A tomcat in our challenge made us aware of the importance of routines in everyday life. To be honest, I hadn’t really thought about it that much before. Yes, some animals had already told me in conversations that they value certain rituals. But I wasn’t aware of how important it was to them for a variety of reasons. I then talked to Maja and Ida about this again and am happy to share their views and the insights from the conversations in the challenge with you.
Firstly, routines provide security and safety. If they know that everything happens at a certain time and in a certain order, it makes them freer and you don’t have to worry. Especially when it comes to eating, this is very important for animals that have had irregular or little food in the past. Only then can they relax and trust that there will always be enough.
They often don’t have the opportunity to plan their day like we do, but are dependent on us in many ways. And the routines give them a structure and organization for their day that they can orient themselves by. They are then not constantly exposed to changes and the unexpected. This reliability helps them. Even if they are of course happy about the odd positive surprise. But we must be aware that this always brings with it a certain amount of stress.
Our animals love it when routines give them the opportunity to look forward to something. If they know that there will be treats, games or cuddles at certain times, then they can be in joyful anticipation beforehand. That’s why they don’t want to have to wait for their food and disappointment creeps into this joyful feeling.
Even the same walk is seen as a pleasant routine. It is predictable, you know what is coming. And it is also interesting to sniff out the latest information and changes. Of course, it is also great to experience adventures and be in a completely new environment. But it is better to do it every now and then and not regularly.
So you can see that the same routines are important and not boring for our animals. We humans often want to offer them something. But it’s better to do it once in a while rather than regularly.
I hope you have fun exploring the routines and rituals that are important to you!
Lots of love
Tanja