YES! Everything I've been saying ever since I adopted my adorable puppy a year and a half ago has scientific weight behind it now. Take THAT mommies who role their eyes at me when I tell that that sometimes I feel like my dog, Lola, is just like their baby.
According to a study by the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, dogs and babies basically react to the world around them in very similar ways. I knew it!
Dogs and babies share the same kind of cognitive development and awareness of the world until baby turns 2. There is a collie here in the United States named Chaser that has proven this–she can identify objects, find things by process of elimination and understands literally thousands of words.
I'm not saying you should start telling your kids to "Sit" or "Stay", though I do regularly hear parents barking orders to their children in this manner–but I am saying that being a mommy to a fur baby might make you a better mommy to a human baby down the road. At least this is what I am hoping!
I dote over my dog and worry about her health and whether she is eating enough or getting enough exercise and don't even ask my mother-in-law how annoying I am when we are out of town and have to leave Lola behind. All to say, I'm probably going to be an incredibly neurotic mom–but maybe, just maybe, this experience I have with my own fur baby can teach me the kind of patience, understanding and unconditional love that you need to be a good mother!
What do you think? Are dogs and babies similar?
