In keeping with the theme of the last couple of days, I couldn’t very well talk about unfaithful pets and cats adopting other people without examining ways to keep your pet from straying.
Over in Marriage, infidelity is a hot topic. I’m of the camp that believes one of the factors that causes a husband to stray is because he’s not getting enough attention at home. I figured based on other people interviewed in the MSNBC.com article “Getting dogged: When your pet cheats on you” by Kim Campbell Thornton that it would stand to reason that’s why pets cheat too.
And to some extent it is. But as Terry Curtis, a veterinary behaviorist at the University of Florida’s College of Veterinary Medicine in Gainesville, who was interviewed in the article explained, when it comes to pets, if they were able to use the line, “Really, it’s me, not you,” they’d be telling the truth.
“I don’t think it’s any more complicated than they find a different place that’s more attractive to them,” Curtis says. ~-From “Getting dogged: When your pet cheats on you” by Kim Campbell Thornton-~
This is especially true of cats, who may be a lost cause if they give their heart to another. But if you want to “fight for your relationship” and win back your dog’s heart, Thornton included some tips from Sophia Yin, a veterinarian and applied animal behaviorist, that can help you do that.
1. Using a leash, teach your dog that whatever he wants is his –once he sits and looks at you.
2. Use petting as a reward. For a week or more (however long it takes to see a difference I’m assuming), cut out the random pets. Only pet with purpose. And that purpose is to reward your dog for paying attention to you –again, when he or she sits and focuses on you.
3. When the person who your dog prefers visits, keep your dog on a leash and away from that person. Again, using the reward system, give your dog treats for paying attention only to you.
I don’t really care for the above approaches. They seem crazy to me. Sort of controlling and borderline neurotic. Anyone who was desperate enough to need them wasn’t paying their dog proper attention to begin with. You shouldn’t have to dominate your dog with bribes to get them to love you.
Courtney Mroch writes about animals great and small in Pets and the harmony and strife that encompasses married life in Marriage. For a full listing of her articles click here.