Pampering Your Pets can Save Your Relationship

A happy animal is a playful and loving animal.  Fetch, string attacking, or even just some quality petting time can build a very strong bond between animal and owner.  As the dad of several animals I make my best effort to get some quality time in with all of my furry and feathered friends.  You are hopefully the same way.  Whether you are letting your parrot rest on your shoulder while watching television or using a laser pointer to run your cat through the house, keeping your pets stimulated helps build the bond that is important to their long life and trust.

So what do you do when your pet requires attention that they may not enjoy as much?  Just as loving your animal increases its trust and devotion to you; doing things your pet dislikes can just as easily tear that bond down.

I was over at my family’s home and was spending some time with them.  They own a small Pomeranian that is the biggest poof ball of a dog that I have ever seen.  When I made myself comfortable in one of their oversized chairs, she jumped right into my lap and I must have pet her for hours.  When her dad brought me a drink I heard, and felt, her rev up a very unhappy growl that was in direct proportion to his distance from me.
“Yeah, she does not like me.”

We talked for some time because I knew he was a good persona and was taken aback that the family dog had such distaste for him.  Turned out whenever she needed to be disciplined it was him that did it.  Whenever she was dirty, she was the one who gave her a bath, and when her long fur would get matted, it was him that pulled out the detangling brush.
The family had basically made him the bad guy.  No wonder the little tribble despised him so much.  The only thing that she knew the big guy for was in her mind was the bringer of unpleasantness.  It isn’t to say all those things needed to be done, it was just that he shouldn’t have been the one doing all of it.

So what am I saying then?  Am I saying that you should let your beloved animals go uncombed, smelly, and undisciplined?  By no means.  When my pets need discipline, I am the one to do it.  But I am not the tri-fecta of pain.

So what do you do when your favorite friend needs to be bathed and groomed?  Well one great and inexpensive option is to get someone else to do it.  For the price of a typical family pizza night, you can have a professional come to your home, bathe, and brush your four legged friend.  This means that your pet has someone else to look at as the bad guy rather than you.

This also allows you to free up some time that you can spend with your other pets and build that bond.

Yes I know this may sound like an easy option, but you would be surprised how cheap you can find great groomers for.  So search the web, look in the local classifieds, and regain the loving bond with your animals that both you and them desperately need.