01/23/2024
* Nuisance Behaviors *
One of the most frequent questions I am asked to ask pets is a concern over an undesirable behavior. Believe it or not, pets donât want to make us unhappy, they arenât trying to annoy us, or upset us. All they want in life is to make us happy, each us, and feel loved. They want to feel âgoodâ. Because they are ALL inherently good animals.
So whatâs up with âbadâ behaviors? Petâs are so intuitively connected to us that they are in our energy field at all times. That is why your pet knows when you are sad, happy, lonely, stressed etc.
Our petâs react to our emotions with their actions. When we are happy, so are they. When we are sad, they try to cheer us up, or feel sad themselves. When we are stressed, they are stressed. And guess what stress causes? Undesirable behaviors (actions). They feel stress and worry and it is all from YOU, this causes them to make mistakes, do things we donât want them to do, or do things that we as humans label as âbadâ behaviors.
If your pet is displaying some sort of undesirable behavior please do not assume they âknow betterâ. They donât. They are reacting to YOUR energy, YOUR emotions. You are their leader, their best friend, YOU are their entire world. So if something is âoffâ with you, something will be âoffâ with them. They are animals, not humans, so they will display it differently than we do.
Some examples: Peeing/Pooping in the house or in a certain spot. Ripping up things/destroying things. Pacing. Whining. Chewing. Etc. If you think of these behaviors, it is easy to see how they are related to stress.
Now, sometimes your pet may be stressed outside of your stress (not enough exercise, conflict, etc.). In this case, your pet is doubly stressed! So there is no way your pet can be expected to not to display stress behaviors.
When our pet is happy because we are. That is easy to accept. When our pet is sad because we are that is also easy to accept. We console each other. But when our pet is stressed because we are, humans have a hard time accepting that and are quick to blame the pet. It is not the pet. It is you. Take care of you. Find a way to release / minimize YOUR stress and I promise your petâs behavior will change. Its a win-win. You feel better, your pet feels better, and the behavior gets better.
