Are you new to pet parenting? Or maybe you’re a well seasoned professional, having shared years of love and joy with your beloved and loyal companions? How do you know you’re doing a good job? What mistakes should you avoid or maybe you should stop doing? Does it really even matter?
We’ve searched experts’ advice and found 7 of the most common mistakes pet owners make and how to avoid them.
Parenting is hard…
Whether it’s raising tiny humans, tiny bunnies or a tiny clowder of feral cats, taking care of something else is hard. It’s emotional. It’s exhausting. And most of all it’s usually always worth it.
Understanding that at the end of the day you are influencing the lifeof another creature is huge. And most of all it has value. So even if you find yourself at the end of your own leash, just know that doing your best is part of being human.
Most Common Mistakes
Mistake #1. Killing with Kindness
According to Today pet parents love to spoil their paw-children, and unfortunately it’s generally at the expense of the animal. I mean really, we’ve all done it. Spoiled our pets beyond belief, given in to some cute behaviour like puppy barking, and then instantly regretted it once the bark became a house alarm every time a stranger, squirrel of leaf passes by. By that time, the dog is yelling, I’m yelling and the whole neighbourhood thinks your home is under attack.
Or maybe it was clawing your pant leg… 6 months later your wearing three pairs of holy socks just to keep your ankles from looking like you stepped in a bear trap.
Solution #1. Boundaries
Giving in to every desire, habit and behaviour that your pet exhibits really just promotes those behaviours. It has been said many times over, that boundaries are key to providing not only a safe environment for your animal within the home, it also improves behaviour and leads to a stronger, healthier relationship between parent and pet. Boundaries create trust between you and your pet and are key to making sure they live a healthy and happy life.
Although it’s best to start young, it’s never too late to start. If you feel like you’re already over your head, then seek professional help. If you’re tight on a budget, YouTube, TikTok and Instagram are making it easier and cheaper to find creative solutions for dealing with bad behaviour problems.
It’s never too late to set up boundaries, and remember Paw Parents, loving your pets means creating a safe space for them and you.
Mistake #2. Forgetting Your Pet is an Animal
Ironic coming from a lifestyle blog focused on pet parenting and treating your animals as children, this one rings so true though. We often assume that our fur-children are similar to human children but according to Today, this is simply unfair. When we place human emotions like spite or malice on our fur babies, we are blaming them for something they have no clue about. If your dog chewed up your couch, it’s probably because they were bored and it was fun killing the fluffy cushion prey, not because they were trying to get back at your for not sharing your bacon with them.
Solution #2. Appreciating the Animal in Them
It’s important to know how to interpret your animals state of being but it’s equally important to understand the scope of what they do and do not feel. Animals are capable of all sorts of wonderful emotions and the research is increasing on the extent of these feelings. According to Greater Good Magazine, primates can show comforting gestures and elephants can show condolences.
Our pets are also capable of emotions and it’s been scientifically proven that they can show empathy. But whether they can show guilt or regret or even malice is still very much unknown. For now, it’s best just to know that when you’re screaming at your pooch for destroying your shoes, they only recognize that they are in trouble. Take a step back and recognize the reason the behaviour occurred. Maybe they were bored, or teething or perhaps they have separation anxiety. Identify the reason why and you’ll strengthen your relationship and bond.
Mistake #3. Too many Treatos
This one is a very common mistake, especially because as semi-obsessed pet parents we again LOVE to spoil our animals. Just like with ourselves however, over-indulging can have uber negative effects.
I know that I’m super guilty of this one and now I have a round sausage dog instead of a lean hotdog shaped dachshund. In part I blame the extra piece of bacon my Mum makes for him each day, but truth of the matter is I’m the parent and I need to balance his diet so he can lose weight.
Almost all pet parents go through phases like this. Whether your training your puppy to do tricks, your letting your cat have a few extra kibbles to keep her quiet or you don’t remember feeding the bunny so you give them extra pellets. Over feeding or spoiling them with all the treats can lead to weight gain and even obesity. Jeopardizing their health and leading to a long and painstaking weight lose program or worse.
