigger. I tried to tell her so many times that it depends on the bloodline I cannot make a cocker a golden and how does that matter he is a healthy happy furry kid that's all we should care for. Unfortunately, she could not understand”