I've been thinking, which my doctor tells me I should never do as it is a dangerous hazard to myself and those around me but what are you gonna do?

In the Housepets! universe, the pets are sentient, right?

Which is why there able to enjoy some of the benefits of human adolescents like getting christmas gifts and going on dates and the like.

So i've been wondering when exactly the government is going to crack down on this sentience thing and make it so that the pets can go through one thing that humans do that they haven't as of yet.

Go to school.

Think about it. If the're sentient, that means it is our responsbility to educate them like we would our own children right.

I know that I'm really just overthinking this a little. I mean, it's a webcomic about talking walking pets.

Still, sometimes I let my mind wander around when I'm bored.

That being said, I can't help wonder what kind of classes the pets would take if they were forced to go to school or what kind of school they would go to.

I mean like grad or mid or high school. The pets seem to constantly shift in maturity levels or is that just me. I don't know, sometimes they play pretend and the next moment the're acting like intelligent young adults.

You don't know how long I have been thinking about this.

maybe they are home schooled?

I think it's just a "don't think about it" thing. Pets have a pretty good life.

Plus perhaps they never mature past being "children," so it's hopeless to try to make them productive members of society to the extent humans are.

Obedience school is canon, according to All the King's Men. The question is whether or not all pets actually go.

I don't quit know about this. Obedience school does exist, but anything else would just be pointless. pets live maybe twenty, twenty-five years, so making them spend the majority of their days in school would be kinda pointless...

I mean, having it as an option is a good idea, but making it mandatory would be a bit much, even if the pets are sentient, sapient beings.

But hey, that's just my two cents.

Argh! Speculation! Can't...resist...
It appears that somehow all pets are taught to read and write. The methods may vary, but since Fido seems to hold lessons on a voluntary basis, it looks like writing and reading are not mandatory. They are quite probably taught privately by the humans themselves to make sure their pets can better interact with the world around. Also, since obedience schools are mandatory, reading and writing can well be part of their program as well.
I can't, alas, imagine a school system as, legally speaking, sophisticated as the humans', since pets don't have the same legal rights. I mean, creating a school system like ours would be a BIG step in social and legal advancement, and the HP western society still isn't THAT progressed by what we've learnt so far.

what about director ferrets?

Coulda sworn Rick said in one of the question threads that pets live about twice as long as normal cats or dogs do in real life.



That would make sense.

*googles*

Ah. Well. Then I retract the statement.

If they went to school they would become EXACTLY like humans, and despite being able to talk, it would beat the whole purpose of them being animals.

Just my opinion.

So far we have 3 major factors:
1. Rights and Responsibility
2. Life expectancy
3. Control Purpose

1. Rights and Responsibility
Consider the purpose of education is usually to help one to survive in the society, like finding a job, it is kind of pointless to make school mandatory for pets when the majority of them don't even need to work or get to work.

Actually this could be debatable, but it is very likely the majority animals either don't have the right or necessity to go to school or work.

The minority who have jobs or have a reason goes to specialized schools, like SYK said.

2. Life expectancy
Like copper said, animals usually live around 20-25 years. Our (human) education system would never work for them. A specialized system could work and MIGHT exist, but that still may or may not be worth it for the majority pets. What Sinder said: "The question is whether or not all pets actually go".

3. Control Purpose
And like Chaplin mentioned, with education the animals won't be too different from human. Whether it is a good thing or bad thing, or whether it is right or wrong. There will probably be people who are against educating, or in other words, giving power to the animals.

It's what we're here for!

Yes! Over-analyze for the win!

They don't have to go to school to learn. Multiple animals have proven the ability to read well.

Not only read, but to write as well. As it was said here. I alsoi think they learn all that stuff in the obedience school.

I thought it was as much as half a human's life expectancy.

To answer the life-length question... you should have been reading the Housepets Universe History excerpts!

http://www.housepetscomic.com/2010/11/1 ... can-nomad/



Take another look though the news posts on the front page. There's at least three excerpts that are much, much longer and entertaining than that little quote.

As for schooling. It seems that obedience school of some sort is necessary; Cats and Dogs without collars can be picked up for Truancy. Any other schooling? Probably supplied by the owners, or other means (such as Fido teaching pups to read). Some might be treated like children, but this does not mean they ARE children. It's entirely possible, being domestic animals, that there's something of a cap to their intelligence (though that one's pure speculation). Further, some pets are treated more like pets in our real world, rather than children. I'd imagine it would not be surprising to find illiterate cats, dogs, and of course, wild animals of all kinds.

...Which, in short, is about half of the average human life expectancy.

That would be really interesting.
The only problem is, if this hasn't already been mentioned, it would make it that the whole comic would be in a school setting.
The comic is only updated during the week, and school takes place during that time.
Soooo...... yeah.

I looked at this thread, had a hilarious idea related to it, and had to share. Though the pets going to school would get weird or tiresome soon, there is ONE thing that would make it worthwhile...

Grape taking part in a cooking class. Hilarity ensues!

We're sorry. JagyshemashFTW can't come to the forum right now.
He is too busy laughing on the ground.

Going to school is more of a owner's choice. Ferals are just that and don't go.

Pet school is more based along the lines of what pet school IRL is based on, with some specialties such as K-9 school and I'd wager for the pets who assist the blind and disabled and military. This is something that's fleshed out more in Housepets expanded universe information.