06/14/2016
Baby your baby, not your teenager! :)
The Good Dog Tip: babying your teenager
Babying a baby is exactly what you should be doing. Babies shouldn't have rules, accountability, any of that stuff. It's baby time! But babying a teenager is a very different story. Imagine what you might get if you treated them the same way you treated a baby.
With all that allowing, enabling, and coddling, you'd likely get a bratty, spoiled, entitled teen - when everything is given to you, you quickly begin to expect and demand it. But wait, there's more! :) That's the obvious stuff. You'd also get an insecure, unsure, dependent, and nervous teen. Why? Because they've never had to learn to do life on their own. They've never had to develop the skills and prove to themselves they can handle stuff - the proving that creates confidence and self-certainty/trust. You'd have a teen that would resent you for disabling them, for not prioritizing their real needs, for not giving them the tools they need to survive and thrive. Their insecurity, uncertainty, and nervousness would ripple out all over.
And so it is with our dogs. It's not the caring and loving them that creates problems, it's how that caring and loving is shared.
Baby your dog and watch the bratty and entitled stuff come flying out. Baby your dog and watch the insecurity and nervousness snowball. Baby your dog and watch them actually resent you, disrespect you.
When you don't provide the appropriate care and love for your child or your dog, the fallout can be extreme, and ugly. We need to remember that care and love aren't about what makes us feel good, they're about what helps those in our care to thrive, succeed, and live happily.
