Are there certain words you don't like?.
Does the term pet bring a negative connotation to you?.
How do you feel about owner?.

I've found one which really bothers me and it's quality. To me quality defines an object. A quality computer, a quality car or a quality animation.
It just sounds odd when people go on and on about a quality dog or a quality betta. I tend to replace it with well-bred which makes so much more sense to me.

Another thing that rubs me the wrong way is calling animals it. Ok, calling a fish or sponge an it might pass...Calling a dog or horse an it??? nah....just feels wrong. You can go with si if you don't know the animal's gender.

Now i'm actually thinking about it, runt isn't a very pleasant word. I often feel sorry for those animals who are branded the runt of the litter. After all, it doesn't necessarily mean they're going to have any less of a life if cared for properly, at the start.
I guess that quality is a bit of a misdirected label. Mongrel dogs are just as capable of being a good quality pet, as pedigree ones are.

Yeah I feel what you mean. I hate it when people called dogs its (though I catch my self doing it at times and I HATE it when I do) I usually attempt ot guess the genter...and guess wrong. xD

Originally Posted by `Zombie

Yeah I feel what you mean. I hate it when people called dogs its (though I catch my self doing it at times and I HATE it when I do) I usually attempt ot guess the genter...and guess wrong. xD

I like much safer "Aww, what a cutie! What's their name?".

What annoys me most about domestication of animals
is the fact that were humans means we can decide there
fate and own animals not treat them as friends but no matter
how we look at it we should all consider ourselves global
citizens.

The only time it doesn't bug me when people call pets "it" is when the gender is not known. As long as people don't treat their pets like objects, not much bugs me. This includes fish, since a lot of people seem to think they're "disposable". I also hate when people refer to certain animals as being "feeders" for other animals, like mice, rats, goldfish, minnows, anoles, etc. Another thing that bothers me a lot is when people ask for pets by how much they cost. (ie: people asking for a lizard that's $7 or a fish that's .12 cents, etc) It's a living thing to me and no animal should be treated as a product.

Domesticated animals are products. They were quite literally bred over hundreds of years for the sole purpose of human use, be it as companions or decorations or serving some work function. Pets are made to be pets and that is what they live for. They cannot survive outside of being pets. They are not insulted when we call them "it" or when we view them as the living products that they are. As long as they're taken proper care of and kept healthy, they will be quite happy, I assure you.

What about "domesticated" animals that are wild caught? There's a lot of pets people buy that are wild caught or the eggs are taken out of the wild, especially when you get into fish and reptile speicies. Those aren't bread to be pets, but people still treat them as being domestic.

I really disagree with animals being treat or called products.
It reminds me of those pushy parents trying to control there
kids to make themselves look good. That's also a reason i
don't support pet shops and i ask you don't either. They come from
breeding farms. Support your local shelter and give a global citizen
a good home even if it only for a couple of years. We domesticated
them and now we should make sure there domestication is at least
enjoyable.

What irritates me is when owners dress up their pets excessively *not talking about bandannas since that's nothing more than a cloth collar* or try to match their wardrobe with their pet. You can't imagine how annoyed I get and feel embarrassment and pain for the animal in question. Also can't stand it when animals are spoiled and treated as though they were "children" or better. A dog is a dog, yes you love them to pieces and can only be so lucky if they're carefree and happy going. They're not your child, you did not birth them, they have no idea how to be anything else than what they are so stop it. *directed at people guilty of such* Oi
The "it" thing is unpleasant as well since pets clearly have a gender and deserve more respect than that. Unless they're like my Granpappy and call every dog a "she" *pretty funny* there's no reason for the animal to be an "it".

Its pretty sad when you call your animal companion an "it" they have genders too!! I dont mind calling my animal companion a pet but I prefer family d[^_^]b~[Say it right]

I don't really have a problem with words like "pet" and "owner". They just describe the relation between the two creatures. I do have to add that the word for "pet" in my language literally translates to "domestic/house animal", maybe that sounds less domineering or something...

And I don't agree with pets being objects. Yes, they are bred and sold mainly for purposes like companionship or decoration, but animals are much more than objects. They're friends, they comfort people and bring joy, and owners often get emotionally attached to them much more than they get attached to objects. I have never in my life known someone who cried over a broken $200 cell phone, but when a pet dies, people mourn almost as if the animal was a human.

There's just one thing I can't stand, and that is people who dress up their dogs excessively. I can understand people putting little boots on their dogs when it's muddy outside and they don't want mud stains all over the house, but making ponytails on top of dogs' heads and putting on entire outfits is over the top and, IMO, a waste of money.

