Introduction
Many humans who have pets handle them like their children because of the love that exists between the two. While raising a dog as your pet, it is important to consider the same in the context that a pet requires as much attention and care as a human baby. However, there is a great difference between raising a human child and a dog since the developmental stages must differ at some point which calls for difference in attention.
Raising a human child is a more complex process which involves bringing up a person in such a manner that he/she can make correct judgment on various issues touching on life.
Parents therefore have to play a very great role in helping the child through the transition of infancy dependency to the independence that is associated with adulthood. Raising a dog is completely different from raising a human child in that the dog will always remain childlike and it will never be independent but will remain dependent forever like an infant (Reistein 4).
My wife and I have no children, but we do have a pet dog named, Mochi. She is a 2-year old Yorkshire Terrier. We love her and spend a great deal of time playing, nurturing, and taking care of Mochi. We expend a great deal of effort taking care of her. In addition to all that tender loving care, it is impossible to have a pet and fail to employ the art of patience, consistency, and affection. This is because raising a pet is closely related to raising a human child since just like an infant; a pet will forever depend on its keeper.
Mochi is just a dog, but for me and my wife she is our little child. She is like a baby. When we consider the behaviors of an infant, a parent must be very patient with them sine in many cases, they behave contrary to the expectation of the parent. Furthermore, the parent must consistently train the child on the required skills for the infant to finally adapt to the system.
In addition, the stage of infancy requires a lot of love and affection to be complete. The same case applies to a pet since it is childlike and in many cases may not behave as per the expectations but with patience, consistency in training and affection, the do will finally come to adapt to the system.
Patience
There is so much similarities between raising a human child and raising a dog. As we had said earlier, raising a pet is like raising a human child in that the pet does not train to be successful and independent but trains to forever depend on its keeper while giving him company. The same thing happens to a child since the child is not independent but fully depends on the parents.
To bring up a child, parents ought to be very patient with her since she does not learn things in a flash of a second. The same case applies to a dog. The keeper must be patient with the pet as he trains it to be what he likes of dogs since it may not learn in a day but it will eventually learn.
Every individual would wish to have and would be proud of a well trained pet. To have the best trained dog like any other pet, it would be good to train it by yourself. My wife and I have watched our two year old dog grow from puppy stage to its adult stage now and we have trained it to be what we like.
However, raising a dog from a puppy to a well trained mature dog may sound simple but it is not as easy. It requires a lot of commitment, dedication, time, energy and patience to bring out the best dog. Just as parents take their time to raise and train their kid in to the best character, the same should be applied when raising a dog.
Acts of patience starts when purchasing a young puppy. Just as a woman does not have any man to father her kids, purchasing a puppy should not be done impulsively since this may lead to an unhappy relationship between the puppy and the owner (Sucher 14). The biggest satisfaction in owning a dog comes through endurance. It is achieved when an individual obtains a ‘tiny, fragile, and adorable’ young puppy and raises it to an ‘obedient, loyal and loving companion’.
Raising a human child from infancy is not always a bed of roses since it involves a lot of work. The same case applies to raising a dog from infancy to a mature age. House training a dog may be quite challenging especially if it is done correctly. Teething may also be problematic and if the companion is not patient with the dog, it may become a hard situation to handle.
A parent has to be patient and that means the capacity to spend time with a child and listen to what he or she is saying and trying to find out what the child wanted to express or needed (Raser 4). The same thing can be said of a pet. An owner who is not willing to spend a great deal of time with a pet cannot expect a healthy relationship to occur between man and animal. Creating this bond will also require patience before the dog gets used to the companion.
A great reward is accompanied with patience in bringing up of a dog. If the owner has older children, the responsibility of raising the dog brings the family together and trains the children on the responsibilities of raising a pet.
Again, raising a dog patiently brings about satisfaction from a job well done in that the family is able to mold the pet according to their families’ lifestyle. Having diligence and patience in raising a dog rewards the owner with a loyal and loving companion (Sucher15). It has taken us a great deal of patience, as well as daily walks and grooming to have our Mochi as good as she is today.
Consistency
When raising a human child, the parent ought to be very consistent in training the equipping the child with the necessities of the world failure to which the child may grow up physically but lack the basic knowledge of life. For instance, the parent must consistently train the infant on how to eat diligently, how to speak, how to walk, how to use the toilet as well as many other issues that are involved in this life.
If the infant was shown how to do something once and then left to do it on her own thereafter, and then it could be hard or even impossible to do it the right way. However, if the thing is done repeatedly with the child, then she will do it perfectly in the long run.
Raising a dog also requires a lot of consistency coupled with patience in order to have the dog molded in to the lifestyle of your choice. Training a dog consistently produces a very loving and loyal companion whereas laxity may end up producing a very unruly dog (Sucher 15).
When the end product of a dog is not very attractive, the relationship between the man and the dog may be ruined thus ruining the very purpose of obtaining the pet. It is therefore important to avoid laxity and ensure consistency in everything that concerns bringing up a dog in order to ensure that the core value of obtaining a pet is maintained.
