Love is not all you need. Here’s what you need! You need more than a beautiful, hopeful sentiment. Life is not sentimental, sentient or satiating. It is searing, soul searching and savage. Love is an emotion, an abstract which does not pay the bills, plough the fields or placate the aggrieved.
Grace and gravity are the foundations of life.
Poetry and pet care rarely go hand in hand. The first an emotion, the second physical labour. It is not purely a labour of love! Sleepless nights caring for a puppy, like a human baby, push the limits of love! If love is all we need to be contented, healthy, and together hundreds of animals would not be abandoned. Human beings descend from nomads. We have been both predator and prey. By most assumptions, humans settled some ten thousand years ago and would not have made it without our canine companions.
Canines and humans needed each other. For mutual needs of security and sustenance. So, let’s not build these magical stories around a supposed historical bond between humans and canines. It was and still is a need based relationship. Evolution, breeding for selective genes are an instrumental influence on the facial features, behaviour and characteristics of captive bred foxes1. Turns out, they ‘learn’ how to make themselves appealing to human beings. foxes and dogs to change appearance as they evolve. This is specifically to make themselves appealing to humans.
Love is not all you need to care for your pets. Here’s what you need- time, resources, dedication and commitment. The ultimate till death do us part, because the second half of this union has a short life. The average human being lives 80 years? The average dog or cat lives 10 years. The onus is on you to care for and love your pets. Love in action not in sentiment or word.
Love is not all you need, you need training, daily meal prep and time for grooming. Because we want our pets to be perfect little ‘people on four legs, and behave human, we must take the time to teach them the best we can.
Here’s what your pets need from you, they need direction, patience and protection. Love is being firm with your pet- a spoiled pet is like a spoiled child. Unruly, rude, and no fun to be around. Happy healthy pets, are not the best trained pets, they’re the best adjusted pets.
Don’t be your pets best friend, like an over zealous parent! Parents who are ‘best friends’ with their children are absolve themselves from being the ‘bad guy.’ Friendship is borne from mutual respect, trust and boundaries. If your pet does not have boundaries, they’re not safe. It is critical to set limits for you and your pets. Limit the anthropomorphism- it’s hurting our pets not helping.
Pet care is much more than love- it’s work, play, dedication and fun. Heart break, harrowed days and holding on by a thread are normal! Don’t let anyone fool you into believing those social media moments about all happy days- pets and people do not follow algorithms! For the over zealous adoption brigade telling you to take home joy- their hearts are in the right place. They are a dedicated, over whelmed band of soldiers who march on, for a fantastic cause. That cause runs aground when choppy waters come in the form of a silent stealth rip tide!
P.S. We always and forever encourage adoption of animals. Second chance animals make great pets. Ask for all the help you need and reach out to resources online and offline, the pet community is always championing the underdog and cat, because we know none of us can do it alone.
1 How Dogs and People Ended Up Ruling the World
