# Almost 4 yo pretending to be a dog - would you be concerned?



## J1379 (Feb 25, 2011)

DS (who is almost 4 yo) recently started pretend playing that he was a dog from time to time. I really didn't think anything of it since we have two dogs and he is at that age where his imagination is just running wild! He will do this from once in a while during the day...crawling on all 4's and will curl up in a ball like the dogs in some of their sleep spots or pretending to sniff things etc. He gave the dog a name too - "Frank". When he pretends like this he will still interact with me and if I ask him a question he will answer - so its not like he is zoned out or anything. Anyways...on the weekend my MIL was over (she is a retired teacher) and she was really worried about his behaviour. She told me that it was something that I should strongly discourage and was not "normal". She then proceeded to tell me a story about a child she taught who took this type of pretend play too far and would pretend to be a dog in Grade 2, barking at people and licking desks. So this thing that I thought was innocent fun now has me worried!! Is it normal? Is it really something I should be discouraging him from doing?


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## artekah (Apr 26, 2009)

Sounds perfectly normal. Your MIL's reaction is what is strange to me!


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## blackbird2 (Apr 14, 2008)

I think it's totally normal. Not worth a second thought. My almost-4 is frequently a cat.


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## pbjmama (Sep 20, 2007)

Kids pretend to be animals all the time. I wouldn't give it a second thought.


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## nextcommercial (Nov 8, 2005)

Second grade. Yes... be concerned. But, a four year old is supposed to have imaginary play like this.

One of my daycare kids pretends to be Peppa Pig all the time. He's sometimes a puppy. ( I draw the line at letting him lick the other parent's legs) But, it's just fun.

I won't let him be a "pretend baby" at my house, but, only because the other kids are starting to think he's weird, and I have two real babies to deal with... I'm not playing pretend baby with him. But, that doesn't make him abnormal.


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## Cyllya (Jun 10, 2009)

I pretended to be a dog up through fifth grade. It seemed to piss off my classmates, but I still became human again later, lol. And I think the conflict with my classmates was more just an overall lack of social skills on my part.

Your MIL is weird.


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## fruitfulmomma (Jun 8, 2002)

Uh, yeah totally normal. My three year does it a lot and she knows she's not a dog, we don't even have one.

I wouldn't be bothered by a 2nd grader play acting either, though I would expect them to know when it is appropriate or not.


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## VocalMinority (Apr 8, 2009)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *J1379*
> 
> DS (who is almost 4 yo) recently started pretend playing that he was a dog from time to time. I really didn't think anything of it since we have two dogs and he is at that age where his imagination is just running wild! He will do this from once in a while during the day...crawling on all 4's and will curl up in a ball like the dogs in some of their sleep spots or pretending to sniff things etc. He gave the dog a name too - "Frank". When he pretends like this he will still interact with me and if I ask him a question he will answer - so its not like he is zoned out or anything. Anyways...on the weekend my MIL was over (she is a retired teacher) and she was really worried about his behaviour. She told me that it was something that I should strongly discourage and was not "normal". She then proceeded to tell me a story about a child she taught who took this type of pretend play too far and would pretend to be a dog in Grade 2, barking at people and licking desks. So this thing that I thought was innocent fun now has me worried!! Is it normal? Is it really something I should be discouraging him from doing?


Ironically enough, when I was in 2nd grade (heck, maybe it was 4th!), we had a bad winter and weeks on end of indoor recess. Our entire grade went through a period of pretending we were dogs and running around on all 4's. There were different "gangs" of dogs and we'd go on missions and pretend to spy on each other, etc. I remember it was *really* fun (although writing about it now, as an adult, it's hard to imagine why...) One grouchy older teacher was disapproving, but the others were OK with it or thought it was funny.

I remember my mom getting upset when I let my preschool-aged sons play dress-up. Although the one son was just in love with these red, sequined shoes, for the most part they weren't even "cross-dressing". They had Army jackets, scrubs, Indian headdresses, that sort of thing. But Mom thought dress-up was "weird" for boys and that I might "make they gay". Sometimes you just have to smile and wonder what on Earth the older generation's parents taught them about raising children?


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## Dar (Apr 12, 2002)

When one of my favorite kids was four, she introduced herself to someone once by saying, "My name is actually S_____, but I prefer to be referred to as 'Puppy'." She had the greatest way of phrasing things... but no one batted an eye at calling her Puppy!


