In meeting many dog owners, I meet my fair share of spoiled dogs. These dogs are allowed to do whatever they want, whenever they want. If they have a desire, all it takes is for them to communicate that want to their owner and the desire is delivered. When we bring home that adorable little ball of fur with that face, how could we say no? At first it's no big deal, the puppy wants to tug on our shoe strings and it's cute so why not? Then they get big enough and their play escalates to the point that they are tearing up our shoe strings if we wear lace up shoes. So we switch to slip on shoes and give our old shoe strings to the dog as a toy. Not a big sacrifice to make sure our best friend is happy right?
Then as our puppy gets older, his demands become larger and larger and we are forced to alter our lives to make them happy. Still, we think we are being good dog owners; after all, there must be some compromising when raising a puppy right? However, as our little wonder matures, it seems to take on a completely different personality. It no longer asks for things, it demands them. If it is involved in an unfamiliar situation, it NEEDS to be in control. If it is not in control it is uncomfortable, sometimes aggressive even. What happened to my sweet little puppy?
There are many, many different opinions on the subject of dominance and aggression in dogs, how it affects their behavior, and how it should factor into our training programs. Since much of this debate revolves around the fact that everyone's definition of dominance is different (an entire blog entry in itself), I have chosen to use the term "leadership role" in this blog instead of dominance. Anyone who has observed a group of dogs interact knows that they work out a hierarchal ladder of who is "in charge". They very rarely do this by aggressive means, but by subtle body language signals. After interacting for awhile, you will see some dogs will get everything they want, and other dogs will take on the responsibility of making sure the aforementioned are happy by giving them everything they want. To think that dogs do not read our communication in the same way is, I believe, incorrect.
Now stay with me, I am in NO WAY supporting the use of dominating, oppressive behaviors toward your dogs (like alpha roles). I am simply stating that we can unknowingly be sending them the message that they are the leader in our household by giving them their every want and desire. This doesn't just cause problems for the owner, but can be taxing on the dog as well, depending on their personality.
Take a dog that is naturally less assertive and less confident, give him his every want and desire, and chances are you will end up with the dog I describe above. You see, some dogs are not cut out to be "leaders", just like people. If they feel they have been forced into this role, they will feel inadequate and will more than likely overcompensate for their lack of confidence by being very suspicious, overprotective, and even aggressive towards unfamiliar situations.
The example I like to give is this: imagine that you woke up this morning to your phone ringing, a voice on the other end of the phone tells you that you are now the President of the United States! Never mind the details of how this could happen, just imagine how you might feel. I know I would immediately feel a lot of anxiety. Thoughts would race through my head such as "I am not qualified for this!", "How am I going to handle that much responsibility?", and "I can't run the whole country!" just to name a few. On my first day, I may over react to situations that the current president would laugh at, because he is used to the pressures of such responsibility and I definitely wouldn't be much fun to be around.
When we deliver every desire to our dogs on a silver platter, in dog language, we are asserting them as the leader and many of them react just as we would at being told we were the leader of the free world. While this may seem silly, their world is their home and family, and taking care of these resources is a big responsibility in their eyes.
While we have the best of intentions when giving our dogs exactly what they want whenever they want it, not only are we making life harder on ourselves, we are not doing our dogs any favors either. Dogs naturally like structure, rules, and boundaries. They are more comfortable knowing what is expected of them. While we want to think our domesticated doggies are far from their wolf roots, they have not lost their survival instinct. Surviving as a member of a group of animals requires structure, rules, and boundaries. Don't get me wrong, my dogs are spoiled in their own ways, but in the ways I choose, not the ways they choose. I make sure they are happy, just not at the expense of my happiness and they thank me for being the leader because I take responsibility off their shoulders and allow them to enjoy life without worrying about being "in charge". So next time you are thinking about altering your life to please your dog, stop and ask yourself, are you really doing them any favors?
Then as our puppy gets older, his demands become larger and larger and we are forced to alter our lives to make them happy. Still, we think we are being good dog owners; after all, there must be some compromising when raising a puppy right? However, as our little wonder matures, it seems to take on a completely different personality. It no longer asks for things, it demands them. If it is involved in an unfamiliar situation, it NEEDS to be in control. If it is not in control it is uncomfortable, sometimes aggressive even. What happened to my sweet little puppy?
There are many, many different opinions on the subject of dominance and aggression in dogs, how it affects their behavior, and how it should factor into our training programs. Since much of this debate revolves around the fact that everyone's definition of dominance is different (an entire blog entry in itself), I have chosen to use the term "leadership role" in this blog instead of dominance. Anyone who has observed a group of dogs interact knows that they work out a hierarchal ladder of who is "in charge". They very rarely do this by aggressive means, but by subtle body language signals. After interacting for awhile, you will see some dogs will get everything they want, and other dogs will take on the responsibility of making sure the aforementioned are happy by giving them everything they want. To think that dogs do not read our communication in the same way is, I believe, incorrect.
Now stay with me, I am in NO WAY supporting the use of dominating, oppressive behaviors toward your dogs (like alpha roles). I am simply stating that we can unknowingly be sending them the message that they are the leader in our household by giving them their every want and desire. This doesn't just cause problems for the owner, but can be taxing on the dog as well, depending on their personality.
Take a dog that is naturally less assertive and less confident, give him his every want and desire, and chances are you will end up with the dog I describe above. You see, some dogs are not cut out to be "leaders", just like people. If they feel they have been forced into this role, they will feel inadequate and will more than likely overcompensate for their lack of confidence by being very suspicious, overprotective, and even aggressive towards unfamiliar situations.
The example I like to give is this: imagine that you woke up this morning to your phone ringing, a voice on the other end of the phone tells you that you are now the President of the United States! Never mind the details of how this could happen, just imagine how you might feel. I know I would immediately feel a lot of anxiety. Thoughts would race through my head such as "I am not qualified for this!", "How am I going to handle that much responsibility?", and "I can't run the whole country!" just to name a few. On my first day, I may over react to situations that the current president would laugh at, because he is used to the pressures of such responsibility and I definitely wouldn't be much fun to be around.
When we deliver every desire to our dogs on a silver platter, in dog language, we are asserting them as the leader and many of them react just as we would at being told we were the leader of the free world. While this may seem silly, their world is their home and family, and taking care of these resources is a big responsibility in their eyes.
While we have the best of intentions when giving our dogs exactly what they want whenever they want it, not only are we making life harder on ourselves, we are not doing our dogs any favors either. Dogs naturally like structure, rules, and boundaries. They are more comfortable knowing what is expected of them. While we want to think our domesticated doggies are far from their wolf roots, they have not lost their survival instinct. Surviving as a member of a group of animals requires structure, rules, and boundaries. Don't get me wrong, my dogs are spoiled in their own ways, but in the ways I choose, not the ways they choose. I make sure they are happy, just not at the expense of my happiness and they thank me for being the leader because I take responsibility off their shoulders and allow them to enjoy life without worrying about being "in charge". So next time you are thinking about altering your life to please your dog, stop and ask yourself, are you really doing them any favors?
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