Purple and Paws Recently I read Amanda’s tribute to her dog Wynston on one of my favorite dog blogs, Dog Mom Days. One part of the letter interested me in particular. The part where she mentions that someone told her she has an “unhealthy relationship” with her dog. This struck a chord with me and I wanted to dive a little deeper into what having an unhealthy relationship with your pet really means.
Before I adopted Socks, my family had two dogs, Patch and Misty. Patch was technically my sister’s dog and Misty worshiped my dad, so I never really considered either of them “my” dogs. Socks, however, is mine. I picked him out from the adoption website, I paid the fee to adopt him, I buy his food, his toys, and pay for his medication and trips to the vet. I love him, obviously. He’s my number one priority. But do I have an unhealthy relationship with him?
The thing is, “unhealthy relationship” can mean a lot of different things to different people. Let’s say a friend invites me to dinner and a movie on a night that my parents are unable to dog-sit and I tell my friend I can’t go out because there’s no one available to watch Socks. Some people (possibly non-pet-owners) might think sacrificing my social life for my dog is unhealthy. Other fellow dog owners might agree with my decision and confess they’ve done the same thing.
Or what if one morning Socks doesn’t want to eat his breakfast, which is odd because Socks, like most dogs, loves to eat. I worry, keep a close eye on how he’s acting all morning, and when he doesn’t want to eat his lunch time treats, either, I call the vet. I take him in, the vet examines him, and tells me he has a stomach virus but should be eating normally by tomorrow and gives me bland food to feed him. Some people might say I should’ve waited a day before calling the vet. Others might say they would’ve called the vet immediately after their dog refused to eat (fyi, this has happened a few times and I’ve been told by my vet not to worry or bring your dog in if he doesn’t eat for a day or two but is acting normally otherwise; if he’s not eating, not drinking, and acting listless, you should definitely bring him or her in).
My point with the previous two examples is to show that there is no perfect way to be a dog owner. We love our dogs and they count on us to protect them and take care of them. Dogs can’t communicate with words so we have to be extra vigilant about paying attention to what they’re telling us non-verbally.
So, do I think I have an unhealthy relationship with my dog? No, I do not. I think I have a perfectly healthy relationship with him. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a chew toy to throw.
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