Pet Patter with Joilene: This new year take a cue from your pet: Live a more simple life

This new year take a cue from your pet: Live a more simpler life

Have you ever stopped to think about all the tasks that you do in a day and during all that time what is your pet doing? If your answer is laying around waiting for you to give them some attention, then do you not owe it to your pet to let them do something for their own well-being?

They just want the simple things in life. They want to eat, to be groomed, to be played with and exercised and most importantly to be cared for and loved.

When you go outside with your pet, let your pet enjoy that time, do not let the world revolve around you and rush your pet because you have to get back to YOUR life. Have some compassion in this regard and start the new year right with the right frame of mind when it comes to your pet’s needs.

Not only does your dog prefer to get outside and interact with other animals and humans, cats do too. A cat can be your walking buddy; given they are using a harness and not a collar with a leash and that you get them used to this with some practice.

You do not always have to leave the house to enjoy time with your pet. While you may think that your pet enjoys watching nature shows or the discovery channel with you, I really don’t think they would mind if you turned the television off and sat with them in silence. It’s the companionship they like, not the channel on the television.

Challenge your capacity to love by spending some more quality time with your pet. See if you could not watch television for one week or do as little as possible for one hour a day. Get outside your head, be with your pet in mind and body. Go outside to walk, to exercise, or stay inside and try to ‘petitate’ (a form of mutual meditation with your pet). When you spend some quiet, quality time with your pet (petting them, grooming them, just sitting with them on your lap) and you experience joy, comfort, peace, and relaxation, then you have just ‘petitated’.

If playing with your pet gives you more joy, then just spend some more time with them in play. They love to play wherever they are and they are not picky about their toys either. A tennis ball sewn into a sock can provide just as much fun as an expensive toy from the pet store for your canine, and a long wool string will do just fine for your feline. What if your needs were that simple?

This year, take some time to get used to enjoying the simple pleasures in life. Let your pet guide you and live a simpler life.