A sneak peek at my next B2B column

I write a column in our paper on a rotation with our publisher and editor. I just finished this one that will be in the 9/15 issue and thought I'd share it:

Surrogate Children

Growing up we had a small mixed breed dog named Jennifer. By the time I was old enough to remember her, Jennifer was blind and deaf with a regular habit of walking in to walls and then barking as if to say “get out of my way!” We would simply redirect her until she met the next wall and repeat the exercise. Although I sometimes asked my mom if we could have a dog that didn’t bark at walls, I saw this little animal as a part of the family. My mom always made it clear that Jennifer was her first child and before we were born she held the designation of my mom’s baby. I have always been an animal lover but only recently have I begun to understand the place animals, especially dogs, hold as surrogate children for those with empty nests.

In January I became the mother to two American Bulldogs, Bonnie and Clyde. They are big dogs, and for someone who has not lived with dogs since the blind and deaf Jennifer of my early years, this has been a huge adjustment. I find myself worrying about their diet, their health and whether they are getting enough exercise. It has awakened every maternal sense I have, and I have the credit card receipts to prove it. It started with comfortable bedding and good food. Then they needed winter wear for their walks, obedience training, both short and long leashes, new leather collars, squeaky toys, special wipes and soaps, a toothbrush and doggy toothpaste, blinky clip on lights for their collars so they are safe walking at night and of course treats. That was just the initial investment in their fashion and well being during their first few months with us.

Then Ryan left for his military deployment and I was not only a new mother to two bully breed dogs, but a new wife with a husband away. You can imagine what ridiculous things I have purchased to make up for the fact that I work and they are left home alone for hours.

The dogs are in great health, but like all big animals when they get sick it’s scary. A few visits to the vet and I am more than $2,000 in to the animal hospital in less than six months. Ryan and I had discussed pet insurance, but I had owned cats for years and thought, really? Is that really necessary? Isn’t the investments I’m making in keeping them healthy with good food, clean teeth and careful watch enough to keep the vet bills down?

First it was Bonnie with an unexplained stomach infection. My guess it was the bone a generous neighbor gave her, but blood tests, an x-ray and some antibiotics later she was back in full wiggle glory. Then Clyde started salivating and became lethargic. A trip to the emergency vet, blood tests, an ultrasound and antibiotics later he too had recovered from an inflamed salivary gland. I decided it was time to look in to pet insurance.

I compared plans and decided on a comprehensive health plan that even if the dogs stay healthy all year, will be about the same investment as if I did regular wellness exams and maybe one minor trip to the vet. I am going to take the gamble that in the next 12 months I will be taking advantage of the benefits.

This all came on the heels of the story the BE ran about the multi-billion dollar pet supply industry. I had to laugh a little when scanning though the television channels last night and ran across not only an ad for the pet grooming reality show, but also a reality show featuring 30-somethings competing in obedience exercises. My Google search says the show’s name is Greatest American Dog. This is not an Animal Planet show, but mainstream television.

I was thinking the obsession with my dogs and treating them like children was something unique to my life stage, married without children but I think it’s more an empty nester thing. We are friends with a family whose children are in their 30s. Each year a Christmas card came with the smiling faces of the couple and their two daughters. This last year, the card came with just the couple and their year-old dog. It’s become the family joke that all the photos in the house will be changed over to their new child.

So the dogs now have a monthly line item in our budget that includes not just the food and fashion accessories, but now health insurance. I know that when Ryan and I choose to have kids they will be made aware, just as I was, that the pups were our first children, and our kids will be raised to love them just as much as we do.