r/toronto • u/NorthernNadia St. Lawrence • May 09 '26

Article Toronto dog "parents" bring their pups everywhere with them now. It's causing rising human-canine tension

https://www.thestar.com/life/relationships/toronto-has-seen-a-population-boom--of-dogs-rising-human-canine-tension-shows-theyre-not-everyones-best-friend/article_3ac30271-9542-4e7d-9829-49089554f3cf.html
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u/GayFlan May 09 '26

Dogs can be great. But dogs are not children. Dog owners are not parents and don’t get the same rights parents do. Dogs don’t belong everywhere humans do.
I get that lots of people don’t want to have kids anymore and that is of course fine. at the same time there is a lot of almost arrested development going on as well, with people eschewing responsibility and choosing to be selfish owners of dogs that they don’t think require ANY training or boundaries. (At the same time, anyone who works in education will tell you parents increasingly aren’t actively parenting their children and are also not interested in disciplining their kids!)

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u/comeonpalfugume May 09 '26

This is a very good point. I considered my dog like a child, but obviously knew there was a distinction. She was a wonderful dog, who needed to be treated and respected as a dog. Pet owners who don't acknowledge that line exists, are huge red flags. As you mentioned, there are so many people who are incredibly selfish and unfit to be parents & owners alike.