If you met me eight months ago, you probably wouldn’t recognise me because I was firmly placed in the you’re-not-a-parent-to-your-dog camp.
I was the sort of person who liked posts on Facebook titled ‘Pets are not your children, stop calling them that’ and ‘Dear pet mums, you’re not a mum’. Put simply, I thought it was ridiculous.
But that was a time I now like to refer to as BM (otherwise known as ‘before Maple’). Please enjoy this picture of my 10-month-old miniature dachshund and try not to weep while you do:
Now... try and tell me how you could not consider that ball of adorableness as your fur baby. All of a sudden I was telling co-workers in the office how hard I was finding it to get sleep because I was up looking after my newborn.
I was meeting first time parents at the dog park who were also struggling to introduce their baby to solids. I was taking her to puppy school and trying to socialise her to make sure she grew up to be a well adjusted, well rounded, fully functioning adult.
Is there anything wrong with treating your dog like a child? The Mamamia Out Loud team discuss.
When I saw dog lovers were getting their fur baby's paw printed tattooed on them I Googled for hours and booked myself into a tattoo shop may have considered one myself. Who have I become? I don't even know.
That's why when our Executive Editor at Mamamia put a call out to road test the Pearhead Tiny Ideas Handprint Keepsake, $14.99, typically intended for actual human babies, I might have jumped out of my chair in excitement and asked if I could try it on my puppy...
Because what kind of a parent would I be if I didn't force my baby to do things I was sure they'd hate for my own personal pleasure?
Here is Maple having lots of fun:
Here's how it works:
- Knead the impression material for about a minute.
- Place it onto a piece of aluminium foil and roll it out.
- Wet your baby's (or in this case, dog's) hand or foot (paw) before pressing it into the impression material.
- Allow the finished print to air-dry in a cool dry place for a day or two.
And that's it. This is the finished product:
Aside from the personal bonding time (obviously) the best thing about the Pearhead Tiny Ideas Handprint Keepsake is 15 bucks. I'd say that's a relatively small price to pay in order to preserve your fur baby's cuteness forever.
Pearhead Tiny Ideas Handprint Keepsake is $14.99.
Would you preserve your dog's paw print? Tell us in the comments section below.