Why We Have Pets
Why do we have pets?
This even looks like Pye. (From http://icanhas.cheezburger.com/lolcats)
Not that I don’t sometimes wonder why I have Pye as a pet, but my question is why do we have pets in general?
We feed, shelter, groom and care for these foreign-looking beings. They’re covered in fur, walk on four paws, and may make a lot of noise. They scratch or dirty the furniture, and often make messes in inappropriate places. (Like when Pye peed on my bed because I was losing my shirt at WinStar without her.) They may even bite or scratch.
Yet, we pet owners tolerate it all. The question is, Why?
My mom recently recounted a story about her cat Zaki barfing on the bed after a traumatic experience at the groomer’s. Ah, the joys of kitty ownership! Hairballs on the carpet (always a mere foot away from the linoleum), peeing in random places when pissed, clingons (poo stuck to butt fur, especially prevalent with long-haired kitties), and the occasional barf of the bed sheets – because leaning over the edge of the bed must’ve seemed too far to go.
My neighbor…. Several of us were all standing around chatting in one neighbor’s yard, enjoying a warm evening. Three of the four dogs were chasing each other around the yard, as usual, when one started yelping incessantly. We all ran around the RV as the big dog crawled under, still yelping.
Six humans and three dogs crowded around the big black lab trying to figure out what was wrong. As I watched this unfold, I noted how we all reacted just as if it had been a child crying in pain.
The lab stopped yelping, but went back to hiding under a vehicle after we’d checked her thoroughly for any wounds. We tried coaxing her out with biscuits and treats, but she wasn’t having any of it – and this is a dog who, while generally very sweet, will take your fingers off just to get to the treat you’re trying to give her. She never turns down food, and often steals the other dog’s food.
But here’s the kind of crazy thing we do for our four-legged food-stealing friends… We took the dog for a car ride just to cheer her up. A ride around the very small RV park. We even loaded up her doggie playmate for this event. We had to do a couple laps around the park to make the ride last a whole five minutes. It seemed to cheer her up and we were happy she was happy.
We all chuckled a little about driving the dog around in circles, but no one questioned it for a second.
We love our pets like children.
My favorite RV neighbors are all moving on to new destinations within the next week or two, and taking their dogs with them. I’ll miss my new friends as well as their dogs… Even the one who constantly sticks her nose in my crotch. The dog, not the neighbor. I’ll miss the neighbor sticking his nose in my crotch, too. (just kidding!)
Why We Have Pets, or Why Pets Have Us
I joke that Pye owns me. Its those few moments when she’s sweet and cuddly that I melt and forget how upset I was when she peed on my bed three times in 10 days. Part of me worries about her for her every time I go away, even for a few days. The other part of me hopes she’s not a pain in the ass when I get back, and hasn’t wrecked the RV.
It’s so comforting to have a little, furry being in the house, even if they do tear it up. Watching them play, cuddling with them, watching them sleep, always makes me smile. I put up with the excess hair and errant poos for the warm fuzzy feeling that comes from knowing Pye is happy.
Although, “a warm fuzzy” seems a terribly inefficient description of what I feel about why I have a pet. I love Pye, as I have loved all of my pets. And I think she cares for me too, most of the time. Maybe she just tolerates my refusal to let her scratch the furniture and my infrequent disappearances so she can get food, petting and a warm place to stay. Eh, I’m ok with that, as long as she’s happy – and stops scratching the furniture or peeing on the bed when I’m gone.
Why do you have a pet(s)?
Because they love you more than any human does.
So true!! I know Checkers, my previous four-legged copilot, loved me unconditionally. Pye, I’m not so sure about. I already miss the dogs that belong to the neighbors who are leaving, and those who’ve left. I know the dogs miss each other, too. And it always seems like Molly, one of the dogs who moved away before and then saw me again after a long time, seemed to have really missed me. I’ll be sad when she moves away next week.