I call my Whiskey, my little one, I don't say my pet, I perfer my kitty or my little babycat. Whiskey is a sweetie pie. I love to cuddle him but i know he doen't like it so i let him ride on my shoulders, he loves that. he likes being up high.

What i'm annoyed at now is my how my other cat smokey, after being missing for a few days was found at the spca. it apears somebody thought he was a stray, which seems odd, most strays aren't as fat as my lovable bear of a cat. what i couldn't understand was why bring him to the spca, why not knock on a few doors and say' is this your cat?' it cost $75 to get him back >.> now he's not allowed out without a collar. poor guy he doen't really like his collar but at least the jangling of the tags is like a warning to birds.

Well given I normally don't know how to tell an animal's gender I wind up saying "it" (rarely) or "they" (more often).

As for "Quality ___", I think it doesn't fit because quality is different to me. I consider "quality" based on personality.

Pet? Well yeah I refer to her as "my pet" or by her name, but the truth is... nobody owns a cat >.> they own you. (Our cats think they run the place >.<)

Honestly, the only thing that really upsets me is people who are horrible to their pets. If you're not going to take proper care of them, then you shouldn't have them.
I lived with a family that got a kitten for the kids(and it was totally just a guilt thing; the mom felt bad about having to leave town for work related training so she bought her kids two guinea pigs and a kitten). The kids were two and four, so definitely not old enough to care for these animals. The kitten lived in the garage and was let inside for brief periods of time in which the kids would harass the poor guy. And once the kids lost interest, he just lived in the garage. It was horrible! The poor little guy was locked in the garage most of the time, ran out of water and food on occasion, and received so little attention and love.

My dogs are like my babies and I treat them as such. I don't understand why people get animals that they're just going to neglect.

And worse! The people who get animals, start to neglect them or get bored with them, and then just drop in the street! This was common in my neighborhood when I was a child. I had neighbor's who decided that they didn't want their two dogs anymore, so they opened the front door and let them out and never let them back in. How horrible is that?! You should at least try to find them a home or take them to a shelter.
I have to stop now, I'm getting upset.

My dog's family. He's not a pet. I'm not an owner.
I hate it when I overhear people talking to my dog saying "Go find your owner" or "Go find your master" Master's even worse >.< I don't own him. He's not my slave.
He's my companion, my friend and my brother.
With our chickens and fish it's different. I don't consider them friends or pets.
The fish are just... there really. They live outside in a pond, they require no care at all, not even feeding, as the pond is close to being a lake and has plenty of stuff for them to survive well on. The pond's so huge I never know how many fish we have at one time, we don't see any for months and suddenly see a shoal of 50 of more Koi go past at random times, so I can't really connect with them.
The chickens are here to provide us with eggs. So I don't really see them as anything else other than egg layers. They live outside in a field. Sure, I clean out their houses, I feed them twice a day and I top up their water, but I don't really interact much with them. So they're just "The Chickens". I talk to them occasionally "Thank you for the Eggs girls", "Here's fresh water for you", "Stop pecking my foot or I'll drop an egg on your head"... that sort of thing, but I don't name them and they're fairly wild in the way that I don't try to stroke them and although they come running up to me when they see me, they keep their distance enough that I probably couldn't pet them (If I even wanted to, which I don't particularly).
I guess it's kind of odd to bond with some species of animals and not with others, but I guess we bond with some type of humans and not others, so maybe it's normal. I wouldn't want to bond with every species, as I haven't got the room to keep, or the time to care for an entire zoo.
So maybe it's a good thing that I only really like some Humans and Dogs for companions.

Originally Posted by Mystic

What about "domesticated" animals that are wild caught? There's a lot of pets people buy that are wild caught or the eggs are taken out of the wild, especially when you get into fish and reptile speicies. Those aren't bread to be pets, but people still treat them as being domestic.

Those shouldn't be pets at all, at least not in most cases. Granted, if no wild animals were ever domesticated, we wouldn't have any animals bred as pets today, but in general people who take animals from the wild often don't take care of them correctly. If it is done correctly, though, and the animals are kept happy and healthy (and keeping them won't endanger the population), there is no reason they shouldn't be kept that way if people want to breed them for future generations to sell as pets. As far as those individuals go, it doesn't matter--they're already pets and will likely stay that way, especially after being brought into human civilisation. They will not see their wild homes again and cannot survive in human society outside of the homes of their owners.