Letting a Dog Be a Dog

Dog Training Cat Tip of the Day: The idea of "letting a dog be a dog"

To the eye, and to how most people think dogs should behave, the saying is true enough. When a dog is chasing squirrels, digging in the yard, jumping on people, chewing stuff up, barking all the time, or dragging you around on the walk to sniff every blade of grass, many people will make excuses that he's just "being a dog."

He's being a dog without guidance from a leader. He's being a dog who doesn't know any better, because his owners have not asked him to be better. If you think about it, most people who say "dogs are dogs" typically have pretty badly behaved dogs in their life.

This doesn't mean that your dog can't have some fun doing "specifically" doggie things, but they shouldn't be ALL your dog does.

Kids are allowed to be kids on the playground, but not in the library or (shouldn't be) at a restaurant. The same goes for your dog! There are times to be wild, but there are times to be good. Your dog's amount of polite, tuned in, and calm behavior should far out weigh the amount of "wild" behavior. Unless your dog is at daycare all day (or your kid is at summer camp all day) they should be making some calm choices with their day.

How would you feel if you were taking a walk with a friend and they walked ahead of you, were constantly running past you, pushing you around, or talking but never actually acknowledging you? Rude friend, right? Then why is it ok for our dogs to do it? -Cenicero, #dogtrainingcat  www.dogtrainingcat.com