#selfhelp #personaldevelopment — I find that pets like dogs and cats can be great for self help but I’ll have to make a huge qualifying statement to go along with this. In my case, my dogs have taught me so much about life that I really feel that they have helped me become a better person. I’ve learned a lot about unconditional love through both my previous dogs Pepper and Max as well as my current furballs Chester and Roxie.
I’m sure that other dedicated pet owners out there will agree with me that having animals at home is highly recommended as an improvement strategy for lifestyle. However, here is the big qualifying statement I’m going to have to make.
Dogs and cats, especially dogs, would be awesome as part of anybody’ self help program only if one takes the time to properly get educated on how to train and care for a dog. Only with the right type of education for both the dog owners as well as the dogs will this huge benefit every happen. Without the proper education and training for both owners and their dogs, the entire experience of pet ownership can become a nightmare. Again, I’m sure that experienced dog owners will agree with me here too.
I’ve seen too many dog owners out there with untrained dogs (usually because the owners themselves have not been educated enough on the realities of caring for dogs) that have situations where their dogs turn out to be menaces rather than the great companions they can really be. Sadly, in many cases, the dogs are abandoned even though they are really innocent victims here because of the negligence and ignorance of these dog owners.
So in my view, pets are definitely part of self help at least in my case as well as thousands of others out there I’m sure. But this is not something that can just purchased and made to work automatically. This is something that does require a commitment to get the proper education and then spend the right time to work with your dog so that the relationship is fully optimized.
Fellow dog owners – feel free to chime in here with your comments on this as well!
I do my small part by making available a short video on basic dog training online and this can be accessed at a dog training website I created for this purpose. There’s also my Life With Dogs Facebook page
