5 Things You Do That Your Pet Wishes You Wouldn't
As much as we wish they could, our pets can't verbally tell us what they're thinking. They can, however, show us. And experts at Camp Bow Wow know this fact well and have studied animals to interpret their behavior, especially in regard to how animals feel about some things we humans do. These are five things we do that our pets perhaps wish we wouldn't.
- Hugging them
We love to hug our pets, of course, but Camp Bow Wow's experts believe that when hugged, pets feel trapped and scared. - Waking them abruptly
Let's be real, we don't like to be suddenly woken either, so why would our pets? Experts say that as dogs age, they sleep more heavily, which means startling them can cause them to react poorly. - Changing things up
Changes can cause dogs to stress out and can lead to behavior problems like chewing, barking, digging, or other destructive behaviors. If possible, try to keep your dog's schedule consistent at all times. - Giving them inconsistent signals
Camp Bow Wow's experts say, "Often humans don't realize they are giving dogs mixed signals about appropriate behavior, and this confuses dogs. If you don't want your dog to jump up on you, then you should never pet them when they jump up." We sometimes forget this and pet our dogs when they jump on us when we come into the home, but then we reprimand them other times. Confusing, right? Dogs think so too. - Bringing around new people
Pets take longer to warm up to strangers, so don't expect them to love all of the newcomers right away. It can be scary for a dog to have strangers enter their household, which is essentially their safe zone, so introductions should be done outside the house in neutral territory.