Animals like to be included

Fifteen years ago, I took my first trip to New Orleans. I fell in love with the city and over the years went back again and again, for Jazzfest, for Halloween, for a 49er/Saints game, etc . . . each time, having an equally magical experience. There is something very special to me about New Orleans. It was after that first trip to the Big Easy that I began celebrating Fat Tuesday each year. I would invite friends over, cook red beans and rice, and serve Hurricane's, (the house specialty at Pat O'Brien's), to honor the city and the wonderful memories of my trips there.

This past week, Fat Tuesday arrived and as usual, I cooked up some red beans and rice and invited some friends over. And per our usual tradition, every put on beads (I have quite a collection from my trips over the years) and we listened to cajun music, as well as the subdudes, since they are originally from New Orleans as well.

It was a fun evening, but I couldn't help feeling a little sad. I missed having Lucky there with me. She was always a part of the celebration, even donning beads each year, so she could be like the rest of us. It was difficult to experience another one of our traditions, without her physically here with me. I loved how much joy she got out of being a part of whatever I was doing.

I smiled to myself when I remembered the various times I was sitting in the backyard with friends and would hear Lucky tapping on the sliding glass door with her paw. I would open the door, thinking maybe she wanted to come outside to go potty, but instead, she'd just lay down in the opened doorway. We always assumed she just wanted to be able to hear our conversations, so as not to miss out on anything.

It got me thinking about how most animals really like to be included in what we're doing. They consider themselves members of the family and they like to participate in as many of our activities as possible.

My clients have warmed my heart over the years with stories of how their animals have wanted to participate in their activities . . . like one of my clients who began working out at home to exercise videos and when she was laying on her back doing crunches, her dog would come lick her face and then lay across her stomach . . . or when she was on her hands and knees doing leg lifts, her dog would keep running underneath her stomach, as if she was making a bridge for him to play under. At first, she was slightly irritated by his interruptions, but when I explained that he was just trying to enjoy the activity with her, she began finding the humor in his antics.

Another client told me a story about how her dog would sit with her when she was folding laundry and after she had folded something, her dog would pick it up and carry it into the bedroom. At first, she wasn't too pleased that her freshly washed clothes were getting slobbered on, but she did eventually see the positive in what her dog was doing - she was trying to be helpful!

And I remembered that one of my childhood dogs used to bury dog treats in my dad's suitcase when he was packing to leave on the trip. The first time it happened, he was confused and he called my mom from his hotel when he arrived, inquiring as to why she had put dog treats in his suitcase. When she swore up and down that it wasn't her, they finally realized who had done it. :-) We weren't sure if he was just giving my dad something to remember him by, or if he was hoping he was going to get to go on the trip too, thus, he needed to put HIS stuff in the suitcase. Either way, he wanted to participate in the packing process.

Just a week or so ago, another one of my clients was telling me that her dog had been pacing and seeming stressed out when she was in the baby's room reading him stories. The baby's room was the one place in the house where the dog wasn't allowed and while it didn't seem to bother the dog most of the time, it did appear to bother him during story time. She decided to start reading stories to the baby in the family room and it was clear that this pleased her dog, as he would curl up next to she and the baby and listen intently as she read.

Animals really do like to be included in what we're doing. They want to be as much a part of the family as everyone else, so if you aren't already doing so, I hope you'll find ways to start including your pets in your activities. It doesn't matter how big or small the activity is, or how big or small their part in it is. I think it will just mean a great deal to them to be joining in the fun.