# Dog people who have children...hard to break those old habits? Good Boy!

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-people-who-have-children-hard-to-break-those-old-habits-good-boy/596399>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [September 15, 2011, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-people-who-have-children-hard-to-break-those-old-habits-good-boy/596399 "2011-09-15T15:49:01Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\
**Post date:** [September 16, 2011, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-people-who-have-children-hard-to-break-those-old-habits-good-boy/596399/21 "2011-09-16T17:08:11Z")

</div>

I also don’t see a problem. Dogs and small children are pretty much on the same intellectual level. They also respond to behavior-shaping and lots of praise and reward-based instruction. Children are just harder to house-train.

Congratulations, though, daddy.

Regards,  
Shodan

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Phlosphr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c68b51/32.png) [@Phlosphr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phlosphr)\
**Post date:** [September 16, 2011, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-people-who-have-children-hard-to-break-those-old-habits-good-boy/596399/22 "2011-09-16T20:50:16Z")

</div>

> [@Heart\_of\_Dorkness](#):
>
> Woo-hoo! Welcome, welcome, little man!
> 
> I know, right? And no _pictures?!_ I’m far more disturbed by that than by you talking to him like a pet; that’s just natural. I agree: it’s not that you’re talking to the baby like a dog, it’s more that you’re talking to the dog like a baby, and it’s totally not a problem.
> 
> Our little guy is one (today! hooray!) and we still call him by the cat’s name, and vice-versa. I assume that will happen forever. I know my mom used to call us by _everyone_ else’s names; one memorable time, my mom was looking right at me, and I patiently waited as she went through about 10 or 12 different names, including my sister, my father, our cats, _her_ sister, and even one of her cats from when _she_ was young, before she finally laughed, “Oh, you know who you are! Just come here!”
> 
> And I have found that the baby-talk has “matured” a little along with the baby, both in tone and content. I also used to feel weird calling him by his given name; he was always “Buddy” or “Bunny”. Now, I still use those, but most often, it’s his name or his nickname.
> 
> Now as I was saying: let’s see some cute!

Sorry to you both - but with how some others reacted to the homebirth thing I kinda kept it under wraps…at least a little.  
I’ll upload pics when I can - bit busy now. I’'l just say everything was perfect including how long Mom was in labor and the health of the little man! Zero problems all A+

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![psychobunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/54ee81/32.png) [@psychobunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychobunny)\
**Post date:** [September 17, 2011, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-people-who-have-children-hard-to-break-those-old-habits-good-boy/596399/23 "2011-09-17T00:28:10Z")

</div>

Just wanted to pop in to congratulate you on the baby. Although I was one of the home birth (semi)-detractors, I am still happy for a healthy baby and mommy and I want pictures and the whole glorious story. Did you and the wife get your bath and your soothing music?

Also-sounds like you are relating to your kid just right. Trust me-he will learn his name eventually-they almost always do.

[Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dog-people-who-have-children-hard-to-break-those-old-habits-good-boy/596399.md?page=1)