I think it's plenty health to spend as much as you want on a loved member of your family!
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Spending on pets is at an all-time high in the United States, according to the American Pet Products Manufacturers Association. In fact, it's doubled in 10 years, to $34 billion.
Yep, people spend more on pets than they do on toys ($20 billion) or candy ($24 billion).
You might think that's a sign of an unhealthy relationship.
Bah, says Donna Acton, a licensed veterinary technician and trainer in Jackson.
"Some people buy a Cadillac. Some people buy a boat. Some people spend $1,200 on a one-week ski trip," she said. "Some people buy a dog and spend money on it."
And if your dog happens to be tiny, you will hear plenty of comments about how spoiled it must be, said Carolyn Bailey of Jackson.
Bailey has a Yorkshire terrier, Baxter, who weighs just 3 pounds.
"People tend to laugh at you, especially if you're single," she said.
Acton has a message for dog owners who might think they treat their pet too well: "I want to tell them it's OK."
Acton said she's been working with animals for 35 years and spent much of her childhood in the office of her veterinarian father, Bob Acton. These days, she works with dogs and cats whose behavior problems tend to involve aggression, destruction and separation anxiety.
You want to talk about problem relationships? Acton can relate story after story of owners who refused to acknowledge their dog's tendency to attack children or other animals or plumbers.
"Owners of aggressive dogs live in a dream world of denial," Acton said.
So hearing about a dog who gets too many toys doesn't exactly get her cranked up.
"There's a million ways to raise your children," she said, "and there's a million ways to raise your dogs."
For example, Advanced K9 Academy at 2015 Lansing Ave. uses pinch collars in training, a technique that some veterinary associations discourage.
Tammy Waynick, co-owner of Advanced K9, said the collars are like "power steering." When used correctly, they're "very humane." She said her company also uses flat collars, head halters -- and electronic collars when handicapped owners "don't have use of their limbs."
Acton and Waynick both said they'll work with the owner on choosing the right collar for the dog, depending on its temperament.
Acton said she has just three standards for dogs:
They must not bite.
They must not destroy furniture.
And they must be housetrained.
Otherwise, she said, "Who cares?"
The Best Friends Pet Care Web site disagrees, slightly. It said there's a discernible difference between pampering a dog and spoiling it. If your dog begs while you're eating, it's spoiled. If your dog ignores you unless you're offering treats, it's spoiled. And if it nips at you or growls when you take its toys away, it's time to do something.
It's a matter of teaching the dog its place in the household.
"As long as your pet knows his place and obeys your commands, you can pamper him to your heart's content," said the Web site.
Acton agreed that dogs should know their place. Her tips for owners with problem pets include making sure the owner enters and leaves all rooms before the dog, so the dog knows who's first. And, she emphasized, owners must be able to control their pets with basic commands such as sit, stay, down and come.
But, she said, owners who take care of their dogs -- who make sure they're fed properly, get good veterinary care and plenty of exercise -- shouldn't feel guilty about allowing their dogs a few liberties.
"I'm not judgmental," she said.
Besides giving in-home lessons for dogs with serious problems, Acton teaches an obedience class. She said she evaluates each owner and pet before deciding which course of help they need.
Sometimes it's as simple as learning 15 ways to tell your dog you're in charge.
Acton said dog owners often worry about whether to let the dog sleep with them. She said a dog that sleeps at the foot of the bed is not causing any problems. But your bed is precious territory, and a dog that controls it controls you, she said.
She told of a woman whose rottweiler started sleeping on her husband's side of the bed, with his head on the pillow, after the couple separated. The woman thought it was cute, Acton said, and a sign of affection.
Not really, Acton said. It's one of the many ways that dogs find to say "you're a loser" to their owners, she said. Here are other ways:
Standing in front of you and staring at you.
Putting his paw on your foot.
Sleeping on your head or chest.
"People misread dogs," she said. "In dog terms, that's disrespectful. It shows no respect for your body space."
Waynick said dog owners often talk about how much their dog "loves" them.
"It doesn't do the dog justice," she said. "Dogs care about who takes care of them. But it's not our perception of love."
Training is about building a relationship with your dog, she said, and that relationship has to be built on mutual respect and trust, as well as the owner's compassion for the animal.
Acton said she sees three types of dog owners: those who think of their animals as livestock, those who think of them as part of the family, and those who consider them to be their children.
You can't always tell which is which, she said.
Acton said she was a veterinary technician at Kibby Park Animal Hospital when Ed Greene was the veterinarian there. She recalled a woman who brought a dog in regularly for 15 years, always referring to it as "my husband's dog." The woman never showed any emotion about the dog -- until he died, Acton said.
"She broke down when he had to be euthanized," Acton said. "She said, 'That was my husband's last gift to me.'
"You never know what that dog or cat means to that person."
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