RE: [pyrnet] Anthromorphizing animals

["Stephanie Whitney" <srwhitney1@earthlink.net>]

> What I'm wondering is when people are more likely to anthromorphize? 

> So, is how you treat your animals in part how your parents treated 
> theirs?Your psychological makeup/needs?  A function of how many 
> others you have?  Whether you have kids at home? Am I likely to be 
> more involved with my guys (Anthromorphing) when my kids grow up and 
> move away? Or does that also have to do with how many activities one 
> involves oneself with (outside pet related activities like showing, 
> etc. which can reinforce anthromorphing sometimes). 

My parents would not allow me to have a dog.  My father had not grown up
with dogs but did like them.  May mother had grown up with dogs and didn't
want them around at all.

I got my first dog when my children were babies and loved them but because
of lack of knowledge and lack of funds didn't treat them as well as I
should have.  Since my children have grown up, I am completely involved
with my dogs (3 now) and consider them my family and my best friends.  They
come before pretty much anything else.  I am much more likely to take them
than myself to the doctor.  I spent $600 to make sure that Anais was OK
last week when she got sick, but waited to see the doctor for my knee that
I couldn't walk on for 6 weeks before I gave in, and then wouldn't have
gone except that it was fully covered by insurance.  I've yet to fill the
prescription for anti-inflamatories because, hey, it keeps getting better
by itself. 

My involvement with my dogs has been less when other relationships took the
forefront for a time.  In the end, it has been my dogs who have been my
most faithful friends.

So yes, I think that all of the above influence your degree of involvement
with your dogs which may very well increase or decrease due to other
influences and changes throughout your life.     

--- Stephanie, Ciaran, Anais & Maggie
--- srwhitney1@earthlink.net