THE PETS AS CHILDREN SYNDROME

There's a new dog food commercial which starts off with the following premise. You wouldn't feed dry, bagged food for your son or daughter, so why would you do the same for your dog?

Obviously the marketing mavens who put the ad together know that more and more people are considering their pets, like dogs, family.

OK, so if dogs are to be treated like kids is the opposite also true? Kids need rabies shots. Add that to polio, diphtheria,measles and the rest of the childhood inoculations because one never knows when sweet little Tommy or Mary Kate might go bite to bite with a rabid raccoon.

And let's make sure the kids go out in the morning and the evening to pee and poop in the back yard. Bring your popper scooper especially if you live in one of those tidy suburban nirvanas.

Forget about any unwanted teenage pregnancies, just spay or neuter them. And of course, those nasty heats where the kids are dragging their butts on the living room floor looking for a little satisfaction will enhance any home.

Yes, of course I am being facetious, but let's go back to the original premise, feeding dogs non-bagged, dry food is bad. Actually it isn't. Dry kibble is the best thing for a dog. It helps their teeth clean so you don't have to pay for canine, canine dental work. Every wonder why this new vet procedure gained ascendancy? We've been feeding Fido the wrong food.

Additionally kibble helps a dog's digestion. Then again since so many pet owners don't read up on how to actually raise an animal. They just watch stupid TV ads and think they can do it.

Oh, was that snarky? Yeah, it was. Way too many people have pets for all the wrong reasons. That is irresponsible, just like pet food maker marketing mavens who assert feeding a pet is like feeding your children.