Solution #3. Just Say No (mostly to yourself)
Set a limit and stay within it….. Honestly. Fixing this mistake can be as easy and allocating a certain amount of treats per day. Or even replacing the treats with their meal (if they eat kibble). Understanding that their recommended food intake is to help maintain a healthy weight which according to Fetch, by WebMD leads to healthier animals.
Mistake #4. Not Playing With Them
On the other side of the coin, just like children you need to give your pets attention, and I’m talking quality attention. Whether this includes taking them for their daily walks or playing a little tug, or letting them roll around the house in their exercise ball, often we forget to spend that quality time engaging with our animals outside of feeding them. Then we’re surprised when they don’t just want to sit and cuddle!
I get it, we are busy and coming home from work to play can sometimes just add to the exhaustion. But this mistake is different than killing them with kindness. It actually can lead to behaviour problems and worse distance between you and your beloved pet.
Solution #4. Be present in the moment
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention owning pets has many physical health benefits including reducing blood pressure and increase cognitive abilities to name but a few. In short, spending time with your pets is healthy for you. Even 10 – 15 minutes of quality activity with them can seriously change the outcome of your mood.
Coming home exhausted, having to walk your dog, feed your feline and ensure the hedgehog doesn’t need it’s cage cleaned can be very overwhelming. Just know that even a few minutes can energize you and strengthen the bond with your animal. There are some excellent (less strenuous) ways to engage your animal in play. Check out 5 Easy Ways for Dealing with Your Bored Dog, or Cat Toys: How to pick a toy my cat will ACTUALLY play with! for some easy (less stress) ways to play with your fur-baby.
Mistake #5. Assuming They can Eat Anything…
Even the most experienced pet parents don’t always know what is good and bad for your pet to ingest and it’s important because even though we treat our animals like family members, they aren’t human and some things can be incredibly toxic for their systems.
Solution #5. When in doubt, look it up!
It’s always best to look up whether a new food is healthy for your animal. For example, did you know that milk is actually not very good for cats? According to Fetch by WebMD, most cats are actually lactose intolerant!
Anytime you are considering sharing your human yum yums with your fur-baby, make sure you check to see if it’s safe.
Mistake #6. You Don’t Have a Disaster Plan
Loosing a pet is one of the biggest fears for any pet parent, but if something happened like a flood, fire or hurricane came through unexpectedly what would you do with your animal? What if you weren’t home at the time? knowing what to do with your animal in an emergency situation is critical to saving their life.
Solution #6. Plan Ahead
There are a few important things to consider when making a disaster plan. First things first, you can get one of those signs or stickers to place in your front window that alerts authorities of any and all pets in your home. This way if you’re not home and your house catches fire (knock on wood) they will know how many animals to try and save.
Secondly, if a disaster strikes, it’s important to have a plan for your beloved pets. According to Fetch by WebMD, many local shelters offer help so just call them up and inquire if they have an emergency response plan, if you have a bunny and 6 guinea pigs, they might have the resources to take care of them while you’re in a temporary shelter.
Mistake #7. Being too Hard on Yourself
We all do it. Blaming ourselves for a mistake and learning from a mistake though are two different things. When we blame ourselves it can lead to negative emotions regarding our pet, create resentment and a sense of defeat. It takes the joy out of owning an animal and can lead to people rejecting their pets or mistreating them.
Solution #7. Learning From our Mistakes
It’s important to know that when you mess up and forget something, like putting your favourite shoes out of reach from your`12 week old puppy, you need to try harder to remember to put them away next time. Try not to get mad at the puppy or yourself and learn to adjust your outlook. Yes you made a mistake and your $300 boots are ruined, but you definitely won’t do it again and the truth is you pet is probably just happy to spend time with you.
Remember learn from the mistakes you’ve made, choose to make positive changes in your life and enjoy the precious time you have with your pets, because they are never around long enough.