There are a few things humans do that unintentionally hurt their animals feelings. I will post about these over the next week or two.
The first is teasing – I see a lot of clips on IG of animals being teased… now some of it is funny! The cheese test (as long as you give your pet the cheese after). But most of it just confuses animals. They don’t understand teasing like humans do and they take everything literally.
They think you are laughing AT them. This hurts their feelings.
They think they are in trouble or a disappointment.
They think they’ve done something wrong.
They wonder why their guardian wants to “annoy” them.
Most importantly, teasing affects your relationship with your pet. It scars the trust. Animals are all forgiving beings so yes they get over it but in that moment they are hurting, they are sad, they are confused.
So although we as humans can take a joke, animals can’t. Most of the teasing we see is simply because humans don’t know animals don’t understand jokes.
But now, you know. Help educate others so they know too. As a whole, those of us that understand animals on a deeper level have a right to help others know and understand animals better (those that don’t know).
It is our duty to take care of animals. It is an honor to take care of them. Not just yours, the ones in your family, but all. Never forget that.
