Adding a new pet to your household

  Posted on September 6, 2009  by Joy of Living  No comments

Hey!  Jessie here!  I am sure most of you know this already, but we canine types are highly social animals.  We are born with certain behavioral traits that give credence to our ability to be trained, to our playfulness, and to our ability to easily fit into the human household.  In fact, some of us are so good, we have actually trained our humans how we want them to behave around us!  Life is just so much easier that way!

As a domestic creature, I prefer living within a social environment.  My human, Miss Karen, is very much a part of my family.  Sometimes, we share our lives with other human creatures and with other pets.  In my case, I happen to share my domicile with a cat, Bo.  In such settings, we need to lay some ground rules and establish who is the leader within this little social group.  Obviously, Miss Karen rules the roost, but when it comes to the four-legged members among our household, I am the Queen!

When you are attempting to integrate a new dog or cat into your household, gently and consistently help your pet to learn what is considered to be acceptable behavior and what is not.  This allows your pet to become more comfortable within his or her surroundings.  When we do not know what to expect, it confuses us and makes us stressed.  We get stressed just as our human counterparts do!  I integrated into Miss Karen’s household quite well.  Bo?  Well, we are working on that darned cat!  Some days, being the Queen is hard work!  Carry on!