What do you do when your pet exhibits bad behavior?
Having grown up on a farm, I have always had a life weaved with the lives of animals. Showing horses and cattle both, with large animals you learn quickly that having Well trained, well-behaved animals make your life easier and more enjoyable. I have Now tempered that knowledge with the ability to communicate with them, and have noticed long ago that there is a time for being firm and strict, and a time for Understanding. Before I punish a pet for bad behavior, I now try to understand what is causing that behavior and come to a solution that respects their feelings and their understanding of the situation.
Every pet I have ever had, when they passed I felt guilty that I should have treated them better. With my first dog, a border collie named Mandy, I had strict boundaries and used a choke collar to train her for obedience. I had a lot more anger in those days and came close to smacking her several times because she upset me. Instead, I would lock her in the shower for a time out. It became that she would go to the shower if she thought she had done anything that could be seen as wrong.
The worst thing I did was get upset with her when she would have “accidents” on the carpet after I had broken up with a boyfriend. I saw it as she wasn’t supporting me, even though it meant she loved the boyfriends more than me. My dog would whine along with me when I cried.
After I became an animal communicator, I realized that Mandy just couldn’t handle me being so upset, and so acted out because of it. That her having accidents in the house was because she Was so close to me, and it was her upset about my feelings, that she couldn’t control any more than I could control my weeping.
I have been to pet blogging conferences where I have seen dogs who don’t know what “heel” means, and eat off the plates of their humans when they aren’t looking. It is much more anarchy than having well-behaved pets, but they are obviously loved pets. Still, I think there is a solid line between having an animal who is well behaved and a pet who is obnoxious.
I get called into situations all the time that a pet is acting out. When I talk to the pet, it is not because they are ill-behaved or being malicious, it is because they can’t handle a situation. The cat who knows a woman’s boyfriend is bad for her so is peeing on his clothes every chance it gets. The dog barks when people come to the door because they think that is their job.
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Enjoy, Ann
Great article, Ann! No civilized person would ever “punish” an infant but some think that it’s OK to “punish” an animal who is completely dependent on us and TRUSTS us to be stewards and guardians of their life and health.