If you or someone you know have recently gotten a new pet, one of the most important things that you can be doing right now is trying to solidify your bond with them. Only through having a strong bond with your pet can you hope to develop a healthy and happy relationship where your pet trusts you. But in most cases, this bond won’t happen entirely on its own. There are things that you can and should be doing to help build this bond.
To help you see how this can be done, whether it’s a new puppy you’re bringing home to your family or even a fish that your elderly loved one has in their senior living community, here are three tips for bonding with a new pet.
Create A Routine
To help create an environment where your new pet feels like they can trust you and bond with you, you’re going to want to create a routine with them. When things become predictable and familiar, your pet will start to feel more comfortable in their new space with you and will come to expect certain things to be taken care of for them.
Depending on the kind of pet you have, you’ll want to create routines around things like when you feed them, when you walk them or take them outside for exercise, when and how you play with them at home, when and how you bathe them, and more.
Give Your Pet Lots Of Attention
To create a bond with your new pet, you’re going to need to give them lots of attention. This can be done through cuddling together, taking care of their needs, playing with them, or just interacting with them while you go about your daily life at home.
As you give your pet attention and they become more attentive to you, you’ll be able to tell if your pet feels bonded to you because they’ll like to be around you, potentially following you around as you go about your business.
Learn Your Pet’s Body Language
A big part of bonding with your pet is you learning how to read their body language to best meet their needs. Because your pet can’t actually speak with you, you’ll need to get to know them and their personality so that you can know how to best care for them in the ways that they need.
As you spend time together and have more experiences with each other, you’ll be able to learn more about your pet and know what certain acts or reactions mean so that you can respond appropriately to them.
If you want to develop a strong bond with your new pet or help a loved one learn how to best do this, consider using the tips mentioned above to help you see how this can be done.