Introducing our 'Dog's Point of View' series: first up, the human-dog bond!
Woof! Woof! I really love my best friend! They say that man’s best friend is his dog, but it works both ways too! My best friend is definitely my human owner. Ever since they chose me from the litter, they have looked after me, played with me, taught me lots of things, and taken me for lots of walks.
I was very small when I first met my humans. They came to visit my litter when I was playing with my brothers and sisters; I loved all that puppy rough and tumble and we used to mouth and bite each other and sometimes it did hurt a bit, but if I yelped enough my brothers backed off…. I think I scared them to stop! This is one of the first things my human best friend taught me - that it’s not good to bite everything. I don’t do it now - except with my toys, of course!
Since the very first day they brought me home, my best friend has taught me to understand the world. They really worked hard to make me feel at home straight away, so that I didn’t miss my doggie mummy too much. They got me a lovely comfy bed which has an old t-shirt inside that funnily enough smells of my doggie mummy. It makes me feel safe now that I can smell her, even though I can’t see her.
I’ve also got my own food and drink bowls and lots of toys, puzzles and chews - I am a lucky pooch!
My human best friend and I do lots of fun things together and they are there to help me when I’m scared or nervous. They seem to know when I’m worried and do try to help me through it; for example, I really don’t like loud noises and bangs. Because I have super sensitive hearing, I can hear bangs from a long way away and try to hide behind the sofa or in a corner. My best friend is also very good at reading my body language - and they've made me a nice safe den where I feel a lot safer, right next to the sofa. They will also turn the radio up loud so that I can’t hear the noise as well - which is very thoughtful, but sometimes the choice of music is a bit strange!
My human is my favourite person in the whole wide world and we are the best of friends. Right from the very start when they brought me home, they had all the right things to help me settle in.
When I was old enough to have my vaccinations, they took me to a puppy party - what fun! I didn’t know there were so many different types of dogs - huge ones, short ones, snappy ones, ones that looked like a sausage and had very short legs and they were all barking! I was a bit scared to start with but my best friend was prepared; they kept me close by and talked to me all the time in a soothing voice. When I stopped hiding behind their legs, I was given lots of tasty treats! We then played a few games and that was good fun - after a few visits, I got quite used to the other dogs, and wasn’t so scared when they came up and sniffed me!
I have a special bond with my best friend - they taught me lots of things - I now know that my human doesn’t like me sleeping in their bed, but they do quite like it when I jump on their lap and give them lots of puppy kisses.
Sometimes, I think that my best friend can be quite strict, but at least I know where I stand. I like the daily routine we have; as soon as my human comes downstairs in the morning they let me go outside for a pee and a little sniff around the garden. Then it’s breakfast time - sometimes breakfast is not served as fast as I would like, but if I stand next to my bowl or pace around a bit, they soon get the message!
After breakfast, and before my human goes out to work, we go for a little walk and when I come back I’m usually ready for a nice nap. The day passes quite quickly, really. After my nap I’ll get up and have a little sniff around the house and maybe find another cooler corner to have a doze. My best friend will often leave me a toy with some food inside it - it takes me ages to get at the treat inside but it’s worth it! Sometimes, one of my humans comes home at lunch time and lets me out into the garden again, or the lady next door might visit me instead. Then when my best friend gets home, I know what our routine is! They are just as pleased to see me as I am pleased to see them - I get lots of scratches behind my ears and they call me a ‘good dog’!
I know my human likes to sit down and relax when they first get home, so I try to be patient for a little while, but when they stand up and go to the front door I know it’s my turn to go for another walk! I think our evening walks are my favourite; we normally take a ball and play fetch when we’re in the park. Then we’ll maybe stop and talk with other dogs and their best friends; well, the humans will talk and us dogs will sniff each other and have a little chase.
We’ll then wander back home and I know this is the time my best friend will let me cuddle up on the sofa before they go upstairs to bed and I settle down in my own comfy bed.
Just to make sure that I’m OK in the house during the day and at night, my best friend uses an ADAPTIL Calm Home Diffuser which helps me feel calm and comfortable; it reminds me of the comforting messages I used to feel when I was close to my mummy dog.
I really like the routine we have and everyone else in the house seems to know the rules too. It makes me feel safe - I’m looking forward to tomorrow when we’ll do it all over again!