mammals are often social creatures, and ‘play’ is a required activity associated with being social (learning the rules).
i would counter though on the lack of training. you seem to want to treat the pet as you would yourself, but this is not the best way to look at it. you should treat them as your child and i think we all agree that children need guidance to achieve functional adulthood… sometimes rigidly so.
my dog needs to come when called for his safety, not because i demand respect or authority.
I don’t think that has never not been a thing… Read memoirs/letters from earlier times and you’ll see plenty of it too. The big shift was probably admitting the children don’t yearn for the mines, but we seem to be heading back that way (eta: in the USA anyway I won’t paint other countries with our fuckery lol).
mammals are often social creatures, and ‘play’ is a required activity associated with being social (learning the rules).
i would counter though on the lack of training. you seem to want to treat the pet as you would yourself, but this is not the best way to look at it. you should treat them as your child and i think we all agree that children need guidance to achieve functional adulthood… sometimes rigidly so.
my dog needs to come when called for his safety, not because i demand respect or authority.
Even modern parenting has taken an odd twist as many treat their child as their friend or a toy for their amusement.
I don’t think that has never not been a thing… Read memoirs/letters from earlier times and you’ll see plenty of it too. The big shift was probably admitting the children don’t yearn for the mines, but we seem to be heading back that way (eta: in the USA anyway I won’t paint other countries with our fuckery lol).