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## J1379 (Feb 25, 2011)

THANK YOU ladies!!! I'm so glad to see that you all agree with me and feel it is totally normal! I hate that being a parent makes you always second-guess yourself and worry that your child is not developing appropriately. I get angry at myself for even caring about comments others make and hate that those comments that initially make me angry yet end up sticking in my head and worrying me! I was really annoyed at my MIL too - and Jeannine I agree...I think it might just be a generational gap thing! My MIL is much more into structured activities instead of creative play and I try to foster that in my DS! I love seeing how his mind works and the amazing things that he can think up on his own!

Thanks again!!!


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## bonamarq (Oct 18, 2006)

Well my second grader still acts like a cat quite a bit - but like the pp pointed out - she knows when it's ok and when not - she loves to put on her cat outfit (leopard top/pants with matching tail and ears) and be a cat - Does she do it in school? maybe at recess but not to my knowledge? She's in tag and considered very creative by teachers and others that see her work - so I think your MIL is OVER GENERALIZING b/c she knew one strage kid that probably had alot of OTHER issues, but happend to act like a dog

Aside from not knowing when it was appropriate I'd only be concerned if he refused to 'come out' of being a dog even after long periods (hours)

just my .02


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## crayfishgirl (May 26, 2009)

This thread made me laugh...especially the story of the entire grade two class transforming into a room full of dogs!

I also agree your MIL is overreacting. My 3 year old was a duck all day Saturday....as we went about our errands and people spoke with her she would reply that she couldn't talk to them because she was a duck and ducks can't talk. Adorable, and hilarious.


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## meemee (Mar 30, 2005)

<psst- big secret here> milk it for what its worth. my dd wouldnt ever want to leave the grocery store but the puppy would on an imaginary leash.

use this time to your great advantage. i got my 'puppy' but mostly 'kitten' to do a lot of things which dd refused to do as herself. of course the part "I" didnt like is that i had to deal with the puppy licking my face. the more i said ewwww the more the puppy shook her behind and licked me more.


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## autumnvt (Mar 9, 2009)

Totally normal...


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## mamazee (Jan 5, 2003)

My only concern is re your mother-in-law. LOL. I wouldn't even be concerned about a 2nd grader, unless he/she were unable to put it on hold and was disrupting class.


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## ShadowMoon (Oct 18, 2006)

My son will imitate dogs frequently since he was raised with some. Perfectly normal, IMO.


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## talktomenow (May 9, 2003)

Lol! So normal! My dd1 did this for a long time at the same age. She even had a special dog name- Marie. She found an old dog collar we didn't use and would wear it. Her dad even made her a tag for it that said "Marie". She'd try to get in our dog's crate with him. It was cute and normal... Obviously, she outgrew it.


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## MichelleZB (Nov 1, 2011)

My little sister pretended to be a cat until she was about 8 or 9, so thoroughly that we had to call her "Kitty" and we still do. She's completely normal and went to [IVY LEAGUE UNIVERSITY]. Your can tell your MIL to stuff it.


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## sewingmommy (Apr 21, 2007)

my 5 year old ds does this although its not always dogs ...can be squirrels , ducks , rabbits etc


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## StephanieFinNJ (Dec 20, 2012)

THANK YOU for writing this, I loved all the replies and yes it's perfectly normal behavior. I was a "cat" or "cougar" all the time growing up, and had to take off my "kitty suit" before I could become myself again. LOL. My parents never thought anything about it, but my own 4 year old is now constantly pretending to be a dog (or a princess, or whatever) and my in-laws called her "weird" and I was infuriated. They dont see her often as they spend the winters in Florida and are home for the Holidays. It's upsetting because why do people feel the need to judge others children? Their own kids are hardly perfect, one is a barely functioning adult man, so why the need to make me feel like there is something wrong with my child? Look at your own, and worry about them! I have to hear "Well, MY BOYS never did that" when my daughter is doing something my MIL find unacceptable. And she makes it clear my parenting style is completely wrong in her book. I just keep my head up and ignore her - she parented 40 years ago and I dont think either of them will ever understand or even want to understand the difference.

I was happy to find this site and this post in-particular, now if they would just read it!


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## Neera (Jul 15, 2007)

Not at all. Dd is often a dog, somtimes a cat, a bunny, a frog or a lion. Her classmate was a macaw the other day.

Dd's almost 6.


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## lmk1 (Sep 21, 2007)

My ds1, when he was that age, loved to play penguins...usually everyone had to play with him. He would put a stuffed penguin in his shirt and he was the mama penguin. After a while I got to be the mama penguin and he wanted to play leopard seal eating the penguins. I understand that would not be convenient in a structured setting, but it's way more normal and in my opinion, better for kids than the structured play at school or other places. I often wonder about other people's opinions, too, or worry if my kids are normal, although much less so with ds2 than with ds1.


