Jerry O'Connell Says Pets "Are Training for Kids"

Making a baby sure can be "a lot of fun," says Jerry O’Connell. The 34-year-old actor and wife Rebecca Romijn recently celebrated their first wedding anniversary, and have made no secret of their shared desire for parenthood.  Leaving little room for doubt, Jerry tells People.com "we’re trying to get pregnant" and "it would be amazing if it happened…I hope it does."

In the meantime, Jerry noted that the couple have two fur "babies" to practice on — their dogs Taco and Better. "Pets are training for kids," Jerry says.

Source: People.com; Photo by John Shearer/WireImage.

Comments

I really dont like when people compare kids to animals..im not being overly senstive to his comment b/c i get it..im just speaking in general. My Mother in law called her dog my brother in law, when i my son was going though the terrible two’s someone compared it to training there dog to be obedient, and when my friend adopted her dog and tried to make some comparison i had to let her know that look you may dress that puppy up and get a carrier and stroller for it BUT if that thing gets on your nerves you can return it to the pound, people have the option of putting animals to sleep, and you can leave that animal unattended…raising a child is not the same as caring for a pet

- cm on July 24th, 2008

Am I the only one who hates the term “fur babies”? Is it now not PC or somehow callous to just call them pets?

- Stef on July 24th, 2008

my sister is pregnant and always referes to her dog as her baby- and when she or others do i just give a sly smile to myself and think- they have no idea. If only babies were as easy as pets…

- juliana on July 24th, 2008

I’ve always thought that if you can raise a dog properly, you can raise a child properly. If you really think about it, there is not that big of a difference. Dogs need to be fed, bathed, potty trained, exercised, socialized, (vaccinated), check-ups, medical care, taught manners/obideience, they need attention, they are taught learned behaviors. They almost have the same life span until they are techinally not your responsibility anymore. See? they are not as different as you think. An added bonus is that they don’t talk back (well at least mine do)…

- Teresa on July 24th, 2008

I think anyone who has had both kids and pets would acknowledge there’s NO COMPARISON.

- Fynn on July 24th, 2008

Teresa – Your comments are so wrong – there is NO comparison to raising a dog vs. raising a child. Just because someone can be responsible with a dog doesn’t mean they will automatically be able to raise a child and be a good parent. At best, MAYBE you’ll have a better chance – but…I wouldn’t go as far as to say “Oh, you can raise a dog? Well, that’s just like a kid so you’ll be fine”..

I have 3 kids and am pregnant with my 4th. I worked with a vet for 5 years before I started having my kids. I aquired a golden retriever and 3 cats from working there, and now have them along with my 3 kids. I can tell you that the more kids I have the lower on the totem pole the animals get. That’s just the way it is…and I’m not the only one, because there was client after client that this would happen to at the animal hospital I worked at. I used to think it was wierd, but now that I’ve lived it I can see how it happens. Children demand the attention that the pets used to get. Not that the pets get NO attention, they just get a different kind of attention.

Your analogies come no where NEAR what a child needs. Dogs need fed ONCE daily. Kids need fed several times daily, a balanced meal every time. Babies breastfeed every 2 hours 24/7 and through the night. You put 4 cups of dog food in a bowl once and day and some water in another bowl and a dog is fine. You have to bathe your kids every day. A dog can get by with a hose down in the driveway once a month. NO comparison! My golden retriever was trained to go outside before she was 8 weeks old. Never an accident after that. She can stay in the house for almost the whole day if she has to if we need to go grocery shopping, etc. and not have an accident. I started potty training my 4 year old at 2 1/2 years old and she still has occasional accidents. A dog needs vaccines once a year. Babies go every several months until they’re 2. A dogs “need for attention” is WAY different than a childs NEED for attention. A dog lives 10-12 years (which, sadly, is NEVER long enough in my opinion), children are your children for the rest of your life. You can go on vacation and leave your dog in a kennel for weeks on end if you want, and they’ll act like you were never gone when you come home. Can’t do that with kids. You can get sick of your dog and give it to a humane society or find it a new home. Can’t do that with kids.

I’m sorry, but there’s no comparison.

I get the whole “we have a dog and it’s preparing us for kids” thing…I’ve seen it a lot and people make that analogy all the time. BUT – there’s only SO much preparation that having a dog will give you for kids. Yes, it teaches you a certain level of responsibility, BUT – Once you have the kids there’s no comparison of the work load to having a dog.

