{"id":631,"date":"2013-03-14T07:18:02","date_gmt":"2013-03-14T14:18:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.laurarothafel.com\/?p=631"},"modified":"2013-03-19T12:11:59","modified_gmt":"2013-03-19T19:11:59","slug":"animal-house","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.laurarothafel.com\/?p=631","title":{"rendered":"Animal House"},"content":{"rendered":"

Is your house an \u201canimal house?\u201d<\/strong><\/em> \u00a0Not the kind filled with hormone invaded teenagers or wild frat boys in college but a home that has a pet attached to you and your family. \u00a0In my mind, an animal house is a home that incorporates animals into everyday living.<\/p>\n

There are people who have never owned a pet and may wonder what the fascination is with having a dog or cat. \u00a0The idea of cleaning a cat box or using a \u201cpooper scooper\u201d is not something they are want to do (not my favorite either.) Pets can also be expensive, frustrating and have the ability to break your heart. \u00a0When I was in the single digit period of life my dog ate over 16 pounds of See\u2019s candy on Easter eve and he pulled the Christmas roast off the top of the refrigerator! \u00a0My mom grabbed it out of his mouth and washed it off and we ate it for dinner. \u00a0She never told our guests. \u00a0I learned that even if things didn\u2019t go exactly as planned, life would still be okay.<\/p>\n

So, why bother?<\/em><\/p>\n

Let me share with you…<\/h2>\n

As a therapist I love pets! \u00a0I am a believer in the affection and comfort they offer. I can usually tell which of my clients grew up with pets and those that didn\u2019t. \"\"Also, there is a difference in the ability to calm one\u2019s self when you have a pet. \u00a0It might be walking the dog or stroking the cat. Their tolerance and ability to handle emotionally charged situations like a grandparent passing or unexpected tragedy is evident.<\/p>\n

Animals teach us so many valuable life lessons. \u00a0They offer companionship and unconditional love. \u00a0We learn about commitment, responsibility and life\u2019s process. They offer true acceptance never judge us for what we say or how we look. \u00a0They allow us to share our deepest feelings and remain a \u201ctrue confidant.\u201d \u00a0We can learn to love and be loved differently through these wonderful creatures we call pets.<\/p>\n

As I reflect back in my life I have to say that some of my most valuable lessons came from owning a pet. \u00a0Responsibility was ingrained as I learned to care for something that depended on me for food and water. I learned about the cycle of life and about procreation from my friend\u2019s cat \u201cWhitey\u201d who had six litters of kittens! \u00a0I learned about the food chain between rabbits, my cats, and coyotes. \u00a0And compassion when my beloved great dane had to be put to sleep to end his suffering from cancer when I was 14.<\/p>\n

\u2018Tis better to have loved and lost<\/h2>\n

The most important thing I learned was the connection between love and the inevitability of loss. \u00a0Throughout our lifetime we will experience friends moving away, death, and more than likely divorce in some way or another. \u00a0What always amazed me growing up was how even though I missed and longed for my animals past there was always enough love in my heart to connect again and again. \u00a0Time and connection always allowed for healing.<\/p>\n

Animals can be messy and sometimes destructive. But they teach us to hang in there. We clean up the mess and forgive their misbehavior.\"\" I had a Labrador retriever who was the eternal puppy. She ate two screen doors, a cupboard, the wallpaper off the bathroom wall, and a wood door. She loved the water and thought nothing of jumping in the pool with the kids and was so quick she caught a bird in mid flight right before our eyes! But we loved her anyway…besides she did let the bird go.<\/p>\n

Pets can add to our chaos when we don\u2019t need or want it. But they can also help us learn to deal with the unexpected in life. Managing change and helping us to understand that we might be tired but still capable of handling one more thing like stopping by the pound on the way home from work or putting up lost signs.<\/p>\n

Think about it…<\/h2>\n

If you have a family the idea of taking on one more challenge may seem overwhelming and depending on the circumstances it might be. \u00a0But at some point think about what the benefits are to you and\/or your children. An animal can positively pre-occupy a child while you fix dinner or finish up work.\u00a0 They are a source of entertainment and can frighten off a burglar or rat.<\/p>\n

And, if you live alone, the companionship of a pet can be immense especially for dog owners. Think about it… not only do you have the relationship with the animal but the added benefit of people who will interact with you because of your dog (always a safe way to start a conversation) whether you are taking a walk or at the dog park.<\/p>\n

Orange – Villa Park Animal House<\/p>\n

We have an animal house<\/strong><\/em> in the truest sense… teenage college student with friends who come over to alleviate their homesickness. We have a 35 lb. cat, a skittish German Shepherd who attempts to hide in the fireplace or cupboard when scared but runs the perimeter to keep guard. \u00a0And my favorite Big Jake who perches himself at the highest point in the yard to watch over his kingdom and never misses an opportunity to slime you with slobber! I love it!<\/p>\n

This is dedicated to my mom who allowed us to have an animal apartment!\u00a0<\/em> <\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Is your house an \u201canimal house?\u201d \u00a0Not the kind filled with hormone invaded teenagers or wild frat boys in college but a home that has a pet attached to you and your family. \u00a0In my mind, an animal house is a home that incorporates animals into everyday living. There are people who have never owned…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-631","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.laurarothafel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/631","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.laurarothafel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.laurarothafel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.laurarothafel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.laurarothafel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=631"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.laurarothafel.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/631\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.laurarothafel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=631"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.laurarothafel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=631"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.laurarothafel.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=631"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}