It has cost us a lot of consistency while raising our beloved Mochi since we do not have children and it was our treasured source of companion. Mochi is our only child in theory and we know that lack of consistency in training her is likely to end up in a semi trained dog which may hinder her from fully developing in to our beloved pet lifestyle.
Every interaction a dog has with her companion teaches her a lot on where she is ranked by the master and whether or not she should treat him with respect. If an individual could set some reasonable guidelines on the behavior of his dog and then consistently, firmly and gently insists that she has to follow the guidelines, then the dog in the long run treats her master with a lot of respect, utter adoration and devotion while sticking to the guidelines given by the master (Bridwel 35).
Consistency is basically the major factor in raising a dog and is mainly evident when giving the dog verbal commands. The same case applies to human children whereby if they are taught with consistence, firmness and gentleness, then they learn to abide by what their parents requires of them.
It is important to be in control of your dog so that you do not have to yell or shout at her when giving commands. This can only be achieved through consistency in a firm conversational mode.
With time, your dog should know that your verbal conversations are not suggestions but commands which she should adhere to. The dog may not understand your conversation with her at once and may at times ignore some commands but constant training while maintaining a firm tone plays a great role in your conversation with your dog (Bridwell 37).
Affection
The basic necessity of children below the age of seven is love and affection which enables them to happily embrace the broad category of issues that the parents may be trying to introduce them to. Lack of love and affection at this developmental stage may lead to improper development thus hindering the child from acquiring the basic knowledge that may be required of her.
A dog like any other pet is more of a child to its master since even during its maturity stage, she will never stop depending with her master and thus needs affection in order to have a great relationship with her companion.
When I think about cute, my 2-year-old Yorkshire Terrier named, Mochi comes to mind. Mochi is me and my wife’s only child in theory. Even though she’s of a different breed, a canine puppy vs. a human child, nonetheless, we have been raising her as our baby daughter and she has been treated by us as such.
Mochi’s cuteness to me comes greatly from how she acts around us, her behavioral actions that simulates or imitates that of a human child through our daily reoccurrences with her. We love her and spend a great deal of time playing, nurturing, and taking care of Mochi. We expend a great deal of effort taking care of her, an affection which has really strengthened the relationship between the three of us.
When dealing with a new and mature dog, it always has trouble adapting in to a new home. It thus needs considerable attention and affection for it to adapt quickly to its new environment. If a dog suddenly changes its environment and does not get the attention it requires, its transition period becomes very difficult and it results to stress and an unhealthy relationship with its master (Parrett 17).
Treating your dog with affection is impossible without involving time, money and effort. My wife and I share a lot and frequent activities with our Mochi in order to sustain a lasting bond between the three of us. For instance, frequently take walks in our lobby farm, glooming and playing in the fenced yard, quite often, we sit down with our Mochi in the couch while reading newspaper or listening to news and we also allow our dog to come and sleep with us whenever she wants our warmth.
It is again important to commit money in order to affectionately treat your dog. For instance, feeding your dog with quality food requires committing some cost as well as proving her with constant veterinary checkups for better health and such things as leashes, collar, bowls and pets. Veterinary checkups should be done annually which includes vaccination and ensuring the dog remains healthy all year round (Parrett 17).
It does not require a genius to understand the level of attention to detail required being able to have a pet that is disease-free and able to enjoy a happy existence. The same thing is needed to raise a child. A young boy or a young girl is just like a pet dog because they too cannot articulate what they need (Rosenberg 2). It is up to the pet owner and the parent to anticipate the needs of their little darlings. One can imagine the level of dedication and effort required to have that kind of mindset.
A pet owner has to work and perform in order to have beautiful, healthy, and adorable pets. The same is true when it comes to having children. A parent is always on the move. A pet owner is always ready to spring into action because the life of a pet is important. A parent will have to be ready to give time, money and of course a great deal of effort (Gardner 4).
Conclusion
A dog like a human child should be raised with lots of care in order to achieve the aim of having the pet in a home. This includes a healthy relationship between the dog and her owner for them to be good and life time companions. Among the basic necessities in raising a dog are patience, consistency and affection. Just as a human child, a dog takes time to learn the basic rules of life and especially in accordance to the owner’s lifestyle thus he has to be patient with the dog.
She also needs to be trained repeatedly and consistently to ensure that there is mutual understanding between her and the owner. Just as little kids require a lot of affection, dogs will lead a stress free lifestyle when given the necessary attention and affection.
Works cited
Bridwell, Jennifer. The Everything Dog Obedience Book: From Bad Dog to Good Dog: a Step-by-Step. New York, NY: Prentice. Print.
Gardner, Debbie. Raising Kids who can Protect Themselves. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2004. Print.
Parrett, Glenn. A dog for life: the practical guide to canine care. Ontario, Dundurn Press Ltd, 1992. Print.
Raser, Jamie. Raising Children You can Live With. TX: Bayou Publishing, 1999. Print.
Reistein, David. Parenting a Human vs. Raising a Pet. Associate Content, 2011. Web.
Rosenberg, Marshal. Raising Children Compassionately. New York: Puddle Dancer Press, 2005. Print.
Sucher, Jamie. Cocker Spaniels. New York, Baron’s Educational Series, 2009. Print.