Considering yourself a dog mom is a way to give weight to a multidimensional relationship that goes way beyond “best friend.” We may not have given birth to our dogs but the but the level of love we have for them borders on obsessively maternal. Much like a human mom knows what makes her kids tick, dog mom’s encyclopedias of the likes and dislikes of their pets. We understand them in a way that no one else does. Our instinct to nurture, protect and care for another being is in full effect when we interact with dogs.
There is no love deeper than maternal love, and while we can’t pretend to know exactly what it is, many of us adore our dogs so much that it borders on weird. Our love for them is almost too embarrassing to put into words, but suffice it to say that sometimes we look at them and our hearts grows three sizes, just like the Grinch’s, for no reason at all.
Calling yourself a dog mom or dad is shorthand attempt to pin down feelings that are hard to describe. There’s a complex magic in the relationship between dogs and their people, and when we call ourselves dog moms, we’re trying to distill the depth of those emotions into a single word that everyone understands. Guardian? Owner? Person? Nope, just call me a dog mom.
Happy Mother’s Day to all!
