SMSM203

Age 27, Gender F, Nationality Thailand, Occupation Housewife

I have a dog, Labrador Retriever. My husband gave me the dog for a birthday present. The dog's name is Rover. My husband had a Landrover and named him after the car. At that time he was a puppy of four months old and we have been together for about two years. .... I used to have cats but I prefer dogs. So I spoiled him, that is, I let him do whatever he wanted. Consequently I could not control him. He destroyed home furniture of our room. Then I asked a trainer to teach him. After then he seems to be trained 50%. Even now he enjoys his freedom. He is always happy to play. He likes jumping to others and playing especially with tennis balls. He often breaks the balls by chewing too strongly though. As to his personality he is so emotional and sometimes jealous. He always squeezes himself into between us when my husband hugs me.... I am from Thailand. People in Thailand don't treat dogs this way. They usually don't consider dogs as friends or pets, so they don't understand the people who have dogs in their houses and feed them as parents do their kids. I think this is a big difference of attitude toward dogs or pets between Eastern people and Western people. Even my family don't understand the way I treat him.... Frankly I don't like the word pet. It sounds like human is superior to animals, like a master or an owner of them. I consider him as a friend or a kid to be with all the time. I think he considers me as such at the same time. Since we have deep relationship with each other, I fear of thinking about the time when he passes away.