Anyone and everyone will tell you that a dog is a responsibiliy. As soon as you say "I'm getting a puppy/dog." People are saying
"You need to walk it."
"Dogs need to be fed and cared for."
"Vet visits cost a lot!" and so on.
Yes, they are absolutely right, there is a lot of responsibility that is involved in owning a dog.
However, that's not what we're talking about in this article.
I want to talk about the responsibility we unknowingly place on our dogs which leads to 99% of the behaviour problems I see.
What I usually see is owners who are very nice, loving, kind and have the best intentions. Nobody wants to screw their dog up and create a monster. But they do anyway because they just don't know. And that's not their fault. I really believe people are doing their best. There's just A LOT of (mis)information out there and it is VERY hard for average pet owners to filter through and know what's legit advice or a credible source or terrible advice that makes no sense, even sometimes, from a credible source.
Here's what happens. You get a dog, a brand new puppy. Bring it home at 8 weeks.
Right away you give the dog a crate, a nice memory foam bed, a million dollars worth of toys, bones and treats, you immediately and understandably, give them a TON of love and affection, you do for them and give to them constantly. You're giving them food, giving belly rubs, having them up on the couch already. Not to mention, if they aren't in the crate, they have free run of the house! Now they're peeing and pooping all over the place and you're left cleaning it up. Over time, these habits continue- you giving and giving and the dog is taking and taking. You aren't asking or expecting anything in return. You are spoiling your dog. People love to go on about how spoiled their dogs are... However if we look at the definition of "Spoiled": Adjective
(Of a person, especially a child) harmed in character by being treated too leniently or indulgently.
This applies perfectly to dogs!
It harms the dog's character to be treated to leniently and when we over indulge them in things like food, affections, toys and play without rules or boundaries. As time continues, we have unknowingly made the dog think that they are in charge. Now that they think this, that means the house and the things happening to it/around it are their responsibility to handle because we haven't shown them that we're in charge. And I DO NOT mean that in a dominance training, "roll them on their side and yell" way, that is not leadership, that's not fair, that's not clear, it's also just not effective in addition to being wrong in other ways.
So when the pizza delivery guy comes to the door, the dog thinks it's their responsibility to handle this and how do they handle it? Like a dog! We can't fault them for that.
But typically, people get mad and yell; not realizing that they have unknowingly created this. Not even the behaviour of barking and acting crazy at someone at the door, but the underlying dynamic in the relationship, that is the root cause of the behaviour.
Corrections have their place. They do not however make up for an imbalanced or unstable relationship.
It's a human world and it should not be your dogs responsibility to manage around it and have to take on human responsibilities because they will handle it like a dog...
You need to show your dog, not that you're dominant but that you are the one responsible for these things so they don't have to be. It is a weight off their mind and it promotes trust between you when they see and know that you will truly be their advocate.
Don't put your dog in the driver seat, they don't know how to handle it.
Dogs are going to be dogs, don't try and make them something they're not.
You will always be disappointed if you expect your dog to act like a person.
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