Kids Will Be Dogs

Kids will be...dogs? By Guest Blogger Kelly Humphrey You’ve heard the old saying "kids will be kids" referring to the fact that children are often carefree, enthusiastic, and will, undoubtably, engage in wacky antics from time to time. I find this to be especially true when children are in a group. They tend to relate to one another and end up mimicking actions and even vocabulary. So, is it such a far stretch to say that when a child is surrounded by a group of dogs she will mimic their behavior? That is certainly the case in my household. My daughter was obviously raised around dogs. From a very young age, she has been a part of their daily care. She helps me feed the dogs, groom them, give them treats, helps me take them out for potty breaks and walks. One of those walks elicited a particularly entertaining story and fine example of my daughter acting like just one of the dogs. My daughter was 2 years old at the time (potty training in big girl panties) and we were out strolling around the neighborhood, the dogs stopping to mark along the way and my daughter happily skipping along with us. All of a sudden she left the sidewalk and went up into the grass, sorta squatted, and peed. I was shocked! I immediately inquired as to why she felt that it was a good idea to pee in the neighbors yard instead of holding it until we got home to the potty. She said, "dogs pee in the grass". Like that was a perfectly sound explanation. I had to gently explain that whilst it is proper for dogs to pee in the grass, its not exactly ideal for little girls to go around peeing in the neighbor's yard. Along with her outdoor bathroom adventure, my daughter will also do other "dog like" behaviors. She will run hard and then stop and "pant" saying she is so tired. She will line up with the dogs at treat time and happily expect me to pass a treat down to her too. We have actually gone out and bought Scooby Snacks (graham cookies shaped like dog bones) just for funzies. I know it may seem odd that I would encourage such behaviors, but as a dog lover, I can not resist my kiddo wanting to mimic my favorite four-legged pals. A fun read for kids who like to pretend to be dogs is Chip Wants a Dog, by William Wegman.