Much has changed in the past year and a half with COVID-19 and our abilities to be out and about as much. However, one thing that has NOT changed is the love shown to us by our pets. In fact, if you are like me, even though you have still been just as busy, you may have been at home a bit more and MY pets have enjoyed this immensely.
The great thing about pets (or as I refer to them – furry people) is that they love you no matter what. They are there for you when you’ve had a hard day, they don’t care if you made some mistakes and they are pretty easy to please. When I find myself getting too whiny, demanding or ungrateful, I remind myself that my pets eat the same food day in and day out. They drink water only. The dogs go to the bathroom outside regardless of the temperature. Some pets might not be allowed on furniture and if they put things in their mouths they aren’t supposed to, they get in trouble. Yet, pets don’t complain. They just want love and attention. When pets are sick, they rarely complain. I on the other hand get way too whiny when I have a headache. Pets lay around much of the day and they usually never get to pick the TV show, movie or radio station. And in my house, when the little ones want to hold them or dress them up in baby clothes or push them in baby stroller, again, my pets don’t complain.
Pets seem to sense when their humans need more from them. I need to learn this skill from my pets. I need to be more aware of what others need from me, as well as what they don’t. Our dogs get excited for trips in the car or when the leash comes out. They get excited for even a small treat.
Sometimes they want to play fetch, in which case they do most of the work, running to fetch and returning the ball so that it can again be thrown by a stationary person. They love basking in the sun.
As with people, pets also have idiosyncrasies that make them quite unique. One of our dogs used to love sitting with one of the girls and getting his toenails painted. Many of our dogs love going for car rides and getting pup-a-chinos from Starbucks. My first dog loved to go through the bank drive thru and get a dog bone, and he loved singing along with Fievel the Mouse in the movie “American Tail.” One of our cats enjoys sleeping on my head. It’s pretty much her favorite place – not so much mine.
Pets have fears: The one that loved singing was also terrified of strangers and would hide in the closet when people came over, even though he would bark like crazy at people passing by outside. We are currently teaching our two young dogs to ride in the back of my truck. One jumps right in and LOVES it. The other, even though she is the size of a baby cow, was, until last night, terrified of getting into the truck. I had to lift her and it was not an easy task. Last night, she had a breakthrough and got in all by herself after seeing her companion do it. It was then that she realized she enjoyed riding around the block in the truck at 10 miles per hour. By the way, the best part of all of this was the joy that I was able to see as I looked in my rear-view mirror as I was driving. The dogs were on leashes and were in the back with my two oldest daughters, 24 and 22. The dogs were enjoying the wind on their faces but the girls were laughing - belly laughing - at the dogs. I loved that even during Covid-19, when we had to do things differently. This simple activity had two sisters enjoying a moment that they will remember.
One more thing we should absolutely learn from our pets: time is precious. We usually outlast our pets and are deeply saddened when they go because they quickly become “one of the family,” as they should. Pets are eager to please and love and be loved and enjoy life’s simplest pleasures. They don’t judge, they don’t hold grudges, they don’t have watches, they really aren’t too demanding. They simply enjoy us, each other and what they have. We can learn a great deal from emulating MOST behaviors from our pets.
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