Dogs Need Guidance not Empathy

All kinds of problems can be created by the way many humans treat dogs in certain situations. One of the key things to remember is that dogs need leadership and not sympathy.

A prime example of of this would be a dog startled by the sound of a loud bang or firework. In the wild other dogs and certainly the pack leader would ignore the sound if it doesn't flee). However as humans we see the dog scared and rush over to shower with sympathy, “don’t worry, come here, cuddle etc etc ”. This is a huge mistake and all it is doing is re-enforcing to the dog that the noise was something worthy of being scared of.

Another example would be rewarding bad or unwanted behavior in a similar way, not necessarily by doing anything wrong, but by the dog having a slight accident or mishap, e.g slipping on a floor, and the human showering the dog with worry and possibly creating the dog a kind of phobia of the event so the dog will react in a similar way on impulse in the future. Whereas if the human had remained calm and simply checked the dog was okay and then moved on the dog would do the same. Dogs Need Leadership not Sympathy

Your opinion is welcome!!!!

©Jim Anderson · PetsVentura Pet Relocation Solutions · 2012