Couple lets pet dog choose their baby's name through a game of fetch

Dog parents consider their furry pets a part of their family. One couple has taken this to a whole new level by letting their pooch take huge life decisions for them.

Erica and Frank Derise, from New Jersey, US, include their beloved dog Beau in their "major life events".

The golden retriever walked down the aisle at the couple's wedding, revealed the gender of their child and even chose the name for the baby.

Erica and Frank threw tennis balls for Beau in a quick game of fetch. Each ball had a baby's name written on it.

Beau returned with the ball which had 'Frankie' written on it.

During the gender reveal, Beau tucked into a coloured cake to announce the arrival of a son.

"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 was quoted as saying by Mirror.

The couple had three names - Liam, Andrew, Frankie - but couldn't finalise.

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."

Erica said that she is excited for the doggo to meet their son and see them bond.