Puppies vs. Kids: Which One Tops Your List?

A lot of people have been telling me, "Puppies are worse than kids."

The time, the effort, the training.

In the two months since owning crazy, destroyer, spaz, pretty, cute, smart Mara (all at one time nicknames ), I haven't quite found 100 percent truth from these words of wisdom that I keep hearing — "Puppies are worse than kids."

Hear a baby crying? Drop everything and run. Hear a dog whining from its kennel? Ignore it, so it can learn that alone time is OK.

Heading out for the night? Put the dog in the kennel. Leaving for the evening? Leave the baby in the ... oh, wait.

At this point, hopefully you are joining me in my confusion of just how puppies can be worse than kids.

Then again, I don't have kids.

I did, however, recently become an aunt for the first time — and enjoy the company of my little nephew just as much as I enjoy the solemn eyes of my well-behaved puppy.

That is, until she goes to puppy class.

Mara is crazy at puppy class (refer to list of nicknames.)

At home, she knows these commands: sit, down, whoa (stay), shake, touch (nose to hand), watch me, settle, rollover, come and, most importantly, leave it. Recently, she's been learning, "no!"

At puppy class, she knows two things: other dogs — gotta have 'em.

But truth be told, by the end of our sixth week of puppy obedience class at in Saukville — she finally pulled out a few moves to impress our trainer.

Yep, Mara graduated.

Mara loves Dawgs in Motion, and I'm 90 percent certain she has learned its smell. The wag of her tail as she runs to my lap when the car stops in the parking lot — yep, she knows it: other dogs — gotta have it.

I love Dawgs in Motion, too. The classes have been great, and Mara seems to learn a lot (though she doesn't get to showing it until we are at home.) They also offer half- and full-day daycare service. A half-day is anytime less than six hours, and the price levels out at just under $15.

Somebody else running around with my crazy dog while I get my Patch work done? Priceless.

If you have a puppy — or even a dog — I'd look into Dawgs in Motion. They have a lot of great services, at affordable prices, and an extremely friendly staff.

On Tuesday, we started Dog Obedience 1 at Dawgs in Motion, during which Mara (and I) have been given homework.

This leads me to only truly one way I can say puppies are worse than kids: Puppies learn faster, puppies age faster — puppies die younger.

There's no doubt the bond between man and beast can be just as developed as human-to-human love. And while I can't imagine the pain involved in burying a child, to think Mara will just barely survive to my 40th birthday is heartbreaking.

Don't think the animal-human bond is so tear worthy? Jon Tumilson was recently killed in Afghanistan and his dog — known as "his son" to family members, as reported by Yahoo!NEWS — laid down beneath the soldier's casket during the ceremony.

Heartbreaking.