Loving your pet means boundaries

It is no secret that we are in the month of love. Perhaps you are married with a family and a pet, maybe you are single, and your pets are all you have. Either way, everyone needs to experience love. Hopefully you experience the love of Christ daily in your life in addition to your family and pets. Pets provide a lot of comfort, companionship, and love to people in all stages of life. Pets of all kinds are used in therapy to help people recover from mental and physical illnesses. However, often there is love without boundaries. In some ways pets are like children and children thrive on structure and boundaries. Boundaries are a daily part of life. Even God has created boundaries for His children and Himself. Boundaries create healthy relationships. Let’s face it, we are in a relationship with our pets.

When we love our pets the boundary lines can become unclear. Pets need boundaries such as time alone, structured feeding times, and structured play times. You might be wondering what this looks like daily. Dogs and cats are different in these aspects and most of this information will be focused on dogs so let’s start with cats. Cats generally will seek out time alone on their own. They tend to be more independent and do what they want when they want. However, cats need structured feeding times because they tend to gain weight rapidly and that is unhealthy. Giving your cat a time in the morning and evening to eat their food will keep their weight down and make them more dependent on you. Cats also love to play! Take time each day to spend a few minutes with your cat playing around and enjoying what they like to do!

Dogs are different in these areas from cats due to their reliance on people for a close relationship. Having said that, dogs need time alone away from you and their furry family members. Many people think dogs need to be with someone 24/7 to be happy. This is a myth. Even though dogs are pack animals, the domesticated dog needs time to decompress and spend time by themselves. I am going to go ahead and say it…please don’t stop reading…your dog needs a crate! Yes, I said the “c” word. Your dog needs their own safe space to go and be alone or for you to put them for time alone. Just like people, dogs get irritated with each other at times when they are always together. No matter how much you love someone sometimes you need a moment alone to reset. If you need information on how to help your dog learn to love the crate, please see my website.

Second, your dog needs structured feeding times for various reasons. Two main reasons are, 1) your dog will look to you more for guidance if you feed them at a specific time each day, whether you feed once or twice per day and 2) your dog will most likely be at a better weight since he is not eating unknown quantities whenever he wants. Your dog needs to seek out guidance from you in the relationship. This is not the only thing that you need to do to establish this, that is for another article. However, it is a start to forming a lasting bond with your pooch. This might look like feeding your dog twice a day, splitting his daily amount in two or feeding once a day. This will depend on your dog’s individual energy level and appetite.

Thirdly, spend time each day playing with your dog, making life fun for them. This could be tug of war, playing a food game (there are links below) or teaching them a new trick. Dogs love to spend time with their owners and learning new things. There are many things you can easily teach your dog that can help them form a stronger bond with you. Teaching your dog basic obedience is a good start.

One last point I would like to make is the topic of going on vacation when owning pets. Pets can “tie you down” as some people like to say. While in some respects this is true it is not impossible to travel or go on vacation when owning pets. There are some people who will not leave their home because they are in bondage to their pets. They don’t want to leave them alone to go on vacation, they do not want to board them or put them with a pet sitter. If you are feeling this way, then your boundary lines are fuzzy. Take time to find someone you trust to either come stay at your home with your pets or board them in a facility that you feel comfortable with and take that trip. There are many private pet sitters available that can either come to your home or your pet can go to theirs. Do not become a slave to your furry friends.

Again, pets thrive on structure, especially dogs. Many dogs will take over if given the opportunity, finding things to do that are not so fun for their owner. If your dog is taking over your house, then most likely there are not enough boundaries, or the boundaries are unclear to your pet. If your pet is doing whatever he pleases he does not understand the boundaries. Make a late New Year’s resolution to create boundaries for your pets and yourself.

Resources:

Click Here for Interactive Toys

https://www.beyondobedience.ca
https://spiritdogtraining.com

Brain Games and Food Toys
Fun Games for Your Dog

Check out my last article The Do’s and Don’ts for Christmas with Pets to see some good things to give your dog to keep them busy if you crate them.