- Sara on July 24th, 2008

I have a question? Didn’t her and John Stamous break up because she openly said she didn’t want children ever and he did?

- momof3girls on July 24th, 2008

I too will have to admit that pets DO NOT prepare you for children!! I have to laugh every time I hear that. In fact I think pets make it harder when you DO have kids. lol if only my daughter we as easy as a dog…

- Lauren on July 24th, 2008

Lauren – I have to agree with you, you are totally right. I found the same thing when I had kids it was hard to have the pets. You eventually get into a routine and it gets easier but it’s hard to take care of the pets and a new baby at first.

- Sara on July 24th, 2008

I think all Jerry means is that they are learning responsibility with their pets. When you’ve lived a pet-free, kid-free existence, you aren’t used to considering the needs of others in your day-to-day life.

It disgusts me to read the comments discussing “disposability” (my words, not yours) as one difference between having kids and having pets.

By adopting an animal, you are making a commitment to that animal. Too many people “love” their animal until they have a baby or chose to move into a non-animal-friendly building. I volunteer at a shelter FILLED with them. It’s unfortunate that animals pay the price, often with their lives, for those who have no regard for this commitment. It’s the only life they have been given too.

I understand sometimes circumstances make it so that you cannot keep a pet. At least try to find it a new home. You owe them that.

- happywindy on July 24th, 2008

I can see everyone’s prospective but when I was 20, my mother gave me the best advice ever when she told me that if I was thinking about having kids I should get a pet first. I have to honestly say that having a dog made me realize how NOT ready I was to have kids when I was younger. I now have 4 kids and a dog and it is tough to balance it all but I learned that taking care of a pet is no easy task, it involves being unselfish and attentive even when you don’t want to be. Of course it’s not the same as raising a child, but my dog actually prepared me for the even bigger task known as parenthood. Just my 2 cents.

- Dannie on July 24th, 2008

Comparing children and dogs is kind of stupid since each unique being comes with their own peculiar set of chores and responsibilities. Anyone who has had a very difficult child and a very easy child could vouch that the experience is completely different!
And I have to agree with Stef that the term “fur babies” gives me the creeps. Dogs are a special gift all on their own; I find it demeaning to suggest that they’d need to be human in order to be important.

- Elizabeth on July 24th, 2008

I agree about the term “fur baby/ies” – I detest it too. That and “newbie,” “baby bump,” combining couples names like Bennifer. Can’t people spell anymore? Why must everything be abbreviated or called something else? I’m afraid I am losing this argument

momof3girls, I thought that too. I think they ultimately broke up because of the age difference and didn’t Stamos start drinking or something?

I like this couple but I am getting tired of hearing about how they are trying to conceive every day just about as much as I am sick of hearing how Eva Longoria is not pregnant.

I hope that Jerry and Rebecca learn one thing from having pets before children – that they come up with some better names for their children than they did for their pets(Taco and Better).

- Chrystie Delancey on July 24th, 2008

This post made me think of a woman who works in my hubby’s office who is a very high-maintenance diva type. She had a baby about a year ago, and when she was pregnant she was always saying how easy it will be because she has had a chihuahua for 5 years. And of course, after she had the baby she realized how difficult it was. She went in and had a tummy tuck six months after and shortly there after, her husband had a vasectomy. They were THAT SURE they didn’t want any more kids. She is a fake-nails/fake-tan/takes 2 hrs to get ready/thinks BFing is ‘gross’ kind of person and I honestly think she believed the whole “if you can care for a dog, you can care for a baby’ thing only to realize it wasn’t so. She thought the baby would be a cute accessory and that she could continue to make her life all about her.

- *Lulu* on July 24th, 2008

Please don’t misunderstand my original post. I never said it completely prepares you for parenthood. I just think it helps prepare you in the fact that your life will change and it’s not all about you anymore. The examples i gave are completely accurate in the beginning stages of both lives. The only real differences are that you don’t have to breastfeed a dog and that children will grow up and require a diffent type of care than pets. I would NEVER push my dogs aside as i would NEVER push my older kids aside to care for the younger one. It bothers me too that some are so quick to say you can just “dispose” of a pet or turn it in. Generally speaking…It was your choice to have both, you should make more of an effort to make it work.

