Tips for Jedi-Level Pet Owners (part one)

If you are already an expert pet owner, maybe you don’t need to be reading this!

But know that it’s not going to be a lesson on minutes of exercise, access to fresh water, and bathing frequency. That stuff is for tweens coaxing their parents to adopt a pet this holiday season. I am instead planning to alter your whole mindset on owning pets. Over the years, our veterinary clinic has guided thousands and thousands of people as they learned to be good caregivers. If these walls could talk, what would they say? You see, everyone tends to grapple with the same obstacles when mastering the art of dog and cat ownership. Maybe I can help you by outlining three common stumbling blocks.

The first component of this trilogy is to remember, in everything you do, that your pet is NOT a person. He recognizes some words and likely enjoys hearing you speak to him in complete sentences, but he does not comprehend language like a human would. Don’t lose your cool when you yell something and he doesn’t appear to listen. He only knows a few words, the ones you have painstakingly trained him to recognize.

Each pet comes with a certain amount of training built-in, a handful of hard-wired instincts which vary in intensity between individuals. Overcoming instincts such as “prey drive” or “fear response” is enormously challenging, if not impossible, because these modules are so intimately connected to the animal’s survival center. To put this plainly, it would be extremely unusual for you, a human being, to routinely capture and murder anything smaller than half your size. Your pet, on the other hand, may consider such pursuits a routine part of his existence and irresistible urge. As an instinct-driven animal, he can’t be expected to imagine (or, indeed, have any interest in) any other way of life.

Finally, do not expect your pet to understand (or consent to) unpleasant necessities. Like every other living thing, he deserves your unconditional respect, but because he is not a human, there is no concept of consent for him. He does not want to take medicine, or have a surgery, or take a rest from his normal play activities. He will undoubtedly communicate his dissatisfaction; however, health measures are an important investment in his well-being and longevity, and, as the human in this relationship, you are the brains of the operation. Similarly, your pet may have his heart set on roaming the neighborhood. Not having your intelligence, he is blissfully unaware there is a speeding automobile out there with his name on the bumper. In short, your pet will need to be forced to do certain things for his own good. Between two humans, this might be labeled coercion, conservatorship, or even a civil rights violation, and the legal system would definitely be involved. Between a pet and his person, however, those are crucial elements of a healthy relationship.

When you’ve decisively limited your pet’s autonomy and come to truly understand his struggles with both language and impulse control, you will be able to communicate more effectively, giving him the respect and safety that he deserves.

Dr M.S. Regan