Info Feature: Dogs are DOGS!

Three very simple words summarize this whole article. The idea is not complicated, but it’s deceptively simple, so let’s explore the meaning behind this tiny platitude.

Let me start with an example. Many of you remember the recent doggie "Amber Alert" that was sent out regarding Lita, a Yorkshire Terrier who had recently been rescued and had been let out of her new home by mistake on Tuesday February 16th (a snowy day where she was). She spent 5 days and nights loose, in a wooded area, in the Maine February outdoors, before being found and returned on day 6 to her home.

Lita, who had been rescued from a puppy mill (and therefore already knew something about how hard life can be), proved that she was tough enough to survive nearly a week in the wild, while many of us in the same circumstance would curl up and die. Now, remember that she’s a Yorkie - one of many very small toy breeds that a lot of people go for because they are so very small and cute. What the majority of those people don’t realize is this: though the body be small, the spirit is mighty. It may be a cute little fuzz ball you’re looking at, but it’s still a dog. Of course I don’t say that to belittle dogs; my point is that it’s a mistake to look at ANY dog and regard it as a little human in a dog suit.

Dogs (and all other animals) view the world differently than we do. Nature has given them far superior instinct, and auditory and olfactory senses, and the ability to read body language and use it as a form of communication, while we do better in the optical department, use verbal communication rather than body language, and tend to analyze a bit before we respond to a situation. Where we SEE what’s in front of us, a dog’s brain will develop a mental picture based on sound and smell, on top of what they can see.

Given the fact that their world perspective is so different, and their means of communication is so different from ours, why, then, do we insist on trying to deal with them as we would other humans? Why do we wonder when our dogs continue to misbehave even after we’ve told them a million times "No, no, we don’t do that!" Why is it shocking to us when they don’t respond the way we want them to as we try to command them to stop behaving a certain way, yet our every physical aspect screams out "I’m weak"?

Say it once with me: It’s not a little human in a dog suit. Say it once again. And again! Until you know how to communicate with and direct a dog using language, attitude, and psychology that they’ll understand, you will continue to be frustrated - and so will your dog. When we attempt to use human words and psychology in an attempt to train, direct, or otherwise try to get what we want out of our dogs, we’re setting them up for failure and anxiety.

That’s a mistake that I’ll admit to committing in my early days of pet care. Once I stopped trying to deal with dogs as children, though, and tried to get the pack leader mindset going, I noticed that the play yard was quieter, less nutty, and when I needed to get a dog to stop a certain behavior, I was listened to a lot better. It was a major turning point, and has contributed to my success as a dog dad, and the quality of the care YOUR dogs receive here.

Random Thought

A dog is not "almost human" and I know of no greater insult to the canine race than to describe it as such. ~ John Holmes

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