Menagerie a trois in the love shack? Help everyone get along
By Kim Campbell Thornton
February 14, 2009
Sometimes I get assignments for my column that make me think “That’s not about pets; it’s about people.” But usually after I turn it around in my head and look at it sideways or upsidedown or backwards, I find that it is about pets after all. That was the case with this month’s assignment:
What happens when your dog or cat adores your partner more than he does you? Or on the flip side [I wonder when that phrase will no longer be understandable in its original context], what happens when your significant other gets a new pet and spends so much time and attention on her that you get a little jealous, even though you know that’s irrational.
Something of the kind happened to my colleague Liz Palika when she got her Australian Shepherd, Dax.
Even though I did most of her training, she thought I should disappear from the face of the earth. She was in love with my husband Paul, so much so that at times I called her the other woman. If I told the dogs to go outside, she would look to Paul first, as if to ask him, “Do I have to?”
Read more about pea-green pets and people here.
In other pet advice news: I’m usually the one asking experts the questions–and that’s the way I like it–but every once in a while I get asked to proffer pet advice. My MSNBC.com colleague Laura Coffey asked me to give her a few tips for new pet owners. You can read them here.
Happy Valentine’s night!
Ha, that’s my Aussie Jasper with my husband! He thinks my husband walks on water, and that while I may be good for handing out food and treats, that’s about it.
OTOH, my other dog Bouncer is MY dog. So it evens out.
Comment by Janice in GA — February 14, 2009 @ 7:57 pm
Our late cat Shelby adored Jerry and would have been happy if I had disappeared. She would, however, deign to sit on my lap if I was covered with her favorite red plaid blanket.
Comment by Kim Campbell Thornton — February 14, 2009 @ 8:51 pm
Regarding #4 on Laura Coffey’s list:
4Don’t unwittingly start bad habits. If you start feeding your dog human food, he’ll always want human food.
Let’s remember the post-recall lessons we all learned. There’s nothing wrong with feeding your dog “human food”. Feeding him from the TABLE however - that’s another question altogether, and one that is well within the realm of bad habits one might want to try to avoid getting into.
Comment by The OTHER Pat — February 15, 2009 @ 12:08 pm
If there’s one phrase I’d like to see die an immediate death, it has to be “human food.”
There is no such thing as “human food.” There is only one food supply, and we all share it. Food is food, ingredients are ingredients, recipes are recipes.
Giving fresh food to your pets is not “spoiling” them, it’s not an indulgence, and it’s not a bad habit on your part nor likely to lead to bad habits on theirs. It’s the ideal, which we deviate from for reasons of cost and convenience.
I completely agree that feeding dogs from the table is a very, very bad idea, LOL, but I have to object to the characterization that “dog food” is good and “people food” is bad for dogs… that’s just not the case, nor are those phrases accurate.
Kim… I would think you’d have agreed with that. Was that just her phrasing, or a bit of shorthand?
Comment by Christie Keith — February 15, 2009 @ 12:31 pm
Re “human food,” I didn’t write/speak that; it wasn’t one of the questions I answered.
Comment by Kim Campbell Thornton — February 15, 2009 @ 3:32 pm
Oh good, I thought it didn’t sound like you, LOL!
Comment by Christie Keith — February 15, 2009 @ 3:55 pm
I knew that would get a rise when people here saw it, though.
Comment by Kim Campbell Thornton — February 15, 2009 @ 3:56 pm
We’re getting predictable. ;)
Comment by Christie Keith — February 15, 2009 @ 5:22 pm
What is up with MSNBC’s hyperlink adds. That is one of the most annoying things ever.
Comment by nancy freedman-smith — February 15, 2009 @ 7:02 pm
He was afraid of the rabbit?
Comment by Phyllis DeGioia — February 16, 2009 @ 7:01 am
I am much more ‘afraid’ of rabbits than cats or dogs. Those I have met tend to be less socialized, and more prone to biting from fear.
Not that they can’t *be* trained and friendly, but it requires work which many people don’t bother to put in, or acquire the rabbit after it is older, and even harder to socialize.
Most people would get rid of a cat or dog who bit. If the same animal is a rabbit (or hampster…) they keep it but leave it in the cage to get worse.
Comment by puppynerd — February 17, 2009 @ 8:39 am