Are you ready for this? The one resolution you can make that will benefit your pet’s health, behavior, and relationship with you? And that won’t cost you a cent? But might make you wish you’d vowed to do something simpler, like maybe climb Mt Everest?
If so, read on.
May we have the drum roll please? Hmmmm. Because all of the potential fur-covered drum-rollers are sleeping as I write this, we’ll have to skip that part.
The ultimate pet-related New Year’s resolution is: I vow to develop more patience and self-control when interacting with my animals.
While some of you might be thinking, “Piece of cake! Not a problem! I’m a pillar of patience and self-control all ready,” others might be Googling “Mt Everest” to find out what the weather’s like this time of year.
The reason I picked these two is because they’re the two qualities that I would bestow upon my clients if I had a magic wand, because it’s the lack thereof that creates the most problems for them and their animals. With each passing year we live in a society increasingly dominated by technology that enables us to do more faster. What we sometimes forget is that when such technology dominates our lives, it is simultaneously training us to expect instant results. The problem is that the innards of even the fastest, most sophisticated electronic communications system are pitifully crude compared to the workings of the animal mind and body. Naturalist Honoré de Fabré summed it up when he noted that earth would long be gone and mankind long forgotten before we could learn all that the gnat had to teach us.
When a system is as complex as a dog or cat, lasting changes take more time than that required to send a text message. Nor are you apt to get an immediate positive response to any healing message you communicate to your animal—be that message a change in your own behavior or some medication to treat an infection. For those used to such instant feed-back, this slower response time can be maddening, so maddening that some people might even try to force the animal’s mind or body to respond more quickly to achieve the desired results.
The problem, as most discover, is that such impatience almost always makes the animal’s problem worse. This occurs because impatient people are stressed, and the physiological and behavioral message we communicate to our pets when we’re stressed is one of weakness rather than strength. And because domestic animals have evolved for thousands of years to take their cues from us, if we’re communicating that we can’t deal, that means our animals must make any beneficial changes in spite of us instead of with our support. Even though it can be done, it takes energy away from the behavioral and/or physical healing process.
A lack of self-control also may be enhanced by technology, especially for those who had limited self-control to begin with. In the low-tech days, we developed self-control more out of necessity than any desire. Most of us wanted to be instantly in touch with others any time we wanted, but it wasn’t possible. Consequently we learned to plan ahead, to be one step ahead rather than one step behind, as well as to wait. And in the process of doing that, we also learned how to deal with any emotions associated with that wait. It was painful to be sure, but it made life easier in the long run.
Now there are places where people congregate that resemble a convention of Pavlov’s dogs. A cell phone rings and anyone using that same ring tone automatically reaches for his/her phone. People feel compelled to talk on the phone or text while walking, driving, eating, and even going to the john just because the phone rang and they can’t bear not to answer it. If another call comes in, they put the first caller on hold and take the second, not because the second is some emergency, but simply because they lack the self-control not to answer. It’s difficult not to feel pity for them. And also for their animals.
This is not meant to be a tirade against high-speed technology. There are days when I would eat 10 pounds of stale Little Debbie donuts for high-speed Internet as well as cell phone access here. But relative to animal health and behavior, patience and self-control are the hallmarks of good animal parents and it is these qualities that the best of them pass on to their offspring. These are also the qualities that domestication has primed our animals to expect from us.
So when problems arise and our animals naturally look to us for guidance (as most of us would say we want them to), take a deep breath and summon patience and self-control. In 2009, stop and think before you give in to the urge to do something immediately just to have something to do. In cases of animal emergencies, don’t waste valuable time instantly grabbing your cell phone and blabbering hysterically. Instead, summon the self-control to patiently and calmly determine what your animal is and isn’t doing so that the veterinarian or other professional you call can quickly provide you with instructions that could save your pet’s life, instructions you’ll also have the presence of mind to implement successfully.
Sure, it’s hard work. For some, even harder than climbing Mt Everest. And yet, when it comes to facing serious behavioral and/or medical problems with your animals, developing those two qualities will benefit them and you far more than climbing even the highest mountain.
If you have any comments regarding subject matter, favorite links, or anything you’d like to see discussed on or added to this site, please let me know at mm@mmilani.com.
