The Mobile Pet Vet Blog

The Human-Animal Bond – What and Why?

The “human-animal bond” is a term that was developed to categorize and describe the attachment some people have for their pets. It was established for several reasons. One, of course, is that the psychologists and psychiatrists of the world have to have a name for every possible human emotional condition. More importantly, however, it was established to validate and explain the complex and often indescribable love that humans can have for their pets.

Love, of course, is a subjective term that means many things to many people, and is often dependent on the situation. For example, I love my new Keen brand shoes. Would I risk my life for them? Absolutely not. I also love the actor Gerard Butler. I’ve never actually met him, and I’ve heard he smokes – a habit I dislike – but I do enjoy his work (especially Phantom of the Opera!). How do those feelings of “love” that I have compare to the “love” I have for my animals. That’s simple – there is no comparison.

The realm of attachment that people form to their pets is highly variable. As a veterinarian, I have seen too often that a pet can be loved until it becomes inconvenient – the pet becomes too old, too sick, too destructive, or too expensive. It may have been well taken care of for many years, but then the bond is so weak that the pet can be relinquished to a shelter when it becomes more trouble than the owner wishes to deal with. On the other hand, I have many clients that wouldn’t part with their pets under any but the direst circumstances. There are some individuals that could even be considered “pathologically” attached to their pet. The designation of “pathologically attached” implies that the relationship is or has become unhealthy in some way. The so-called pathologically attached are the ones who love their pets like children, to the extent that were it possible, they would donate one of their own organs to their ailing pet if it would save its life.

Despite putting a name to the condition, the human-animal bond encompasses as many questions as answers. Who is it that determines if an emotional bond between a human and an animal is so extreme as to be “unhealthy”? Is it wrong or abnormal to love pets as much as humans? If so, who determines that?

The question that baffles me most is what exactly it is that allows some people to develop an intense loving relationship with their pet while others don’t. Is it nature or nurture? Is there some innate genetic component in some of us that allows us to unconditionally love our pets while our siblings, family members or friends may not share or even understand this attachment? Is it a result of our experiences throughout life that allow this bond to develop?

I often think of pet lovers as being sensitive and empathetic people. I also know a very sweet couple who have devoted their lives to family, children, and charitable work, and yet have relinquished a family pet they had had for years because it just “didn’t bring them any real joy”. No one could call them cold or insensitive, but for a pet lover it is incomprehensible that you could live with a pet in your house and as part of your family for years and yet not form any real attachment.

As medical technology continues to advance, perhaps one day there will be an explanation as to why some of us form deep, permanent and loving relationships with animals, while others don’t. Regardless of whether I know how or why, I am happy to enjoy the life-enriching joy, love and fulfillment I get from having pets.

admin The Human-Animal Bond dog, human-animal bond, pet, veterinary

Weekly Topic: “Baby Talk”

By Dudley Dufus. (Dudley Dufus has spent his 11 years of life amongst the two leggeds, and brings his insightful and quirky interpretations of their odd ways to the common canid.)

Baby talk - we’ve all experienced it. The normally upright two-legged suddenly seems to regress to a pre-evolutionary form of its species. The human, most often a female, tries to make herself smaller by awkwardly curling her body down to us, her envy for our ability to ambulate on four limbs evident as she tries to mimic our superior conformational stance, and her voice takes on an abnormally high octave. Her normal concise vocalizations change to a slurry of incomprehensible babble which is almost always accompanied by the curling of lips and baring of teeth. Humans call it “baby talk”, and not only do they bestow us with this odd form of communication, but also subject their own offspring to it!

While it can be scary to have a human suddenly drop to the ground and start up with this high pitched vocalization, you should be aware that the human is not in pain or infected with rabies, despite the noise and occasional salivary spraying. Rest assured that during baby talk the human is very unlikely to show aggressive tendencies. Do not expect them to roll over and urinate, as would be appropriate, but in their own way they are showing submission to us. While annoying, baby talk is a harmless human behavior.

There are several responses to this that can be of benefit to canids. One response is to gracefully accept this subservient behavior and roll over onto your back to allow the human to give you a belly massage. Most humans will, oddly enough, enjoy giving this freely although I’m told they actually have to pay each other for this service.

Another response is to simply ignore this bad behavior and walk away. This method does not stop the human from repeated attempts to appease you and may actually escalate the behavior in some individual humans.

If you do not want this groveling auditory assault to continue, a gentle way to stop it is to jump up on the human to throw her off balance, then while she’s struggling to regain her feet (humans are hopelessly uncoordinated), lick the face with encompassing wet swipes, paying particular attention to getting your tongue in her mouth. That will almost always result in the human returning to her normal upright position and ceasing the high pitched vocalizations, although it may require a few repeated efforts on your part to get her to desist. This method does not permanently eliminate baby talk, however, and you will almost certainly be subjected to it again.

Another less subtle response to stop this behavior would be to stand your ground and bare your teeth back at them. Sometimes you also need to emit a sharp warning bark. While humans’ intellectual limitations do not allow them to speak “dog”, they seem to instinctively respond to this reprimand by backing off and stopping the baby talk. This method does tend to permanently stop baby talk although there is the occasional human that is too obtuse to understand and will continue to cajole and try to entice you to respond to the baby talk.

The one key point to remember about baby talk is that it is an attention seeking behavior of humans and that it is a non-threatening and harmless practice. Feel free to enjoy the ear and belly rubs should the mood strike, and if not use one of the above techniques to stop this vocal torment.

admin A Dog's Perspective on Human Behavior baby-talk, canine, dog, human-animal bond