The commonsense dog
I would hope that anyone who chooses to own a dog would also choose to love it, but sometimes it is easy to confuse what loving our dogs look like. Sometimes love is petting our pup. Sometimes love is playing with our pup. Sometimes love is providing for our pup, but a very often overlooked component of love is guiding and instructing our pup.
Some dog owners bring home new puppies. Some bring home shelter dogs. Some rescues dogs from terrible situations, and because these innocent creatures now have a better life, we tend to want to lavish them in all the things they never had the opportunity to enjoy. One of these things is freedom.
We let the dog have the run of the house and yard. We let them jump on the furniture and guests. We let them eat as much as they want. We let them act pushy in most situations. We let them drag us down the street on the walks. Sometimes we let them off leash when we shouldn’t. But freedom can be a dangerous gift without guidance and instruction. Let me explain what I mean.
My daughter is 7 years old, and I love her with all my heart, but love isn’t always cuddles, candies, and surprises. Some nights she doesn’t want to brush her teeth, and I walk her into the bathroom and help her brush her teeth. Some nights she doesn’t want to go to bed at bed time, and I walk her into her bedroom and help her fall asleep. Sometimes she doesn’t want to do her reading homework because it’s too hard, and we sit down together and I help her read her stories. Sometimes she wants a second helping of dessert after dinner and I decline her request.
My daughter would love to choose her own diet and bedtime. She would love to decide on her own what is safe and what is not. She would love to drive the car down the freeway, and as a parent, I am completely capable of giving her all of those freedoms, and as a parent who loved her, I choose not to yet. If she chooses her own diet, she’s not going to eat well. If she doesn’t eat well, she doesn’t feel well. If she chooses her bed time, she won’t sleep well. If she doesn’t sleep well, she won’t do well in school. If I let her choose what is safe and what is not, she is going to make a mistake, and that mistake might be catastrophic. I do not let her drive down the freeway because she will crash.
When we offer freedom to a dog that is not prepared for it, we often open the door to behavioral issues. Maybe the dog taking food from the kids or guests or counter has never been a huge problem, but now the dog is becoming possessive over food. Maybe the dog jumping on guests hasn’t been a problem, until Cooper jumped on great Aunt Lucy and broke her hip. Maybe bolting out the door hasn’t been an issue because you can always find the dog down the road, but this time the dog gets hit by a car. Maybe your anxious dog has been fine without any direction, but the lack of guidance is adding to the anxiety, and over the years the anxiety has turned to aggression. Maybe your younger dog always bullies your older dog, and the older dog shrugs it off and we don’t think twice. That is, until the older dog finally fights back to defend itself and we have a blood bath on our hands.
Our dogs are living in a world that wasn’t designed for them. They weren’t designed to be behind walls and tied to leashes. They were designed to work, hunt, and be part of a pack. If we don’t show them how to belong here, we open them up to all sorts of dangers.
There is nothing wrong with giving our dogs freedom, but we owe it to them to make sure they are prepared for it. Love comes in all shapes and sizes. Cuddle your dogs. Play with your dogs. Provide for your dogs. But above all else, guide your dogs to their highest potential. They’ll love you for it.
Happy training!
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Stephanie Vichinsky is
the owner/head trainer of Method K9 in Post Falls
(208) 964-4806.