Are you ready for this? The one resolution you can make that will benefit your pet’s health, behavior, and relationship with you? And that won’t cost you a cent? But might make you wish you’d vowed to do something simpler, like maybe climb Mt Everest?
If so, read on.
May we have the drum roll please? Hmmmm. Because all of the potential fur-covered drum-rollers are sleeping as I write this, we’ll have to skip that part.
The ultimate pet-related New Year’s resolution is: I vow to develop more patience and self-control when interacting with my animals.
While some of you might be thinking, “Piece of cake! Not a problem! I’m a pillar of patience and self-control all ready,” others might be Googling “Mt Everest” to find out what the weather’s like this time of year.
The reason I picked these two is because they’re the two qualities that I would bestow upon my clients if I had a magic wand, because it’s the lack thereof that creates the most problems for them and their animals. With each passing year we live in a society increasingly dominated by technology that enables us to do more faster. What we sometimes forget is that when such technology dominates our lives, it is simultaneously training us to expect instant results. The problem is that the innards of even the fastest, most sophisticated electronic communications system are pitifully crude compared to the workings of the animal mind and body. Naturalist Honoré de Fabré summed it up when he noted that earth would long be gone and mankind long forgotten before we could learn all that the gnat had to teach us.
When a system is as complex as a dog or cat, lasting changes take more time than that required to send a text message. Nor are you apt to get an immediate positive response to any healing message you communicate to your animal—be that message a change in your own behavior or some medication to treat an infection. For those used to such instant feed-back, this slower response time can be maddening, so maddening that some people might even try to force the animal’s mind or body to respond more quickly to achieve the desired results.
The problem, as most discover, is that such impatience almost always makes the animal’s problem worse. This occurs because impatient people are stressed, and the physiological and behavioral message we communicate to our pets when we’re stressed is one of weakness rather than strength. And because domestic animals have evolved for thousands of years to take their cues from us, if we’re communicating that we can’t deal, that means our animals must make any beneficial changes in spite of us instead of with our support. Even though it can be done, it takes energy away from the behavioral and/or physical healing process.
A lack of self-control also may be enhanced by technology, especially for those who had limited self-control to begin with. In the low-tech days, we developed self-control more out of necessity than any desire. Most of us wanted to be instantly in touch with others any time we wanted, but it wasn’t possible. Consequently we learned to plan ahead, to be one step ahead rather than one step behind, as well as to wait. And in the process of doing that, we also learned how to deal with any emotions associated with that wait. It was painful to be sure, but it made life easier in the long run.
Now there are places where people congregate that resemble a convention of Pavlov’s dogs. A cell phone rings and anyone using that same ring tone automatically reaches for his/her phone. People feel compelled to talk on the phone or text while walking, driving, eating, and even going to the john just because the phone rang and they can’t bear not to answer it. If another call comes in, they put the first caller on hold and take the second, not because the second is some emergency, but simply because they lack the self-control not to answer. It’s difficult not to feel pity for them. And also for their animals.
This is not meant to be a tirade against high-speed technology. There are days when I would eat 10 pounds of stale Little Debbie donuts for high-speed Internet as well as cell phone access here. But relative to animal health and behavior, patience and self-control are the hallmarks of good animal parents and it is these qualities that the best of them pass on to their offspring. These are also the qualities that domestication has primed our animals to expect from us.
So when problems arise and our animals naturally look to us for guidance (as most of us would say we want them to), take a deep breath and summon patience and self-control. In 2009, stop and think before you give in to the urge to do something immediately just to have something to do. In cases of animal emergencies, don’t waste valuable time instantly grabbing your cell phone and blabbering hysterically. Instead, summon the self-control to patiently and calmly determine what your animal is and isn’t doing so that the veterinarian or other professional you call can quickly provide you with instructions that could save your pet’s life, instructions you’ll also have the presence of mind to implement successfully.
Sure, it’s hard work. For some, even harder than climbing Mt Everest. And yet, when it comes to facing serious behavioral and/or medical problems with your animals, developing those two qualities will benefit them and you far more than climbing even the highest mountain.
If you have any comments regarding subject matter, favorite links, or anything you’d like to see discussed on or added to this site, please let me know at mm@mmilani.com.