Choices, choices, choices… I think we take for granted the daily gift we experience as people! I often comment about how we humans make all the choices for our pets. It really is something to ponder! We choose for them that they will live with us. However, they may not be feeling the love, but if we are enamored by them, the next thing they know, they are moving in. Our furry friend might have been envisioning a life out in the country on a big piece of property to roam, but instead ends up in a small condo on a busy corner in downtown Waterloo. When we get up each day we choose what we will eat and when we want to eat it, but not our pets. We decide whether they are going to get the KD of pet foods or the Caviar variety. That big old bed with the cozy blankets you sleep in may look incredibly inviting, but instead, a crate might be where they end up slumbering their nights. They might have been envisioning a life of three walks a day in a lovely wooded area, but instead they get to the dog park once a week to run around with a bunch of other goofy mutts, which after a week of solitude is very stressful. Perhaps our feline friend was imaging a existence where it was just you and them, but you felt that he needed friends and decided to bring another cat and some crazy drooling dog to take up residence in your home. You might be a workaholic and like someone to come home to at the end of a ten hour day, but your furry companion was not envisioning a life of staring out the window waiting for you to come back, watching the neighbours dog, getting out for daily walks and playing with the kids in the front yard. And speaking of kids, you wanted to have two little gremlins to make your life harried, but it wasn’t their choice to have to deal with being pounded on and having their tail pulled, while you expect them to endure the discomfort and not to react. Our day to day choices, massively impact daily on their health,! We may choose to smoke indoors, but our four legged friend perched at the end of the couch wasn’t hoping to die of Cancer from inhaling your carcinogens . Having the ability to make decisions about who we spend our time with and how we spend our time, these are some of the freedom of having choices, that we experience . We humans tend to under value that luxury. So the next time you are in the treat aisle at the pet food store and you are looking at the Temptations verses the dehydrated all natural white fish bites, think about the impact of that choice. When you are thinking you’d like a companion, really focus on the amount time and the motivation for including them in your life. Are you grieving the loss of another four legged friend, did your coworker just get a really cute kitty and you’d like something to dress up in costumes too, are you looking for something to snuggle after a long day of work because you hate to sleep alone? Really think about what you have to offer to another living being. Whether your choice to bring home a darling little Siberian Husky pup to your 6th floor apartment in downtown Toronto is the best choice for both parties? Choices, we really under estimate the power we have in the day to day life of the creatures we interact with.
No Time To Paws 