Meeting many dog owners every day and listening to their daily stories, I have realised that many of us would like our pets to behave like robots. We want our dogs to walk without a leash by our side in public, to greet and play with every dog they meet, to enjoy sitting quiet under a table for 3 hours in a restaurant and to not growl when we disturb them while they are eating or sleeping. Our expectations became so high that we are surprised when dogs act like dogs.
DO NOT disturb your dog while he is sleeping or eating.
Imagine you are having dinner with friends and one of your friends continually puts his hands into your food. Would you sit idly by or consider standing up to such behaviour? Maybe in time you would yell or use violence? It is the same with our beloved dogs.Putting your hands in a dog’s bowl is no way to show who is the leader and only makes our pets nervous and irritated. They respect us when we work with them rather than on them.
Do NOT require your dog to say hello to every dog it meets.
Do you say hello to every person you meet on the street? Do you love all the people on the planet? It is simply not possible. Why do we still demand this of dogs after all these years?
Of course, socialising and meeting other dogs is an important part of our pets’ lives, but in fact most dogs do not want to greet dogs when they are outside. Furthermore, our domesticated dogs are not wolves and prefer to spend time with us rather than other animals.
Remember this when you are in the pet shop, on a short walk, at the vet and read your dog’s body language first.
DO NOT shout at the dog!
I often witness people shouting at their dogs to stop some behaviour. Remember that shouting is like barking to them and give them attention.Yelling often teaches your dog to repeat a behavior.Actions speak louder than words.
Do NOT require your dog to say hello to every person.
I think the biggest problem here is the children. Parents should teach their children that asking for contact with another person’s dog is important. But they should also teach their children that the answer to the question may be ‘no’. Walking the dog in the park is family time and must be respected.
Like us, dogs do not want to be greeted and stroked by all the people they meet
DO NOT take your dog to very noisy places
We all have the problem of wanting to take our beloved dogs everywhere with us,right?
It took me a long time to realise that my dog would not have such a great time as I hoped at an event/concert/dinner with friends. Places with too much noises and people can only result in stress for your dog and for you in the end.
Remember dogs’ ears are far more sensitive than ours. That means dogs can hear sounds that are not loud enough for our ears.
CAN YOU SPEAK DOG 