- Teresa on July 24th, 2008

Why are people upset about this? It’s just a comment and more than likely. he was making a joke. Some people are getting upset over nothing. He could have said pets don’t train you for having kids and people would have said he’s being insensitive to pet owners, etc.

- Renee on July 24th, 2008

Good grief! I can’t speak on experience (I haven’t had children yet) but I can tell you that my own mother, who has four adult children, has said repeatedly that taking care of a dog is a bit comparable to raising a child. She actually has a chihuahua, a breed that is a lot more demanding of love and care than the average dog, and Sara upthread who stated that dogs need feeding once a day is completely wrong. If you have a small dog odds are their meals are spread out throughout the day–my mom’s Chi eats 4 meals a day minimum b/c his stomach is so tiny. Now I’m really not trying to equate having a dog to having a baby (I think most people realize that there is a huge difference) but I can see the validity in the idea that caring for a dog, especially house dogs does give a glimpse into the kind of responsibilities having a child will demand of you.

- Erica on July 24th, 2008

Erica –
Ok, small dogs (and sometimes large dogs for that matter or even cats) do sometimes get fed several times a day if they aren’t “grazers” – meaning that you can put the full days supply of dog food in the bowl and they eat throughout the day. Still, you scoop the dog food in a bowl…takes about 20 seconds. Not the same as making meals for kids or breastfeeding a baby, I’m sorry. I worked with a vet with thousands of clients, and I’m in fact NOT wrong in saying that most dogs get fed once daily.

Teresa, Your statement that says “The only real differences between children and dogs are that you don’t have to breastfeed a dog and that children will grow up and require a diffent type of care than pets” …I just can’t believe someone with kids would say this. You can’t compare the care of kids to the care of pets, period.

- Sara on July 24th, 2008

Also, when I was making the analogy of giving a dog to the humane society or finding it a new home I didn’t mean that I would do that. I’m speaking from experience in seeing that a lot of times this is what a lot of people do when they have kids. It’s really sad, but it happens just like “happywindy” said in their post. The humane societies are filled with dogs that people don’t want after having kids. It’s a fact that this happens and you can’t do that with kids.

Also, I said you could go on vacation for weeks on end and leave your dog. This is another thing that happens all the time – people just put their dog in a kennel and have a good time – and you can’t do that with kids. Again, not that I’ve ever done that. I’d probably bring my dog to my moms house because she has dogs too.

My dog is as spoiled as the next, she is very well loved. What I’m saying is that you can’t compare the work load of having a dog vs. the work load of having kids, and also compare the attention that the two require – no comparison.

- Sara on July 24th, 2008

Well I’ve had dogs in the past and I currently have two kids and I may be in the minority but I had a harder time with my dogs than I ever had with my kids. I don’t know if it was because it was a high rise building and I had to take the dog down to the first floor everytime it had to pee, but let’s just say I gave my old dog to my mom because I couldn’t take care of it well. My kids though are well taken care of and healthy. I’m sure if we lived in a house then a dog would have been very easy to take care of.

- sarah on July 24th, 2008

Sara – you seriously need to chill out. This whole thing is a non-issue. You are blowing this WAY out of proportion. All I am saying is that it is COMPARABLE in the young stages, not the SAME. Having dog teaches you responsibility and on-going care of another being whether it be human or a pet. I’m not stupid. I know there is a difference.

- Teresa on July 24th, 2008

I totally agree with HappyWindy. I’ve found that raising a pet is very similar to raising a baby, if you’re a true animal lover. I’m not going to create a list comparing/contrasting the two. lol. I will say that REAL pet owners who love their pets and their children know that both are lifetime commitments. When I take on a pet I plan to give it the best life possible for as long as it shall live. My human babies and my furry babies are both to be taught, cared for and adored. Plus, my first furry baby will always be my “first born”. I LOVE my pets.

- m-dot on July 24th, 2008

Well I have a dog, no children. My opinion is it does HELP you prepare (on a small scale) for the responsibility of children.

I have to be home at certain times on weekends & every weeknight to feed and walk him (gets fed & walked twice per day). I have to pay his very pricey medical expenses. I am there to clean up his vomit and diarrhea. He wakes me in the middle of the night if he needs to go outside to the toilet- which if mostly at about 2am, and can take me a while to fall back to sleep. When we go on holidays we have to drop him nearly 2 hours away from our house and pay $33 per day! He also has anxiety issues that we are getting training for…..

