Dog Verses Boots
When our dogs are left to themselves well they do what dogs do.
Dog Verses Boots
It’s stormy outside so it seems like a perfect day to write a blog. After speaking to a lovely person last night regarding their out of control dog this will be my topic for today.
They were talking about how the dog has eaten a pair of new boots. My first thoughts were how he got the boots and where was he when this destruction happened.
Many people are under the misunderstanding that our dogs somehow need their own space or freedom to enjoy life.
This could not be further from the truth. When our dogs are left to themselves, well they do what dogs do and most of the time it’s not good.
It really is, dog verses boots.
You see dogs need to earn the freedom they get. Your first thought might be how does a dog earn freedom?
First I need to explain the balance between freedom/affection and obedience/boundary’s. On a scale if the freedom/affection is out of balance with the obedience/boundary you’re going to have troubles.
If your dog get more freedom and affection then obedience and boundaries then he is pretty much in control of his environment. And he is going to look at all things to his advantage. Like how fun it is to chew up a nice pair of boots that smell like his favorite person.
With the disadvantage not even coming close to the reinforcement and enjoyment he received in chewing up the boots. This behavior is likely to repeat itself.
So if we had obedience (These things are not yours and are an absolute NO!) and the boundary that said this area is off limits. If this is enforced in your homes the behavior is less likely to repeat itself.
So the most logical thing would be to contain your dog in a crate when you are not able to enforce the boundaries.
Also a myth is that a dog is being treated bad by having to spent time on his bed or in a crate.
Nonsense!
This is so like our western thinking. Our dogs are not children with fur.
They are a canine species not human.
They act different, perceive their environment differently and communicate differently then we as humans do.
It is very effective to have a permission based environment for your dog to live in. A permission based environment is when your dog needs to earn the freedoms to do, well anything.
Even food is not free nor are doorways, toys, treats, get it ANYTHING!
A simple sit and wait before being allowed to go to his bowl for dinner is the beginning of this permission based environment. In doing this for all things you are creating communication with your dog. The better the communication the better the understanding.
This is where we get our boundaries from. See we need to teach this to our dogs. They don’t just get it by osmosis by just living in your environment.
When we teach this to our dogs and require something from them we live in a more interactive relationship with our dogs. In my next blog I’m going to talk about affection and how it relates to our relationship with our canine companions.
Until then have a wonderful day!
