Do you have a pet and simply can't get them to be disciplined? Don't worry, you're not alone. A new survey shows that seven in ten American pet owners forgive their pets for being undisciplined simply because they are just too cute. The OnePoll survey asked 2,000 pet owners to report on the bad habits of their pets and how they respond to them. The survey indicated that approximately 71% of owners were more lenient with their pets.
The survey also found that common pet owners tolerate about 15 bad habits or household mistakes weekly that their pets commit, including sitting on their computers, deleting their work, browsing the internet, and eating things they shouldn't. Pets definitely get away with their mistakes, which include some bad habits and errors pets make in the United States, such as knocking things to the floor, eating random things off the ground, and jumping on furniture when they shouldn’t.
Additionally, the survey noted that three in ten participants also reported that their pets were often guilty of tearing up the carpet and sitting on their laptops at inappropriate times. Furthermore, another bad habit shared among pets in the U.S. is the strong desire to get food leftovers, and something less appetizing, undoubtedly, is their own feces. Dogs urinating in the house was reported by 13% of the study participants who caught their pets trying to eat their own feces more than once.
Participants also shared some of their pets' strangest habits, including unexplained barking from puppies, jumping into the bathtub with their owner, and chewing on their owner's beard. One respondent even said that their dog sneakily put some dry food into their wife's bag while they were packing for a trip. Joe Rothley, creator of the dog dental floss from Yummy Combs, a pet product company, stated, “More than half (56%) of respondents said that pet bad breath is just part of life and there’s nothing that can be done about it, while that is actually not the case. Pets need proper dental care just like we do, which is why we conducted this survey ahead of National Pet Dental Health Month to identify all the bad habits pets have."
The survey also found that 57% of respondents want to improve their pets' dental health but do not know what to do to achieve that. Only 42% of the dog owners surveyed (around 1,800 participants) correctly answered that dogs should have their teeth professionally cleaned by a veterinarian at least once a year. Additionally, about 7 in 10 of these owners (68%) expressed concerns about putting their pets under anesthesia for these cleanings. Rothley added, "You can feel a lot of stress taking your dog to the vet for teeth cleaning, but it's absolutely necessary for their wellbeing, including preventing gum disease and periodontal diseases."
