While many pet owners will claim that a house isn't a home without a dog and that their pets are practically a part of the family, one couple takes the phrase rather seriously.
Erica and Frank Derise pride themselves on including their beloved pooch in their 'major life events'.
Golden Retriever Beau has played a big part in the couple's milestones - from walking down the aisle at their wedding, revealing the gender of their child, and even choosing the name for the little one.
Two-year-old Beau solely chose the name for the couple's first child after Erica, 27, and Frank, 30, threw three tennis balls for the canine to chase - each with one name written on it.
Once the dog returned with the ball labelled 'Frankie', the couple knew it was a done deal and are excitedly anticipating the arrival of their son.
Beau's involvement with the couple's baby doesn't stop there as he also played the leading role in unveiling the gender, which included tucking into a coloured cake.
Erica, a content creator, said: "We incorporate Beau into every major life event, he needs to be involved in everything.
"He's like our kid - we want him to be a part of things."
Erica and real estate agent Frank, from Monmouth County, New Jersey, US, had asked their followers for gender reveal ideas.
After one commenter suggested that Beau should be the one to unveil the big news, they didn't look back.
Initially, Beau was given a pink cake to eat, but this turned out to be incorrect.
Erica explained: "It went wrong the first time. I took a blood test at 10 weeks and the lab results came in from the nurse. She gave me an envelope saying it was a girl.
"It was great after Beau revealed that we were having a girl. I said to Frank 'in your face' as he thought it was going to be a boy.
"But we went for another ultrasound to reconfirm - and we were told it was a boy! I cried. We were happy regardless but I remember calling to reconfirm and being like, 'What...?'.
"The gender reveal wasn't a disappointment in how we found out. But to find out she gave us the wrong envelope that was kind of heartbreaking.
"But of course, we're not disappointed that we're having a boy," she added.
After Beau tucked into a second cake - this time with the correct colour - Erica and Frank soon turned their attention to names.
They managed to settle on three names, Liam, Andrew, Frankie, but it was only fitting that Beau gave the final say.
A quick game of fetch resulted in the pooch returning with the tennis ball 'Frankie' written on it.
Erica said: "We were excited to see what he came back with. We couldn't decide, we loved all three.
"We were kind of undecided whether we wanted to go down the Frankie route because of Frank's name but he's going to be called Frankie and on his birth certificate it'll say Frank."
Beau was also able to walk down the aisle on Erica and Frank's wedding day, which he loved.
Erica said: "The most excited was when he walked down the aisle and everyone was cheering for him. He got his own announcement and looked so happy."
Following his big involvement with the baby, the couple is highly anticipating their pooch's relationship with their little one.
She went on: "We're so excited for Beau to meet the baby. He's so good with the nieces. He knows to be so gentle.
"Honestly, Beau is never not happy. He's always smiling."
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