BETHEL — There is an old quote saying, “The only, absolute and best friend that a man has, in this selfish world, the only one that will not betray or deny him, is his dog.” King Frederick of Prussia said that in 1789. It was said he coined the phrase ‘man’s best friend,’ according to https://www.purelypetsinsurance.co.uk/ . But has society ever questioned why? Or how we can repay our respect in return?

Animals are in-tune with us unequivocally, says Dr. Stuer, chief of staff at Bethel Animal Hospital. “They are so, so connected to us emotionally. When we are upset, they feel it and react in certain ways. When we are happy, they feel it and react in different ways. How they react depends on the individual animal, but surely they feel and respond to our emotions.”

According to an article in Reuters, researchers did an experiment to see if the dogs could connect the emotional content of the human voice and gather emotional information from it. They found the dogs hearing positive things look at the humans wearing a positive expression, and the dogs hearing negative things look at the humans wearing a negative expression. This showed dogs have an internal categorization of emotional states.

With our pets being so in-tune with us, how can we be the best parent?

“Being the best parents….that is difficult to answer in a few words,” says Dr. Stuer. “It begins by choosing the right kind of animal for a person or family. Behavior training with basic commands is a foundation. Feeding a high quality food, encouraging regular exercise and maintaining an appropriate weight are all important. Seeking regular preventative care as well as providing socialization with other animals and people so that a pet is well adapted are important too. Of course the list could go on and on….”

Below are some nice tips for bonding with your pet from https://www.pawlicy.com/ . Here are the top three.

Be around them when they eat, and make it an ongoing act. Picky eaters take more interest in eating if you are taking an interest.

Break up your dog’s routine and in add extra walks, they might get extra excited as the prospect of an additional walk.

The cold weather could potentially cause your animals paws to crack. Moisturize them!

These are just some fun tricks to cheer up your pets; only you know them best.