Things Only Dog Owners Understand…

1) Spending time to shop and cook meat, pumpkin or sweet potatoes for our dogs, and end up eating a peanut butter sandwich or instant noodles because we are too tired to cook for ourselves!

2) Leaving early from a dinner party because we need to bring our dogs out to potty.

Mum’s out! Movie night!

3) 90% of our phone pictures are of our dog and their friends. It takes time to scroll through to find a picture of our (human) family when someone asks to see one!

Phone full of dog

4) Spending hundreds of dollars on them at the vet because their eyes are red doesn’t hurt as much as paying our GP $60 because we’ve been throwing up for three days.

Am I sick?

5) Picking up poop, several times a day, everyday. Sometimes sifting through it to see what they’ve been getting into. (Most of us have even had to help pull out poop from our dog’s butt, especially when there are hair balls involved!) And sometimes picking up other dogs’ business as well, to be a good citizen.

Little Beau poop

6) Dog hair – it’s a part of life, deal with it. And sweeping or vacuuming several times a week is perfectly normal.

clean enough for you mom?

7) They seem to know when we are going away for a trip, whether you pack slowly over two weeks or bring out the suitcase nonchalantly the night before. Our dogs get ‘manja’ and clingy before we leave on a trip.

If I pretend to sleep, maybe mama will just take me with her

8) They are always (equally) happy to see us – whether we’ve been gone 5 minutes or 5 hours!

9) Saying no to lunch or a movie invitation because, to be honest, we’d rather spend time at home cuddling with our dogs.

10) You talk to your dog and find it perfectly normal.

Ten Signs You’re A (Crazy) Dog Person

You know you’re a (somewhat crazy) dog person when you do these things!

1. When you meet people for the first time, your dog inevitably comes into the conversation and you start showing strangers pictures from your phone or wallet. Even fellow hitch hikers stranded in a snowstorm in Moutiers, France, weren’t spared Olive’s photos on Vicky’s travels over the new year.

2. When on holiday, you spot dogs on the street rather than enjoying the view. On a vacation, instead of taking photos of the cathedral or majestic views, all you do is spot dogs on the street and snap their pics! Tanya’s been scolded by her family in the States to stop looking for dogs on the street and enjoy the city. Oh well, they just don’t get it! Over Christmas, most of TFT mamas were traveling and flooded their Whatsapp chat group with pictures of dogs in Australia, New Zealand and France!

Saffron enjoying her bus ride at Val Thorens, France!

3. When it’s your birthday, or Christmas, your friends get you presents…for your dog. Sisi got a few hundred dollars worth of vouchers from Kohe Pets for her birthday last year. And no, it does not coincide with Lucy’s birthday.

Lucy likes vouchers very much.

4. Or when people ask what you want for a present, you say, “Something for my dog is good!”

5. There are more photos of your pooch on Facebook than of you. 70% of your Instagram feed are also pictures of your dog. In fact, you probably have a Facebook or Instagram account just for them. No need to be ashamed, we are guilty too!

GUILTY

6. You find dog hair in everything. Even in food (and which you honestly don’t mind eating).

7. You secretly wish there were dog rental services in the city you are visiting. Ok not so secretly. On holidays, Tanya’s husband gets to listen to her ramble about how she wishes there were places you can rent a dog. You keep thinking, wouldn’t it be great if you could have a dog to go for a run with in this beautiful city, or take them on that trail. Just saying…

8. You find doggie poo bags in every tote or clutch, even that expensive Chanel 2.55. One thing we can be sure of, we’ve found poo bags in every bag we have, in evening clutches and stuffed in jean pockets or running shorts. Very glamorous indeed, especially when we pull out our wallet to pay and a plastic bag comes floating out instead!

Oops! Found: poop bag in Chanel

9. When you’re in kid’s stores, you look at the toys and think, “My dog has something like that!” Or you wonder if you could buy it for your dog. 

Lulu has the same toy found in a kid’s toy store here in Singapore!

10. When you’re in another country, you look for pet stores or rush straight to the pets section in supermarkets. When some of TFT mamas were in Bali last year, we hunted down several pet stores to visit! And when Sisi and Tanya were overseas, they hung out at the pets section of supermarkets while their families shopped for normal groceries.

Pit stop #1 for Sisi in Los Angeles, USA: upscale dog store!

These are compiled from our own experiences and the things we do. Do you have any to add?

Oh we have one more that not all The Furry Tales mamas agree on. What do you think? 11. You don’t mind eating something your dog has licked. Don’t judge, but some of us do it!

I’m ALMOST there!