On pets and the necessity of training them

I declare myself a "warm climate" person".

Cold weather makes me stiff while in warm weather I release tension. It might be because I was born in December...

So... One more dog is added to the family. She's a bit spoilt and she has to go through training to adopt to the rules of this house. Her name is Lucy and she's going to stay for a month. Our income is increasing and I'm doing something I really like besides travelling. Taking care of pets!

Lucy

There's only one thing that conserns me. Here in Greece, pet owners are very far from training their dogs. Even people who love their pets, they spoil them so much that the dog becomes unbearable. It might bark, chew, jump and do all kinds of nasty things to draw your attention.

So, let me talk to you about Lucy. She is a rescue dog and she has a "special need". Due to a car accident, her colon does not function properly and she needs to have special cooked food in order to poo properly. Otherwise, she is an extremely intelligent (6 kilos) creature! She is adorable. But very very spoilt. Because of her "problem" no one has ever told her "no". She pulls on her leash, barks a lot and wants your full attention all the time...

Yesterday it was her first day and she drove us crazy! After a lot of patience and loving energy today she is calmer and does not bark as much. She is calmly sitting in her bed like Nelos and Freeda.

There is peace and quiet in the house. For a year and a half no one told her "no", so she never had boudaries. But she is so clever that she learned her boundaries in less than 24 hours.

Miguelito, photo by antonisartheart

My personal belief and - most trainers belief as far as I know - is that a dog feels safer when it has boundaries. If there are no rules and no limits it feels unsafe, much like a child. It feels it has to be leader. But in truth, a dog does not want to be the leader, it needs to be lovingly guided by a leader.

Most small dogs get away with bad behaviour because they are so small and cute. But they are still dogs and they need to be guided! And why should we care? Because it makes our life easier. Because it makes your dogs life easier. The dog sits and is rewarded by a walk in the park, a tasty treat, by whatever!

I wish everyone trained their dogs no matter how small... And we will train Lucy.

photo by antonisartheart
Put a caption to this photo!
My caption is "cats rule!"

And a closing note. People ask me how come two dogs and a cat sleep altogether in the same bed? It takes boundaries. The dogs know that they MUST not hurt the cat. Even the cat is trained not to mess with the dogs! Everyone has their boundaries and they sleep comfortably in their warm beds! Everyone in the family has a good time because they know what is allowed and not allowed!

Have a good day!