A Dog Scared to Death of Everyone Just Needed a Hug - The Most Beautiful Video

[Coyote_Bandit]

86. Don't

I love dogs - even the ones that are not known to be particularly affectionate - and have had the enormous pleasure of their companioship for most of the last 50 years.

Yes, I would like to have the opportunity to train and shape a dog that comes without health problems and without the behavioral and emotional challenges that come with human neglect and abuse. You don't find these kinds of dogs at most shelters or rescue groups. Unlike most, I'm looking at a training regimine that will require about 6 years and many hundreds of hours working with the dog.

I can't help but wonder why others do not want the same thing. Nobody should feel particularly proud of adopting a rescue dog that they do not train and socialize. Nobody should feel particularly proud of adopting a dog they too largely neglect. In my opinion everyone that has a dog should spend several hundred hours a year in activities where the single focus is on interacting with the dog.

Dogs are social animals. A dog that gets first class veterinary care and the best diet is still neglected if he only gets a half hour of daily interaction (e.g. 15 minutes morning and evening at feeding time) with his master - or if he rarely leaves the immediate area of his home and neighborhood.

Dogs love to travel and well-behaved dogs are welcome in many venues - pet stores, hardware stores, outdoor and patio stores, nurseries, gardening and landscaping stores, some art studios, some outdoor dining areas. I've even known someone who regularly took their dog to church.

Most dogs want a job to do and most will fashion one for themselves if their master does not provide them some direction and focus. It does not require a tremendous amount of obedience skill for a dog to qualify to do therapy work provided he has the appropriate temperment and is well socialized. It's not the dogs that don't want to make this kind of committment - it most definitely is their owners. A good therapy dog understands his purpose and is definitely a working dog.

Well trained dogs and their handlers are better bonded and have a more caring and loving relationship than many married couples. You can't train a dog without understanding what he values, what he desires and what he fears. You can't train a dog without acknwledging and rewarding the smallest incremental progress. You can't train a dog without being patient and encouraging. You can't train a dog if you can't earn his trust - and sometimes all it takes to lose that trust is a harsh word or a rough hand. The dogs for their part want the attention, they want the rewards and the positive recognition and the focus for their efforts and energy. A well-trained and well-socialized dog knows how to conduct himself and is confident and comfortable with his behavior. He doesn't have to guess what is expected of him - and you may actually find him looking somewhat incredulous at the ill-mannered and poorly trained dogs that he encounters.

I know the incredible reward of working with and training a dog that has been abused and neglected. Every dog I have ever had was in immediate need of a home when I took him in. I also know that there are a lot of rescue dogs that move from places of active abuse and neglect to homes with more benign forms of neglect. Their owners may feel a bit superior and self-righteous because they have adopted one or more rescue dogs but they don't train or socialize their dogs or spend much quality time with them.

Everyone should want to have the opportunity to train and shape a dog that comes without health problems and without the behavioral and emotional challenges that come with human neglect and abuse. If you don't want that opportunity for any other reason then you should want it because having it means that there are far fewer dogs that have been abused and neglected and are in immediate need of a home and because having the opportunity means that there are more responsible breeders and far, far fewer opportunist breeders more interested in $$$ than in their dogs.