An new poll published Wednesday, revealed that pet owners find more comfort in talking with their pets than speaking with spouses/partners in times of trouble.
I admittedly talk to my animals. I tell them they rock my world, they are cute, so smart and a royal pain in the rear at times. But as long as I speak in a sweet sing-songy voice, I could call them the spawns of Satan and they would still respond favorably. But I tend to be much more respectful of them than that.
Working late at night, my pets always greet me, unlike at times…..not all the time….but you know, teenager kind of all the time…when my children are holed up in their rooms and mother arriving home after a long day is just not that interesting. But then again, my dogs and cats have paired my arrival with likely treats hidden in pockets. My children, I know, scramble around trying to figure out what chores they forgot to do and could finish within the one minute they hear the vehicle pull into the drive and me entering the doorway. Please do not tell them that the mere fact they actually remember to do the chores is often a reward for me.
When the teens are on edge, it’s almost as if my animals are pleading with me to lend a listening ear or a trip to the beach, to create space away. I oblige, and more often than not, can convince one teen, and a lot of the time, the spouse, to come with me to the beach. Time there, is time slowed down.
My husband talks to his chickens. I don’t think it’s because he can’t talk to me, but he gets something back from his eight egg-laying ladies that he does not get from me. Mainly, they follow him around all over the place. He digs holes in the ground, which they find fascinating. He likes that someone finds something he does fascinating, so he spills with lovely platitudes toward fowl. A newly dug hole lost its charm a thousand gophers ago.
A woman at work talks with Guinea Pigs like they are her children. She tells them how cute they are and how proud she is they are less scared today. I overhear these conversations she has and initially I thought she was a little off. But she is probably one of the happiest people I know. For her, it’s about giving the compliment, not about getting anything back.
My dogs don’t tell me how I could have handled a situation better, how I need to lose a few and how that outfit I wore just was “so-90s.” They just want to go to the beach. I like that.
What do you tell your pets?
