Your boyfriend treats you like a pet because he doesn’t respect you, he knows that he can treat you any way that he wants to and you will still stay in the relationship. He does this because he knows you love him and want the relationship to work.
So your prince charming treats you like a dog and yet here you are still with him, still in love with him and still trying to make things work, Darling am I missing something? Being treated like a pet is oftentimes seen as being disrespected, a pet is something that you love but at the end of the day it’s not a human it’s still a pet.
It doesn’t mean that your boyfriend buys you treats and takes you to the vet, being treated like a pet is when your boyfriend insults you, demeans you, and doesn’t make you feel good about yourself. But what can you do about it and why does he need to treat you like this?
5 Reasons why your boyfriend treats you like a pet
There are plenty of reasons why your boyfriend treats you like a pet, we have highlighted five of the most common reasons why this happens.
He doesn’t respect you
We treat people, especially romantic partners, the same way that we feel about ourselves. If your boyfriend had any ounce of respect for himself he would treat you right. He doesn’t think highly of himself and the lack of self-respect spills onto the relationship and is evident in the way that he treats you.
He loves to play mind games
Be careful of mind games, this can mess you up for a very long time, this guy loves to make you feel less than others, but the next minute he will treat you like a princess and show up with flowers or your favorite chocolate, hell depending on how rich he is he might even book a quick getaway. All these are mind games, you don’t know if you are going left or right, one minute he makes you feel awful the next he is as sweet as apple pie.
He thinks that you are desperate
If he has tested the limit and you still stay in the relationship, guess what he knows that you are going to stay no matter how bad it gets. Relationships have ups and downs but the downs don’t mean that you have to be treated like a dog, the downs don’t mean staying even if your soul is crying and the downs don’t mean making him your world even when he doesn’t deserve it.
He loves degrading you
He gets a kick out of degrading you because he knows that he has some sort of hold over you, you will do what he wants and when he wants it to be done, you will also put up with any and every treatment that he dishes out, kind of like a pet.
He doesn’t love you
You don’t have to be a scientist to know that love is about ensuring that your partner is good most of the time, your relationship will never be perfect but the good but outway the bad. He doesn’t love you when he does things such as insulting you in front of his friends, making you feel bad about yourself or even treating you like you are stupid.
8 Things that you should do when your boyfriend treats you like a pet
If your boyfriend treats you like a pet you need to find the courage to stand up for yourself and eventually leave the relationship. You can do this by getting help in the form of counseling to help you face reality and find a boyfriend who will treat you right.
Face reality
If you have stayed up at night contemplating whether or not to break up with him I will make it easy for you and give you a sign, this is your sign to face reality the relationship might have been great in the beginning you can still even have a few good moments, but he is not the man he was, he never was that man, so face reality.
Respect yourself
Respect yourself enough to walk away from situations that don’t make you feel good about yourself, situations that have you questioning your intelligence, and situations that have you isolating yourself because your self-confidence is next to none.
Up your relationship standards
Just because your boyfriend treats you like a pet doesn’t mean that other men will, real men won’t won’t expect you to lower your standards, real men will follow the rules that you have and will make sure to not cross any line. You don’t have to be with a guy who has no future, a guy who is not financially stable, a guy who has 6 baby mammas, you can up your standards of what you want and how you would like to be treated. Once you up your standards any man who even looks like they will treat you like a dog, you will immediately know the red flags.
Forgive yourself
Forgive yourself for putting up with this behavior and for staying when you know that you should have left, forgive yourself for losing that spark that you had before you met him, and forgive yourself for wasting time trying to make a relationship work with someone who treats you like a pet.
Forgive him
Forgive him, not for him but for yourself so that you can move on, you don’t have to tell him that you forgive him, face-to-face closure is overrated and it might not go the way you think it will. To get closure write him a letter telling him that you forgive him and burn it, there is no need for long-winded conversations back and forth because you now know your worth and you are ready to be treated with respect.
Block his number
Block his number not because you are a mean and bitter woman but because you are human and it’s normal to scroll through your phone and be tempted to contact people that you know you have no business contacting. You are going to have bad days, days when you miss him and you don’t want to contact him because you feel lonely, embrace the loneliness it will soon pass.
Get some counseling
Counseling will help you deal with your relationship issues, there are reasons why you accept this kind of treatment and you need to get to the bottom of why you think it’s okay for him to treat you like this.
There could be several issues at play, maybe you saw your mom being treated like this, maybe you have self-esteem issues or maybe you don’t think anyone will love you. Whatever those issues are, getting help will assist you in breaking those destructive patterns so that you don’t repeat the cycle.
Know that the situation could get worse
If he treats you like this now, he won’t wake up and realize that he is a jerk, he won’t all of a sudden treat you better and there is no miracle talk, pleasing, or begging on your part that will make him realize that you are not a dog, cat, squirrel or mouse.
How a man treats you when he loves you?
When a man loves you he treats you with respect and he makes sure that you are happy, he shows you that he loves you by not insulting, hitting, or making you feel bad.
To end it off
Whether he sometimes makes you breakfast or lets you watch your favorite tv programs if the bad outway the good and leaves you crying, pondering, or questioning if he loves you it may be time to pack your suitcase, Darling you can do it.