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## lmk1 (Sep 21, 2007)

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *bonamarq*
> 
> Well my second grader still acts like a cat quite a bit - but like the pp pointed out - she knows when it's ok and when not - she loves to put on her cat outfit (leopard top/pants with matching tail and ears) and be a cat - Does she do it in school? maybe at recess but not to my knowledge? She's in tag and considered very creative by teachers and others that see her work - so I think your MIL is OVER GENERALIZING b/c she knew one strage kid that probably had alot of OTHER issues, but happend to act like a dog
> 
> ...


You also gotta think what are people who go on to become actors in theater and movies like as kids? Hard to imagine that they don't like to pretend more often and for longer time than other kids, right? I don't really know any actors in real life, but I can't imagine that they just wake up one morning as adults and become actors....I'd think the really good ones probably were really good and enjoyed pretending to be someone/something else as even older kids.


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## bmcneal (Nov 12, 2006)

I think it's normal. DD (almost 7) goes through phases where she's a dog, or a cat.

Quote:


> Originally Posted by *meemee*
> 
> <psst- big secret here> milk it for what its worth. my dd wouldnt ever want to leave the grocery store but the puppy would on an imaginary leash.
> 
> use this time to your great advantage. i got my 'puppy' but mostly 'kitten' to do a lot of things which dd refused to do as herself. *of course the part "I" didnt like is that i had to deal with the puppy licking my face. the more i said ewwww the more the puppy shook her behind and licked me more. *


That's hilarious! But only because I've dealt with it myself, so can also be sympathetic.


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## RobinLyra (Dec 28, 2012)

Wow! Why would anyone even need to question a child's imagination?? Strange to me that Mother's want to find things wrong with their children and have them labeled - let kids be kids and tell your MIL that she is the one that is reacting abnormally.


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## Silverring (Dec 8, 2012)

Yep. There's a picture of me at about 8 years old, dressed as a cat, cleaning my 'whiskers'.


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## limabean (Aug 31, 2005)

It sounds like seeing your little one pretending to be a dog just triggered an unpleasant memory of the 2nd-grader she mentioned (who perhaps was taking it too far), and she was unable to separate the issues in her mind.

But a 4-year-old pretending to be an animal? Yeah ... pretty run-of-the-mill stuff, I think. I'm surprised she hasn't encountered it often enough to know it's normal.


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## J1379 (Feb 25, 2011)

I posted this question a long time ago and the funny thing is that I can see now looking back it was totally a phase....and MIL has backed off and hasn't been mentioning her concerns anymore LOL. But I totally agree with you limabean - I think it did stir up some unpleasant memories of the student in her class and made her jump to the thought that it isn't normal and I shouldn't be allowing it nor finding it acceptable. I ended up just ignoring her criticism except for the few times that she tried to discipline him for pretending to act like a dog (that I didn't take to kindly!!). Nothing wrong with a child expressing their imagination....its just so hard as a parent when your child's behaviour is being brought into question!


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## -Resque- (Aug 25, 2009)

I know this is months old, but it's brought up so many fond memories for me of my own childhood- I wanted a cat SO BADLY. I would pretend to be one for YEARS... my mom even went so far as to buy a litter box for me to pretend with- not filled with anything, obviously. I did this up until I was 9 or so... when I FINALLY GOT MY CAT!!!  It was a great day.

My stepdaughter, who is now 9.5, pretended she was a dog named Sprint for many years as well. It tapered off, and the last we saw of Sprint was around 8 years old. I would give her bowls filled with water for her to drink out of, and "bones--" spaghetti noodles for her to crunch up.


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## Nana17 (Apr 23, 2014)

I have a grandson that will be four in June. I take care of him daily so that my daughter does not have to spend the high day cost. Just lately he is pretending to be a dog. He runs pretty good on all fours through the house. He also does this at school. (He has high functioning autism with PDD. He cannot communicate very well. He does have voice therapy and starting to talk with three words together.) He is starting to bite and hit. I do not know what is going on. I can understand he is frustrated by not be able to talk well but the biting and hitting concerns me beside acting like a dog.


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## mmarkey19695 (Mar 16, 2014)

I have one of those MIL!!! She always had something to say about my children's behavior until I finally told her to mind her of business! I absolutely hate bad mouthing my husband or his family but I will say this; my children are strait A, perfect conduct, very talented kids. Her three children dropped out of high school and my husband is the only one that isn't addicted to drugs and can hold a steady job! I had to inform her in the nicest way I could think of that I did not need parenting advice from her of all people. Your sons behavior is Perfectly normal. God bless


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## FreyIn (Apr 24, 2014)

My kids listen way better when they are pretending to be doggies, than when they are just being themselves. Lol


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