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The Unspoken Reality of Pet Ownership
Most people consider the puppy stage to be the most challenging. With the challenges of crate training, potty training, and behavioral issues, owners find themselves overwhelmed by the responsibility to raise a puppy. While puppy behavior is aggravating to navigate, they end, and the family can fall into a comfortable routine, with the puppy learning the habits and schedules of its owners. Pets have become a part of the family, integrating into daily life, holidays, and special occasions. Pet owners feel that they cannot imagine life without pets. Their existence alone enriches our lives, but we can also start taking them for granted.
You cannot share your life with a dog … and not know perfectly well that animals have personalities and minds and feelings.
As pets age, they begin a slow and almost imperceptible regression to puppy-like behaviors. Once they pass “middle age,’ a downhill trend begins, and most owners do not even notice it. Some will begin to have occasional accidents around the house, and they might be less interested in playing and sleeping. Thus, they may have become less tolerant or confused. Typically, easygoing, laid-back pets may react aggressively when startled. For experienced pet owners, they recognize this decline as the beginning of the end, and know the days with their precious companion…
