The Well Behaved Dog

      It has become a bit of rare sight to come across a well groomed but yet equally well behaved dog in many parts of our neighborhoods and communities. Though we may run into some incredibly lovely, nicely groomed, well kept pooches their manners-on the other hand might very well need a bit of cleaning up. On the rare occasion when we do run into that perfect example we turn into somewhat of a tourist, amazed at the sight we see. One might even ask how much they would be willing to take in payment for such an amazing creature! Well-mannered dogs are a joy to live with, that's quiet clear. They behave properly at home, in the presence of guest and in social areas, like the park, or walking down a street and mainly in the presence of other dogs.

No doubt that living in this busy world of today (with it's frenetic pace) does slim down the chances of having more time to spend training and retraining our dog, because it is an ongoing process.

But I find that it is not until that cute little puppy grows up to be a full grown dog with the same puppy frame of mind that some of us might find ourselves questioning whether we love the dog enough. While the owners who took the time to provide proper training and proper socializing when their dog was a puppy ends up feeling quiet at ease when they go out and leave their dog at home. As opposed to the owners of the misbehaving dog who unfortunately might have to be left locked up in their crate. Though there are many training schools all over the country, many of us don't bother to take our dogs there. Some of us feel that some how the dog will learn on its own, while others believe that they can do it themselves, which does work but only if you do it right and if you are consistent. Often time's most owners are convinced that they are in control, while some others find ways to cope with their situation void of seeking any possible solution. We have numerous amounts of resources available to us aside from training classes. There are tons of books all devoted to the subject of dog training and most of us are going along writing up our own chapters and getting it all wrong in the process; we either don't focus correctly on what we should be doing or choose not to follow the proper training techniques. It is necessary to understand how dogs think and that no matter how cute our dog is or how much money and time we spend on pampering it, it's still just a dog, realize that dogs are social animals, so they often look to owners or family member as the center of their world. While at times we confuse that dependence as a desire to please, the reality is that if a dog feels secure to the point of having control, they will have no desire to please us- therefore they don't need to follow our orders if they don't choose too.

Though all dogs require order and rules, it is the owners who need to learn structure. We must remember to apply boundaries in our relationships with our dogs. Look no further then their close family member the wolf. Wolves live and follow the order of the pack, the pack leader (the alpha) keeps and maintains order within his pack, he is the head and everyone else follows under his law, there is no room for misinterpretation. Dogs are happier when they know what to do and who to follow; we are the pack leaders of our own dogs in our very own homes.

Through education not only of ourselves but for the dogs we live with, can we then be able to thoroughly enjoy all the benefits of a well mannered four legged family member. Intellectual and physical stimulation, proper socialization and good obedience training, these are all key fundamentals which are vital in every dog's life, Creating some extremely happy well rounded dogs and some very happy and at ease owners.. But also it's important to start early and remain consistent even though the puppy may be giving you that sorry and absolutely adorable face when you are trying to show them how not to jump, pull or beg. It's important to remember this: do we really want this dog still doing this at 2, 5, 7 Years of age or as a senior citizen??? What we allow today are the behaviors we are left to deal with tomorrow. Dogs don't have complex ways of thinking they either follow rules or they set their own.

We must bear in mind though that it's really never too late to teach old dogs new tricks. Frequent small amounts of time with positive reinforcement coupled with love and affection is all one really needs to spend a happy life time living with the dogs we love.