A Year of Firsts

A Year of Firsts

I think a lot about a year of firsts for humans and animals. Last year was my and my animals first year living with the uncertainties surrounding my cancer diagnosis and treatment. This year is our first living in that nebulous physical and mental environment known as “cancer-free”.

During this time, I learned a lot about allopathic medicine in the age of pandemics and social and political unrest triggered by frightened–and sometimes frightening–people. Ironically in the middle of all that chaos, I eventually found the peace that comes with acceptance. It served me well then and continues to do so. Who knew I had that power all along?

During that year of firsts, I also lost one dog–Frica–and added two kittens, Finella and Fernanda a.k.a. Finny and Ferdy. They’re pretty good at acceptance themselves, But those are subjects for another day.

During this same period, I continued to do phone consultations and the year-of-firsts concept continued to play a primary role in dogs and cats displaying behaviors their people consider problematic. In these cases, a pattern of people trying to do too much too fast often emerged. This always has been a problem. But the combination of all the natural and human-made unknowns inherent in life today results in a bizarre paradox: The more people think they need an animal or animals to feel more secure themselves, the less time and energy they want to spend ensuring the animal’s success in this role.

I’ve written about this troubling phenomenon as it relates to socialization as taught by many and practiced by pet-owners anxious to have an animal who will fill their needs asap. Do a search for socialization on my website and you’ll get multiple hits exploring this topic. (See a sampling of these at the end of this blog)

In the worst case scenarios, socialization is presented as a fun activity for the humans involved. Though sometimes it truly is and should be, sometimes it isn’t nor should it be.

After all, companion animals aren’t humans. Just because a socialization routine is fun for an animal’s humans doesn’t necessarily mean it’s fun for the animal, let alone beneficial for the animal’s behavior or bond with the person in the long run.

As always, it depends on the context… Because, one way or another, every year is a  year of firsts for us and our animals.

Stay tuned for more from the Little House on the Hill and the indoor and outdoor critter populations.

An animal socialization sampler from MMilani.com

A More Mindful K-9 Socialization Strategy for Rescue/Transport Dogs

Down with Socialization

A Modest Proposal: Providing Quality Same-Species ParentalCare for Animals from Traumatic Backgrounds

The Interaction of Illness and Behavior