Understanding things from their perspective

I have a friend whose dog developed an aural hematoma on his ear (a hematoma occurs when blood collects between the skin and the cartilage of the ear flap). They have had to drain it a couple of times and until it completely heals, his poor dog has been forced to wear a cone (e-collar) around his neck.

Recently my friend told me he had been teasing his dog about how funny he looked and how uncoordinated he was, trying to maneuver around the house with the cone on. He probably wasn't really teasing his dog. I think he told me that because he knew he'd get a rise out of me. (All my friends know that I don't believe in ever teasing animals or saying unkind things to them). We have the kind of relationship where we kid around a lot and give each other a bad time, so this was more playful banter than serious conversation.

I suggested that he try the cone on and wear it around the house for a while, and see he how HE liked it. :-) I thought he might develop some more empathy for his dog, if he knew exactly what his dog was experiencing with that awful thing around his neck. I jokingly told him I thought it was important for him to know how a cone affects how things sound, how challenging it is to do just about everything, things as simple as walking and eating, and suggested he not just try the cone on, but wear it for a whole day.

He emailed me a week later and told me he had worn the cone (although he didn't say for how long) and had been properly educated about what an unpleasant experience it is. He vowed to never tease his dog about the cone again. I told him I wouldn't believe he had worn the cone unless I saw it for myself. That wasn't really true, but I thought it would be funny to see if I could get him to wear the cone in front of me.

Last weekend, a mutual friend of ours had us over for dinner. I suggested he bring the cone and wear it during the evening. Amazingly, he did bring the cone with him, although understandably, he was hesitant to put it on at first. After dinner, he was a good sport though (after much goading) and put the cone on. He even let us take pictures. We were all laughing so hard, I am surprised any of the pictures turned out.

I didn't feel too bad about giving him such a bad time because I personally have worn a cone before. I did it because I wanted to understand why it scared Lucky so much. After that experience, I got it and from them on, I went out of my way to avoid making Lucky wear the cone. When she had hot spots on her hips, I put boxer shorts on her to keep her from licking the hot spots. I figured wearing boxers was a far better alternative to the cone and she definitely seemed happier.

For as silly as we all were being, I do think it is very important to understand things from our animal's perspective. I know they appreciate it when we put forth a little extra energy to see things through their eyes.