Recognizing Unconditional Love in Pets

 

I have been curious about how pets today show us unconditional love. Wondering if it is any different than what I remember from long ago.

I have been out there on the internet browsing around and found a few animal groups that hit home for me with wonderful stories about animal owners and their animal family members. So much is being shared today about unconditional love between pets, their family members, and other pets too.

Our animal family member Rocco is a 13-year-old Australian Shepard who loves to see any new face at the door. I’ve never known an animal that pours out love so freely until Rocco came to live with us.

Not having been around Rocco when he was younger, I was hoping for a bond of unconditional love to surface between us. He is truly attached to my son, and I found out I was in second place for any attention of love, at least that was happening in the first few months that Rocco he was in our home.

Looking back, I remember how my children had experienced unconditional love from our family pets years ago. I was a working mother then, and my thoughts take me back to when my children were young. Our family pets consisted of 3 cats and 1 dog. The cats were always keeping the children amused with play time constantly. Showing unconditional love was there when our cats were cuddling them during naptime and whenever they could get a treat, by rubbing up against us and purring. And when a child was sick, there was always a cat on the bed next to them, giving comfort, staying there again sharing their unconditional love as long as it was needed.

Even when the children and the cats were outside, they were running and having a wonderful time together. The children loved the cats, and the cats loved them. Love went round and round daily.

Our family dog then, Satori, always kept strangers away from the house, scooting the squirrels from the bird feeders, and sharing kisses of love with the children any chance he could get, unconditional love for sure. The children enjoyed outdoor time with Satori too and genuinely loved him from the first day we brought him home. Love went round and round.

Watching my family and our family pets experience unconditional love between them was wonderful, but I had not experienced this love for myself with a family pet.

Presently, with Rocco, I had been wanting to experience unconditional love between us. I started with getting up earlier each morning to take him out before my son got up to start his day recognizing that Rocco and I needed time to get to know each other.

To me, unconditional love is reflected in our actions, our words and with lots of cuddling too. Each time that my son would leave the house, Rocco would start to whine and “Grandma”, that’s me, would bring him to my chair in the living room and shower him with all the love I could. He even got a treat now and then. After that, he started laying down by my feet and then following me everywhere I went. He was constantly licking my toes and my legs, sharing love again. Love was all around. He started sleeping next to my bedside when his “dad” wasn’t home.

When one experiences this unconditional love between them and their animal family members, a wonderful gift has been given. I felt truly blessed to be there for Rocco and he for me too. My son sees this bond of unconditional love between Rocco and me and is happy that a circle of love has taken place.

This wonderful exchange of unconditional love between animal owners and their pets still exists today, just like the love my children and our family pets had together, way back then.