I’m the neighbor with the dog we took for a ride! And just to keep it totally straight, mine is not the crotch sniffing dog. My dog gave that up long ago she only sniffs butts now!
I know everyone is dying to find out how my dog the black lab, who happens to be named Black Dog, did with her recovery after her extremely traumatic experience. I was seriously worried she would never be the same again. The five minute ride did help a little bit. The excessive treats and long rub down later in the evening might have gotten her over the hump altogether. Not to mentioning getting me out of bed at 2am because she needed to do her business after all the excessive treats!
Black Dog is however sad again. Her friend, Ruby the crotch sniffer, has left. They have spent the last three winters together. Yes as you may have guessed, they are indeed “Best Friends Forever”. On the positive side they will see one another again soon. That is the glory of having a house on wheels.
I also miss my friends who have moved on and will also miss my friends I will be leaving behind soon. But just like our four legged friends, when we meet again we will begin again like we never left.
Hi Hope!
Taking Black Dog, the treat hog, and Ruby, the crotch sniffer, for a ride last week was hilarious! Best five minute ride I’ve had in along time (there’s a joke in there somewhere *snicker*) Very glad to hear BD is doing well and has completely recovered from her mysterious injury after much pampering. But after so much pampering, how could one not?
It’s been such a pleasure having you as a neighbor for the last few months! I loved helping you set up your new blog (Kernutties, check it out for great advice on relationships! Write to her and ask her your questions!) Looking forward to meeting you all on the road again someday soon! xo
It’s called “inordinate affection”. Not in a lustful meaning but as immoderate, disorderly, unregulated. There’s a certain mental psychotic affect in treating an animal like another human and believing the animal is as close as a blood relative. It results from an unmet need for affection and companionship. With that said, i too have a dog and have had pets most of my life.
Oh, that sounds so clinical. (Perhaps a reflection of your medical background?) But I sort of relate to the “mental psychotic affect,” and probably the unmet need for [human] affection and companionship on some days. I’ve always said, ‘I’m here because I’m not all there.’ That said, I’m not one of those folks who dress their pet like a baby and bottle feed it (saw that on Dog Whisperer… YIKES!).
Pye is a tad spoiled, but not overly so, IMHO. The third time she peed on my bed, she got tossed out of the house for a few hours on a very cold morning. (I believe in administering Tough Love when necessary to my four-legged children. :p ) Incidentally, she hasn’t dared pee on the bed since she was let back in.
I can’t imagine living without a hairball (aka: pet) underfoot.
My pets love me unconditionally, warts and all. It’s rare as frog’s wings to find that kind of loyalty in a human. I can always certain that my dog or my bird will be glad to see me when I come home.
Yes, they do! Even Pye seems to require my acknowledging her presence the minute I arrive home. She wants to be picked up – right away. (If I don’t put my stuff down fast enough, I get a nip in the calf. That’s love, right? LOL)
I once read a short treatise purporting that having a dog in your life was better than having a woman. And while some of the observations did elicit a chuckle, all seemed to have been written by someone embittered by a bad relationship or three. That said, I miss my dog. And I miss my cat. And on the worst of days I even miss my ex wife (thankfully my life is improving).
I don’t believe humans were meant to live alone and the unconditional love of a pet fills a basic need. But most of us have difficulty treating people as well as we treat our pets. Maybe if I evolve a bit more I’ll be able to keep that ficus in the corner healthy
I’ve never really considered if I miss an ex as much as I miss a pet. Checkers was with me for 18 years – that’s far longer than I lived with any family member. I do still miss her and it’ll be three years in July. That said, I do also miss an ex or two now and then.
As for treating humans as well as pets, even pets who aren’t spoiled rotten accept whatever they get from us, whereas people have standards that they will accept in a relationship. That makes us far more responsible to take excellent care of our pets as they don’t have a choice to leave like humans do. That said, if you value “your human,” you’ll do well to treat them as well as, if not better than, your beloved pet, unless you want them to leave.
Don’t worry too much about keeping the ficus alive – they’re fickle creatures.
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