You can save a dogs life by telling him 'No'.
You can save a dogs life by telling him 'No'.
I was feeling pretty discouraged and frustrated yesterday after experiencing the hard reality of dogs being killed because their humans didn't say no to unwanted behaviours by giving them structure, rules, boundaries and accountability. These dogs (like many before them and many to come) were 'put down' at the vets office or alone in the shelter where they were surrendered because people no longer wanted them because of their behaviour. These dogs died because they were not taught how to be successful in the human world... understanding and respecting the word 'No'. And so these perfectly trainable dogs were killed because the shelter could no longer house them as there was no more room.
All dogs need to be taught through training what the rules are and how to obey them... we humans are the same way. Imagine you are speeding down the highway at 200 km/hr. You are endangering everyone around you and you are breaking the law. A police officer pulls you over and as punishment for your crime tells you not to speed anymore and gives you a $5.00 ticket. How many people do you think would immediately go back to speeding? A lot. Without a meaningful consequence that holds us accountable for our actions (speeding) we are just not motivated to make better choices. The same principle applies to dogs. If a dog attacks another dog or a human and there is no meaningful consequence for that action then there is no motivation for the dog to choose not to attack dogs and humans. This concept is so incredibly simple yet it is the hardest thing for most people to understand. I get it. But it is so important that people understand that they are OBLIGATED to tell their dogs 'No' in a meaningful way when their dogs make bad choices. This is simply good dog parenting/ownership. Just for explanation purposes let's humanize this some more. Imagine a child growing up who was never taught right from wrong and was never told 'No' by his parents. What is going to happen with that child long term? Do you think he will automatically make good choices on his own without the guidance of 'yes' and 'no'? Nope. And neither will a dog. We all need to know and understand the rules and have meaningful consequences for breaking them. That's life. And if we could all do this for our dogs a lot more dogs would get to stay alive and in their homes. Hugs to all! ❤❤❤