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This article is part of <\/span><\/i>Upstream,<\/span><\/i><\/a> The Daily Wire\u2019s new home for culture and lifestyle. Real human insight and human stories \u2014 from our featured writers to you.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n ***<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n My dog, Lemmy, is one of my favorite people. He snores like an old man, scares himself with his own farts, and snorts directly into my eyes. Always on the lookout for new friends (he\u2019ll take humans over other dogs), he wiggles, rolls into a ball, and lies on strangers\u2019 feet, lapping up belly rubs and compliments about his cuteness.<\/span><\/p>\n Of the <\/span>200 words<\/span><\/a> most dogs can comprehend, at least 197 words of Lemmy\u2019s vocabulary are probably nicknames I\u2019ve made up for him over the years. A blue French Bulldog with a nub for a tail, smushed nose, googly eyes, and \u201ctulip ears,\u201d he answers to Bunny, Skoonch, Teddy, Boops, and variations on the theme. He\u2019s the best boy. <\/span>I joke that he\u2019s my biological son based on our shared <\/span>love of peanut butter, long walks on the beach, and packages from Amazon.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Though the <\/span>birthrate<\/span><\/a> is declining in the U.S., pet ownership is skyrocketing \u2014 up <\/span>more than 50%<\/span><\/a> since the 1980s. As the <\/span>human population shrinks<\/span><\/a>, dogs, cats, <\/span>horses, turtles, and chinchillas<\/span><\/a> have us feeling a little less <\/span>lonely<\/span><\/a>. But as researchers scramble to uncover the real reasons behind the dip in population, dogs get wrapped up in the mix as a \u201csubstitute kids\u201d scapegoat.<\/span><\/p>\n Some surveys suggest that currently childless <\/span>dog owners<\/span><\/a> see a four-legged buddy as \u201c<\/span>a child surrogate to spoil<\/span><\/a>.\u201d Even the late Pope Francis warned, \u201cWe see a form of selfishness. We see that some people do not want to have a child \u2026 They have dogs and cats that take the place of children.\u201d (He also said pets <\/span>go to Heaven<\/span><\/a>, so he gets a pass.)<\/span><\/p>\n There\u2019s no world in which I think Lemmy is, in fact, my kid. Of course I tell him he\u2019ll always be my baby, and I love taking him to every restaurant that will have him. But I can tell the difference between how he sees the world and how my niece and nephews do. He also doesn\u2019t have as many weekend soccer tournaments on his calendar. <\/span>I don\u2019t have kids, but do parents normally let their human children lick their faces? Hit me up in the comments.<\/span><\/p>\n When I lived in LA, there was a much greater chance that someone was pushing a stroller with a dog swaddled in the main compartment versus a human baby. But new research shows that people who pamper their pups like babies might actually save humanity. Or, at least, be more likely to eventually have their own kids.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n A study<\/a> in Taiwan followed 23 million participants and millions of pets over a decade, revealing that pet owners weren\u2019t replacing hypothetical children with animals. Instead, those pets were simply joining the family first<\/a>. The human kids came next. (The findings also showed this doesn\u2019t work in reverse where babies lead to people getting dogs.) <\/span><\/p>\n Pets make people parents. It\u2019s just science, you guys!<\/span><\/p>\n Goldendoodles and other furry friends probably create this desire for family because our brains see our dogs just like we see our human babies. (It\u2019s not just me saying this; our brains light up like Christmas trees in <\/span>MRI<\/span><\/a>s to prove we\u2019re especially fond of our own squad.) Mother of three <\/span>Alison LaCoss<\/span> said she felt a similar feeling<\/a> after adopting her dogs as she did giving birth to her kids: \u201cI felt a flood of emotions. Here were these cute, adorable creatures that I suddenly wanted to love and protect. I felt like they were my babies.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n With dogs licking their paws in over <\/span>65 million<\/span><\/a> American homes, word is out on the beneficial bond between dogs and their humans. People were buried with their dogs <\/span>14,000 years<\/span><\/a> ago (I\u2019m telling myself they died on the same day). And now, the family dog helps <\/span>kids feel less anxious<\/span><\/a>. Even just petting your dog releases the \u201c<\/span>cuddle chemical<\/span><\/a>\u201d oxytocin in your body \u2014<\/span>\u00a0as well as your dog\u2019s<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n No offense to the <\/span>second most popular pet<\/span><\/a> in the U.S., but there have yet to be studies proving the same is true of cats. \u201cIf this is the exhaustion that comes with a cat, how much would it be with a child,\u201d posted one <\/span>Redditor<\/span><\/a>, claiming to have been socially conditioned by conservative relatives to want children. \u201cI\u2019m happy with my fur baby, and he\u2019s the only baby I want to have.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Elsewhere, on r\/cats, <\/span>someone<\/span><\/a> posted, \u201cI swear since getting cats my desire to have kids has vanished. Anyone else? Lol.\u201d\u00a0 <\/span>This two-person Reddit sample certainly doesn\u2019t represent every cat owner, but there\u2019s just something different about dogs.<\/span><\/p>\n Writer <\/span>Christine Derengowski<\/span> recalled<\/a> a serendipitous adoption of her family\u2019s dog, Gertie, a few weeks before she experienced a miscarriage. \u201cFor the first time in my life, I felt the full force of my desire to be a mom,\u201d she said of cradling her sweet pup after the devastating doctor\u2019s appointment. \u201cI couldn\u2019t bring myself to put her back down. I rocked her like an infant and cried.\u201d She went on to welcome two children. <\/span>\u201c[Gertie] taught me the difference between wanting a baby and wanting to be a mom \u2026 She not only comforted me through my greatest loss but also put me in touch with a part of me I hadn\u2019t yet discovered.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n They may be the goofy face of <\/span>fur baby culture<\/span><\/a>, but maybe <\/span>man\u2019s best friends<\/span><\/a> will keep the future of humanity out of the dog house.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n