Unhappy Dogs

Just had a good talk with some old friends, C. and A., who are real dog handlers. They are compassionate, intelligent, caring, good breeders, great dog handlers and steely-eyed when it comes to what dogs need to be good dogs and maintain good breeding lines. They stand with a handful of other people, a couple of whom are here in GF and others around and out of the country, that I count as friends who really KNOW dogs. And they have good dogs to prove it. And I'm not speaking of mere obedience when I say good dogs.

We got to talking about why dogs have problems. Why so many are in shelters, euthanized, given away, abandoned, ignored, spoiled or taken to trainer after trainer.

The answer is simple - people. And in the dog's life people come in three important forms, breeders, owners and trainers.

The majority of individuals in all of the three forms do everything they do only from a human perspective, for self-gratification, for money and for their own egos. Some even go so far as to combine and manage to indulge in all of these. The dog is expected to do all the adapting.

Possibly when people really learn to KNOW dogs, how they think, what they need, when they need it, what they do when they get it or don't get it, how they communicate, what makes them mentally, socially, physically and psychologically secure and healthy - maybe then the majority of dogs won't be considered problems. Maybe then the majority of dogs won't HAVE problems. Maybe then people will see the majority dogs behaving as truly happy dogs.

My best to missed friends...Jill, Annie, Jack, Belle and Roz, to name a few