Babying dog is OK — but set boundaries

Is your dog your baby?

Cesar Milan, the popular star of the National Geographic Channel's "The Dog Whisperer," grimaces on the show when people make such statements. Love your pet, he says. But his stance is that a dog is a dog and should be treated as such - and that dog owners must assert themselves as the pack leaders.

Jim Beinlich, who owns Cool K9's Dog Training in Colorado Springs with his wife and writes the Good Dog column that appears every other Saturday in The Gazette, disagrees.

"That whole mentality of ‘don't treat your dog like a child,' that's kind of a thinly veiled reason to hammer your dog and use physically and psychologically dominating techniques," he said.

That's not to say that he advocates dogs ruling the household.

"My wife and I definitely are the pack leaders," he said. "We have 11 working dogs who will bite you on command, but our dogs are our babies. There are rules and boundaries set, but they're our babies."

Obviously, he said, any approach can be taken too far. "We kind of cringe at dressing doggies up," he said.

Bob Vetere, president of the American Pet Products Association, sees Americans making pets more a part of their everyday lives. One factor, he says, is aging baby boomers who are coping with becoming empty nesters.

"Once the kids leave, there is a huge void to be filled," Vetere said via e-mail.

"Pets are filling this role. As a result, this group is ‘humanizing' their pets and how they are treated."

Pets, he said, offer comfort in an increasingly frantic world.

"Pets can be good listeners, give unconditional love and attention, don't stay out late with the car and don't need to go to college. Not a bad deal for a lot of people.

"As long as people understand and keep in perspective that they are loving their pet, I think it is good therapy."