So as you can see, its not exactly the same, but I definitely see the comparisons!!

- iluvallbabies on July 24th, 2008

I agree with teresa and renee. This isn’t an issue. And I would say that having a dog does PREPARE you a little more for what it would be like to have a kid. Not saying it’s the SAME. Teresa I see the comparisons you were making with the stages and agree with you. And for the people who are saying there is no way it can prepare you, Maybe it wouldn’t help everyone but it would help some people to have a pet and know that added responsiblity.

- Liv on July 24th, 2008

I completely agree with you, happywindy. While having a child may be a far greater commitment than having a pet in the long run, the fact that people here are talking so carelessly about “getting sick of your dog” and sending it back to the pound is disgusting. Perhaps Teresa isn’t as off the mark as some are making her out to be when she says if you can raise a pet properly, you can raise a child properly. If people are so willing to take on the responsibility of adopting a cat, dog, etc. and signing a contract promising to love and care for that animal no matter what only to kick it to the curb when you don’t feel like caring for it anymore, what does that say for their sense of personal responsibility as well as responsibility for another life? Every pet is completely dependent on them for their physical and mental needs?

- Lauren on July 24th, 2008

when did this site turn into a place to argue and bicker over every little thing people say? everytime i read the comments i get knots in my stomach. everyone is so judgemental

- grace on July 25th, 2008

Whoever said this: “…BUT if that thing gets on your nerves you can return it to the pound, people have the option of putting animals to sleep, and you can leave that animal unattended…raising a child is not the same as caring for a pet”

should never EVER be allowed to have a pet. EVER. I have three dogs and cats AND a young son, and my pets did somewhat prepare me for a baby. You have to be responsible and care for you pets – its not all about YOU when you have a pet. Is the exact same as having a baby? Well, no of course not. But can the comparison be made? Absolutely.

And for the record – my pets ARE my first babies.

- Angelika on July 25th, 2008

“. . . should never EVER be allowed to have a pet. EVER.”

I agree with you Angelika, but not everyone is as caring and compassionate as you are.

I have heard stories from animal shelters of pets being taken to the pound because they no longer matched their owner’s decor, SERIOUSLY! It’s just disgusting how people can be.

When I adopted my cat (now 10) from a shelter, I had to sign a piece of paper stating I would properly care for him and that he had to be an indoor cat, among a ton of other things. Of course it was just a piece of paper, but I took it seriously. I have had pets since I was born and I know how special they are and I know that it hurts like heck when they are taken from us unexpectedly.

It amazes me that so many adults have never had pets before. The only pet my husband had (before our cat) was a hamster, unfortunately.

What’s funny is that since we have had our cat, I see how great my husband is with him and I hope that it shows he will be great with our future children too. I won’t agree with the argument that having pets trains you for parenthood, but pets definitely add something to an ordinary hum-drum life and make life worth living and they do (if done properly) show you how to care for someone other than yourself.

- Chrystie Delancey on July 25th, 2008

Those two will make beautiful babies. I hope they are able to conceive quickly!

I have to weigh in on the pets thing… although in my opinion the statement doesn’t carry much weight coming from someone with no kids, I have to agree that having pets did somewhat prepare me for having kids (well, I only have one right now but hoping to have more in the future).

Learning to live with a less-than-clean house, dropping whatever you are doing to take care of someone else, etc. Also, it gave me a glimpse of what my boyfriend (now my husband) would be like as a father. And gave us practice in resolving differences of opinion on how we should discipline and learning to present a unified front!

- Sami on July 25th, 2008

Angelika- I completely agree with you! Pets are no more disposable than kids are. I am absolutly apalled that some people put their pets to sleep just because they can’t or don’t want to take care of them anymore. I understand and support the use of euthansia when a pet is obviously terminally ill (which ended up being the case with the dog I had as a kid) or injured to the point that it’s quality of life will be severely impacted if it does manage to survive.

However, to euthinise a pet just because you don’t want it anymore is, IMO, downright inhumane! There’s no reason an innocent dog, cat, or other pet should have to die because it’s owners don’t want to or can’t care for it any longer!

If you absolutly have to give up your pet, then give it to someone else or at least take it to a shelter! Even then, I believe that you should at least try to find a new home for the pet before you resort to taking it to a shelter. There are lots of people out there who would love to have a pet!

- CelebBabyLover on July 26th, 2008